Texas Instruments Stock 5-Year Total Return Since 2021: Dividends, Reinvestment, and Yield on Cost

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— Warren Buffett

A five-year holding period can be a useful test of business quality, capital allocation, and shareholder returns. For Texas Instruments Inc. (NASD: TXN), a purchase made in May 2021 and held through May 2026 produced a strong total return, helped by both share price appreciation and consistent dividend reinvestment.

Using a starting investment of $10,000 on 05/14/2021, the position would have grown to $19,254.15 by 05/13/2026, assuming all dividends were reinvested. That translates to a total return of 92.54% and an average annual return of 14.00%.

TXN 5-Year Return Summary

TXN 5-Year Return Details
Start date:	05/14/2021	$10,000 05/14/2021   $19,254 05/13/2026
End date:	05/13/2026
Start price/share:	$183.27
End price/share:	$306.34
Starting shares:	54.56
Ending shares:	62.85
Dividends reinvested/share:	$25.48
Total return:	92.54%
Average annual return:	14.00%
Starting investment:	$10,000.00
Ending investment:	$19,254.15

The result is notable for two reasons. First, the share price rose from $183.27 to $306.34 over the period. Second, dividend reinvestment increased the share count from 54.56 shares to 62.85 shares, magnifying the ending value. In other words, the gain was driven by both multiple years of cash distributions and a higher stock price at the end of the holding period.

[These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

What Drove the Total Return?

Texas Instruments has long been associated with a shareholder-return model built around free cash flow, dividends, and buybacks. Over this five-year window, the stock’s total return reflected more than simple price appreciation. The dividend contributed meaningfully, with $25.48 per share paid and reinvested across the period examined here.

That matters because total return is the more complete measure of investment performance. Price return shows how the stock itself moved. Total return captures the combined effect of price change plus cash distributions, along with the compounding benefit when those distributions are reinvested into additional shares.

Dividend Reinvestment and Share Count Growth

In this example, all dividends are assumed to have been reinvested using the closing price on each ex-dividend date. That assumption raised the share count from 54.56 to 62.85. For long-term holders, that incremental share accumulation can become a meaningful component of compounded returns, particularly when a company maintains a steady pattern of dividend payments.

Reinvestment also changes how investors should interpret performance. A stock can appear less impressive on a price-only basis than it does on a total return basis, especially when dividends are regularly paid and the holding period spans several years.

Current Yield and Yield on Cost

Based on the most recent annualized dividend rate of $5.68 per share, TXN has a current yield of approximately 1.85% using the ending share price of $306.34. That is the forward-looking cash yield implied by the current dividend rate and the recent market price.

It is also useful to distinguish current yield from yield on cost:

• Current yield measures the annualized dividend relative to the current share price.
• Yield on cost measures the annualized dividend relative to the original purchase price.

Using the original purchase price of $183.27 and the current annualized dividend rate of $5.68, the yield on cost works out to about 3.10%. That figure highlights how dividend growth can improve the income profile of a long-held position even if the stock’s current quoted yield remains moderate.

How to Read a Five-Year Return Figure

A five-year return snapshot is useful, but it should be interpreted carefully. The start date and end date can materially influence the outcome, particularly in semiconductors, where cyclical demand, inventory shifts, and changes in capital spending can affect both earnings and valuation. A strong historical result does not mean returns will be linear or repeatable over the next five years.

For Texas Instruments specifically, long-term analysis often centers on the durability of analog and embedded semiconductor demand, margin structure, capital allocation discipline, and the company’s ability to translate revenue into free cash flow over a full cycle. Those factors tend to matter more than short-term market swings when evaluating the stock over multi-year periods.

Another useful reminder comes from Benjamin Graham:
“Investors should purchase stocks like they purchase groceries, not like they purchase perfume.” — Benjamin Graham