Photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org

“I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.”

— Warren Buffett

The above quote from Warren Buffett is timeless, and brings into focus the choice about time horizon that any investor should think about before buying a stock they are considering. Behind every stock is an actual business; what will that business look like over a five year period?

Today, let’s look backwards in time to 2017, and take a look at what happened to investors who asked that very question about Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASD: REGN), by taking a look at the investment outcome over a five year holding period.

Start date: 02/14/2017
$10,000

02/14/2017
$16,954

02/11/2022
End date: 02/11/2022
Start price/share: $376.52
End price/share: $638.41
Starting shares: 26.56
Ending shares: 26.56
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 69.56%
Average annual return: 11.15%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $16,954.92

As shown above, the five year investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 11.15%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $16,954.92 today (as of 02/11/2022). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 69.56% (something to think about: how might REGN 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:
“Never test the depth of a river with both feet.” — Warren Buffett