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

— Warren Buffett

The Warren Buffett investment philosophy calls for a long-term investment horizon, where a five year holding period, or even longer, would fit right into the strategy. How would such a strategy have worked out for an investment into Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASD: WBD)? Today, we examine the outcome of a five year investment into the stock back in 2018.

Start date: 01/16/2018
$10,000

01/16/2018
  $5,361

01/12/2023
End date: 01/12/2023
Start price/share: $24.53
End price/share: $13.15
Starting shares: 407.66
Ending shares: 407.66
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: -46.39%
Average annual return: -11.74%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $5,361.24

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -11.74%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $5,361.24 today (as of 01/12/2023). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -46.39% (something to think about: how might WBD shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

One more investment quote to leave you with:
“In trading you have to be defensive and aggressive at the same time. If you are not aggressive, you are not going to make money, and if you are not defensive, you are not going to keep money.” — Ray Dalio