“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 Airbnb Inc (NASD: ABNB)? Today, we examine the outcome of a five year investment into the stock back in 2020.
| Start date: | 12/16/2020 |
|
|||
| End date: | 12/15/2025 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $137.99 | ||||
| End price/share: | $131.81 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 72.47 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 72.47 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | -4.48% | ||||
| Average annual return: | -0.91% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $9,553.21 | ||||
The above analysis shows the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -0.91%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $9,553.21 today (as of 12/15/2025). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -4.48% (something to think about: how might ABNB shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
More investment wisdom to ponder:
“All intelligent investing is value investing: acquiring more that you are paying for. You must value the business in order to value the stock.” — Charlie Munger
