“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 Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASD: WBD), 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: | $3.28 | ||||
| End price/share: | $27.99 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 3,048.78 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 3,048.78 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | 753.35% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 11.31% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $85,323.00 | ||||
The above analysis shows the two-decade investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 11.31%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $85,323.00 today (as of 02/11/2026). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 753.35% (something to think about: how might WBD shares perform over the next 20 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
One more investment quote to leave you with:
“The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.” — Benjamin Graham
