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 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 Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL)? Today, we examine the outcome of a five year investment into the stock back in 2020.

Start date: 10/26/2020
$10,000

10/26/2020
  $8,296

10/23/2025
End date: 10/23/2025
Start price/share: $230.18
End price/share: $190.97
Starting shares: 43.44
Ending shares: 43.44
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: -17.03%
Average annual return: -3.67%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $8,296.54

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -3.67%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $8,296.54 today (as of 10/23/2025). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -17.03% (something to think about: how might CRL shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Another great investment quote to think about:
“As long as you enjoy investing, you’ll be willing to do the homework and stay in the game.” — Jim Cramer