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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

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 five year holding period for an investor who was considering Tesla Inc (NASD: TSLA) back in 2019, bought the stock, ignored the market’s ups and downs, and simply held through to today.

Start date: 05/16/2019
$10,000

05/16/2019
  $114,301

05/15/2024
End date: 05/15/2024
Start price/share: $15.22
End price/share: $173.99
Starting shares: 657.03
Ending shares: 657.03
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 1,043.17%
Average annual return: 62.74%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $114,301.25

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 62.74%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $114,301.25 today (as of 05/15/2024). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 1,043.17% (something to think about: how might TSLA shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

More investment wisdom to ponder:
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein

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