Basic performance question

Will adding container Sprites or MovieClips reduce framerate, in those situations where framerate would be an issue (i.e. lots of moving DisplayObjects)? In other words, will framerate be better if I attach everything directly to the stage, than if I attach containerSprite1 to the stage, then attach containerSprite2 to containerSprite1, then attach containerSprite3 to containerSprite2, … , then attach everything else to containerSpriteN? Does it make a difference how many parents (and grandparents, etc) there are between the moving DisplayObjects and the stage?