“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”
— Warren Buffett
One of the most important things investors can learn from Warren Buffett, is about how they approach their time horizon for an investment into a stock under consideration. Because immediately after buying shares of a given stock, investors will then be able to check on the day-to-day (and even minute-by-minute) market value. Some days the stock market will be up, other days down. These daily fluctuations can often distract from the long-term view. Today, we look at the result of a decade-long holding period for an investor who was considering Align Technology Inc (NASD: ALGN) back in 2011, bought the stock, ignored the market’s ups and downs, and simply held through to today.
Start date: | 04/11/2011 |
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End date: | 04/08/2021 | ||||
Start price/share: | $21.04 | ||||
End price/share: | $575.75 | ||||
Starting shares: | 475.29 | ||||
Ending shares: | 475.29 | ||||
Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
Total return: | 2,636.45% | ||||
Average annual return: | 39.23% | ||||
Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
Ending investment: | $273,733.68 |
The above analysis shows the decade-long investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 39.23%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 10 years ago into $273,733.68 today (as of 04/08/2021). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 2,636.45% (something to think about: how might ALGN shares perform over the next 10 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
More investment wisdom to ponder:
“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” — Robert Arnott