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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: 08/28/2018
$10,000

08/28/2018
  $4,337

08/25/2023
End date: 08/25/2023
Start price/share: $28.29
End price/share: $12.27
Starting shares: 353.48
Ending shares: 353.48
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: -56.63%
Average annual return: -15.40%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $4,337.60

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -15.40%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $4,337.60 today (as of 08/25/2023). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -56.63% (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:
“Waiting helps you as an investor and a lot of people just can’t stand to wait. If you didn’t get the deferred-gratification gene, you’ve got to work very hard to overcome that.” — Charlie Munger