A 2015 $10K Align Technology Investment Became This Today

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— Warren Buffett

Such a great quote from Warren Buffett, highlighting the importance of investment time horizon when considering making an investment. In the short run, who knows what the stock market will do? A week or two after buying any given stock, could the entire stock market fall out of bed? Quite possibly! Should that happen, how would you react? It is an excellent question to think about before hitting the buy button.

For investors who take a multi-year time horizon, the important thing is not what happens in the next week or two, but what the result will be over the long haul. Today, we look at the result investors of the year 2015 experienced, who considered an investment in shares of Align Technology Inc (NASD: ALGN) and decided upon a five year investment time horizon.

ALGN 5-Year Return Details
Start date:	09/10/2015	$10,000 09/10/2015 $58,692 09/09/2020
End date:	09/09/2020
Start price/share:	$55.19
End price/share:	$323.92
Starting shares:	181.19
Ending shares:	181.19
Dividends reinvested/share:	$0.00
Total return:	486.92%
Average annual return:	42.44%
Starting investment:	$10,000.00
Ending investment:	$58,692.25

The above analysis shows the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 42.44%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $58,692.25 today (as of 09/09/2020). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 486.92% (something to think about: how might ALGN shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Here’s one more great investment quote before you go:
“Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you’re generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.” — Donald Trump