“When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.”
— Warren Buffett
One of the most important things investors can learn from Warren Buffett, is about how they approach their time horizon for an investment into a stock under consideration. Because immediately after buying shares of a given stock, investors will then be able to check on the day-to-day (and even minute-by-minute) market value. Some days the stock market will be up, other days down. These daily fluctuations can often distract from the long-term view. Today, we look at the result of a two-decade holding period for an investor who was considering O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASD: ORLY) back in 2006, bought the stock, ignored the market’s ups and downs, and simply held through to today.
| Start date: | 02/13/2006 |
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| End date: | 02/11/2026 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $2.23 | ||||
| End price/share: | $94.11 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 4,484.30 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 4,484.30 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | 4,120.18% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 20.57% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $422,136.53 | ||||
As we can see, the two-decade investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 20.57%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $422,136.53 today (as of 02/11/2026). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 4,120.18% (something to think about: how might ORLY 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:
“He who earns and does not invest will have to work for the rest of his life.” — Debasish Mridha
