Not too long ago, Microsoft (MSFT) stock's glory days looked to be behind it as sales of desktop PCs slipped into a seemingly irreversible decline amid the consumer shift to mobile technology. Although the dot-com days of the 1990s minted many a "Microsoft millionaire," the aftermath of the tech bust led Microsoft stock to trade mostly sideways for more than a decade.
But the past 10 years have been nothing short of a renaissance for the software giant. When CEO Satya Nadella ascended to the top job in 2014, he not only began instituting cultural changes, he transformed Microsoft's core strategy too. Cloud computing and subscription-based services were in; the days of selling software licenses via physical compact disks were passé.
That focus on enterprise customers and – most importantly – Microsoft's shift to selling cloud-based services such as Azure and Office 365 have been an astounding success. Today, Microsoft is a dominant player in cloud computing – and MSFT's stock price proves it.
Indeed, Microsoft stock has been so remunerative since Nadella took over that long-term investors might not even notice that dud decade-plus following the tech bust. Between January 1990 and December 2020, shares in Microsoft, which joined the Dow in 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom, generated a total return of 57,730%. The S&P 500's total return came to a mere 1,950% over the same span.
Along the way, Microsoft stock generated $1.91 trillion in wealth for shareholders, good for an annualized dollar weighted return of 19.2%, according to Hendrik Bessembinder, professor of finance at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
Only Apple (AAPL) generated more wealth for shareholders over those three decades, making MSFT one of the very best stocks of the past 30 years, per Bessembinder's findings, which account for cash flows in and out of the business and other adjustments.
The bottom line on Microsoft stock
(Image credit: YCharts)
With Microsoft trading at fresh all-time highs, it seemed like a good time to see what $1,000 invested in Microsoft stock 20 years ago would be worth today.
Have a look at the above chart and you'll see that if you put a grand into MSFT stock two decades ago, today it would be worth more than $24,000. The same amount invested in the S&P 500 20 years ago would theoretically be worth almost $6,500 today.
Over its entire life as a publicly traded company, MSFT stock has generated an annualized total return (price change plus dividends) of more than 26%. The S&P 500's total return comes to 10.3% over the same period. Analysts very much expect Microsoft stock to continue to generate market-beating returns.
Of the 55 analysts issuing opinions on Microsoft stock surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 39 call it a Strong Buy, 13 say Buy and three have it at Hold. That works out to a consensus recommendation of Strong Buy, making MSFT a top-rated name among Dow Jones stocks.
Indeed, it took off so much that if you put a grand into Microsoft stock two decades ago, today it would be worth about $25,500. That's good for an annualized total return (price change plus dividends) of 17.6%.
Had you invested $1,000 in Microsoft 10 years ago, you would have turned a hefty profit by today. According to computations by CNBC, that modest amount would already have been worth $11,400 as of Nov.9, 2023.
2024, the S&P 500 has posted an average annual return of 9.74%, right about in line with its long-term average. Here's how much you would have now if you invested in the S&P 500 20 years ago, based on varying starting amounts: $1,000 would grow to $2,533. $5,000 would grow to $12,665.
What does that look like on a brokerage statement? Check out the above chart and you'll see that if you invested $1,000 in Apple stock 20 years ago, it would today be worth almost $460,000. The same $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 would theoretically have turned into about $7,000 over the same period.
If you had invested $1,000 in Google stock on Aug. 19, 2004, today, you would have $60,107. Likewise, if you had invested $1,000 in an index fund replicating Nasdaq, you would have $9,000. A similar $1,000 investment in an index fund that replicates the S&P 500 would be worth $4,815.
If you had invested in Nvidia ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today. A $1000 investment made in June 2014 would be worth $249,298.97, or a 24,829.90% gain, as of June 12, 2024, according to our calculations.
If you invest $10,000 today at 10% interest, how much will you have in 10 years? Summary: The future value of the investment of $10000 after 10 years at 10% will be $ 25940.
Those gains translate to a 23.2% compound annual growth rate for Amazon compared to a 6.2% CAGR for the S&P 500 in that time. As a result, $10,000 in AMZN stock purchased 20 years ago would now be worth $645,262. A $10,000 investment in the S&P over the same period, however, would amount to $33,452.
Microsoft stock first went public on March 13, 1986 at $21 per share. By the end of the trading day, the price had risen to $28 per share. Now, the price is nearly 13 times higher, closing at $360.69 on Nov.
19, 2004. The company went public at $85, sold 22.5 million shares and raised over $1.9 billion. Shares of Google rose 18.05% to $100.34 at the close on its IPO date. If you had been able to purchase Google's shares at $85, you would have acquired 12 shares, or $1,020 divided by $85, before the company split its stock.
Ten years ago, at market close on March 28, 2014, Apple's stock was trading at $16.85 per share. This means that $100,000 invested in Apple in March 2014 would be worth more than $1 million today.
In order to hit your goal of $1 million in 10 years, SmartAsset's savings calculator estimates that you would need to save around $7,900 per month. This is if you're just putting your money into a high-yield savings account with an average annual percentage yield (APY) of 1.10%.
Introduction: My name is Duane Harber, I am a modern, clever, handsome, fair, agreeable, inexpensive, beautiful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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