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— Warren Buffett

A long-term investment in Texas Instruments Inc. (NASD: TXN) delivered a strong total return over the past decade, illustrating how capital appreciation and dividend reinvestment can compound over time. Using a starting point of November 2, 2016, a hypothetical $10,000 investment in TXN grew substantially by October 30, 2026, with the final value reflecting both the rise in the share price and the effect of reinvested dividends.

Texas Instruments is one of the largest analog semiconductor manufacturers, with meaningful exposure to industrial and automotive end markets. That business mix has often made the company a useful case study in long-duration shareholder returns: semiconductors can be cyclical, but TXN has historically paired that cyclicality with strong free cash flow generation, disciplined capital allocation, and a sustained emphasis on returning capital through dividends and share repurchases.

TXN 10-Year Return at a Glance

TXN 10-Year Return Details
Start date:	11/02/2016	$10,000 11/02/2016   $57,737 10/30/2026
End date:	10/30/2026
Start price/share:	$68.84
End price/share:	$300.84
Starting shares:	145.26
Ending shares:	191.84
Dividends reinvested/share:	$42.64
Total return:	477.14%
Average annual return:	19.17%
Starting investment:	$10,000.00
Ending investment:	$57,737.86

Based on the figures above, a $10,000 investment in Texas Instruments on 11/02/2016 would have grown to $57,737.86 as of 10/30/2026, assuming dividends were reinvested. That equates to a total return of 477.14% and an annualized return of 19.17%. The calculations were generated using the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.

How the Return Was Generated

TXN’s 10-year result came from two separate but related sources:

• Share price appreciation: the stock rose from $68.84 to $300.84.
• Dividend income: Texas Instruments paid $42.64 per share in dividends over the period, and those cash payments were assumed to be reinvested into additional shares.

That reinvestment matters. Starting with 145.26 shares, the position grew to 191.84 shares by the end of the period. In other words, dividends did not simply provide cash income; they also increased the investor’s share count, allowing subsequent gains to compound on a larger base.

This is a central point in long-horizon equity returns. A stock with a meaningful and growing dividend can generate a larger total return than price performance alone might suggest, particularly when distributions are reinvested consistently through changing market conditions.

Why Texas Instruments Has Been a Notable Long-Term Compounder

Texas Instruments occupies a distinctive position in semiconductors. Unlike companies concentrated in leading-edge digital logic, TXN has long been associated with analog and embedded processing chips that serve broad industrial applications, automotive systems, personal electronics, and communications equipment. Analog products often have long product life cycles and can remain embedded in customer designs for years, supporting durable cash generation when managed effectively.

Over time, the company has also been closely watched for its capital allocation approach. Dividend growth, buybacks, and a focus on free cash flow per share have been recurring features of the investment case. While semiconductor demand can be cyclical, companies that maintain pricing discipline, manufacturing scale, and conservative balance-sheet management can still produce attractive through-cycle shareholder returns.

Dividend Yield and Yield on Cost

Using the most recent annualized dividend rate of $6.08 per share, TXN has a current yield of approximately 2.02% based on the ending share price of $300.84. Another useful measure is yield on cost, which compares the current annual dividend to the original purchase price.

For this investment period:

• Current annualized dividend: $6.08 per share
• Original purchase price: $68.84 per share
• Yield on cost: 8.83%

Yield on cost does not describe what a new buyer earns at today’s market price. Instead, it shows how dividend growth can improve the income profile of a long-held position. For investors focused on growing cash flow from equities, that can be a meaningful part of the long-term return story.

What This TXN Return Example Shows

The Texas Instruments example highlights several broader points about long-term stock ownership:

• Total return matters more than price alone. A large portion of long-run equity performance can come from reinvested dividends.
• Compounding is incremental before it becomes dramatic. Additional shares acquired through reinvestment can materially lift ending value over a decade.
• Business quality and capital allocation both matter. Strong shareholder outcomes often reflect not just revenue growth, but also margins, cash generation, and disciplined use of capital.
• Time horizon can dominate short-term volatility. Even cyclical businesses can produce strong long-run returns when held through multiple market environments.

For TXN specifically, the combination of a higher share price, steady dividend payments, and reinvestment produced a result that far exceeded the original capital outlay. That does not define future returns, but it does show how a high-quality semiconductor company can reward patient ownership over an extended period.

“Never test the depth of a river with both feet.” — Warren Buffett