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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: 06/06/2018
$10,000

06/06/2018
  $5,199

06/05/2023
End date: 06/05/2023
Start price/share: $22.36
End price/share: $11.63
Starting shares: 447.23
Ending shares: 447.23
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: -47.99%
Average annual return: -12.26%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $5,199.82

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -12.26%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $5,199.82 today (as of 06/05/2023). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -47.99% (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.]

Here’s one more great investment quote before you go:
“I think you have to learn that there’s a company behind every stock, and that there’s only one real reason why stocks go up. Companies go from doing poorly to doing well or small companies grow to large companies.” — Peter Lynch