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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

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: 06/10/2020
$10,000

06/10/2020
  $8,115

06/09/2025
End date: 06/09/2025
Start price/share: $181.71
End price/share: $147.46
Starting shares: 55.03
Ending shares: 55.03
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: -18.85%
Average annual return: -4.09%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $8,115.58

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -4.09%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $8,115.58 today (as of 06/09/2025). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -18.85% (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.]

More investment wisdom to ponder:
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin