“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
— Warren Buffett
The above quote from Warren Buffett is timeless, and brings into focus the choice about time horizon that any investor should think about before buying a stock they are considering. Behind every stock is an actual business; what will that business look like over a two-decade period?
Today, let’s look backwards in time to 2006, and take a look at what happened to investors who asked that very question about Incyte Corporation (NASD: INCY), by taking a look at the investment outcome over a two-decade holding period.
| Start date: | 02/13/2006 |
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| End date: | 02/11/2026 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $5.15 | ||||
| End price/share: | $98.84 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 1,941.75 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 1,941.75 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | 1,819.22% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 15.91% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $191,842.64 | ||||
As shown above, the two-decade investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 15.91%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $191,842.64 today (as of 02/11/2026). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 1,819.22% (something to think about: how might INCY shares perform over the next 20 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
Here’s one more great investment quote before you go:
“A stock is not just a ticker symbol or an electronic blip; it is an ownership interest in an actual business, with an underlying value that does not depend on its share price.” — Benjamin Graham
