Apple (AAPL) stock went into a funk after hitting an all-time closing high in the middle of December, but it's hard to feel too bad for long-term shareholders. AAPL was still up more than 40% over the past year in early January.
Besides, it's still by far one of the best stocks of all time.
A disappointing fiscal third-quarter earnings report sparked a mid-summer selloff in Apple stock, as market participants fretted over the iPhone maker's third consecutive year-over-year drop in quarterly revenue. Apple beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue forecasts for its fiscal fourth quarter too, but overall sales declined for a fourth quarter in a row.
Shares in Apple rallied hard into the end of 2023 along with the other Magnificent 7 stocks, but a couple of analyst downgrades to Apple stock the first week of 2024 sparked another round of weakness.
Bulls say you should buy the dip in Apple stock, which has put the company's market capitalization back below $3 trillion. And while the latest stumble is certainly no fun for anyone who came to the Apple party late, as noted above, it's tough to have much pity for truly long-time shareholders. After all, they've enjoyed pretty much incomparable returns over the past few decades.
From January 1990 through December 2020, AAPL stock created $2.67 trillion in shareholder wealth, or an annualized dollar weighted return of 23.5%, according to an analysis by Hendrik Bessembinder, a finance professor at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
Indeed, per Bessembinder's findings, which account for a stock's increase in market value adjusted for cash flows in and out of the business and other adjustments, Apple was the best stock in the world over those 30 years.
True, AAPL stock traded sideways for the first few years of the 21st century, but an explosion of innovation soon put an end to that. Under the visionary leadership of the late Steve Jobs, Apple essentially reinvented itself for the mobile age, launching revolutionary gadgets such as the iPod, MacBook and iPad.
But what really set Apple on its course to becoming the world's largest publicly traded company – and one of hedge funds' favorite blue chip stocks — was the 2007 debut of the iPhone.
Today, Apple isn't just a purveyor of gadgets; it sells an entire ecosystem of personal consumer electronics and related services. And it's a sticky ecosystem at that.
No less an eminence than Warren Buffett has called the iPhone maker Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.B) "third business," noting Apple fans' fantastic brand loyalty as one reason for being all-in on the stock. (Apple accounts for almost 39% of the value of the Berkshire Hathaway equity portfolio.)
No wonder the iconic tech firm was tapped to become one of the elite 30 Dow Jones stocks. In 2015, Apple replaced AT&T (T) in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The bottom line on Apple stock?
(Image credit: YCharts)
Over the past 20 years Apple stock generated an annualized total return (price change plus dividends) of 37%. By comparison, the S&P 500 delivered an annualized total return of 9.6% over the same span.
What does that look like on a brokerage statement? Check out the above chart and you'll see that if you invested $1,000 in Apple stock 20 years ago, it would today be worth almost $530,000. The same $1,000 invested in the would have theoretically turned into $6,186 over the same period.
For those wondering if Apple stock is a buy at current levels, Wall Street mostly thinks so. Of the 45 analysts covering AAPL surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 20 rate it at Strong Buy, seven say Buy, 14 have it at Hold, three say it's a Sell and one calls it a Strong Sell. That works out to a consensus recommendation of Buy, with mixed conviction.
More Stocks of the Past 20 Years
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What does that look like on a brokerage statement? Check out the above chart and you'll see that if you invested $1,000 in Apple stock 20 years ago, it would today be worth almost $530,000. The same $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 would have theoretically turned into $6,186 over the same period.
Apple debuted on the public markets in 1980. If you invested $1,000 in the company, then your investment would now be worth nearly $1.5 million. But how many people buy a stock on its IPO? Very few, especially in the 1980s when stocks weren't as accessible as they are now.
If you had invested $1,000 in Apple stock on Feb. 4, 1997, today, you would have $1,343,269. Likewise, if you had invested $1,000 in an index fund replicating Nasdaq, you would have $11,038. A similar $1,000 investment in an index fund that replicates the S&P 500 would be worth $6,140.
The $1,000 investment in Apple stock at the time would be worth $1,455,538.90 today, based on a price of $189.22 for Apple at the time of writing. The Super Bowl commercial from Apple was a key event for the company and could have been a key moment for investors who recognized the potential for Apple.
Jake Lerch (Apple): A relatively modest investment of $10,000 in Apple when Steve Jobs returned to the company in February 1997 would have grown to more than $14 million today. AAPL total return level data by YCharts. Most of that astonishing return can be chalked up to the iPhone.
This means that your $1,000 10 years ago — technically, $1,002 — would have bought 60 shares of Tesla. As of Mar. 3, 2024, those 60 shares of Tesla would be worth $12,158.40. That marks a 28.342% annual rate of return.
In other words, that $1,000 investment in 1980 would be worth more than $1.26 million today! But that's not all, because Apple has paid a dividend in several years since 1987. Assuming you never sold a single share along the way, you would've collected an additional $155,131 in dividend payments!
But if you were smart enough to invest $1,000 in Apple stock at the start of the year 2000, you'd be sitting on a monster gain of 21,230%. This means that modest investment would be worth a whopping $213,000 today (as of July 27).
Now, 23 years later, its stock price is $185.56 — an increase of 60,359% during this period. If you had invested $1,000 in Apple stock on Jan. 9, 2001, today, you would have $604,588, 23 years later. On the other hand, a similar investment in the Nasdaq index would be worth $6,080, and the S&P 500 worth $3,662.
However, as of the search date in 2024, the latest price is $185.58 [1]. Therefore, if you had invested $1,000 in Apple stock in 1990, it would be worth approximately $598,972.50 today.
Those gains translate to a 36.6% compound annual growth rate for Apple compared to a 7.4% CAGR for the S&P 500 in that time. That means that $10,000 in AAPL stock purchased 20 years ago would be worth about $5.08 million today, assuming reinvested dividends.
If you had invested $1,000 in Google stock on Aug. 19, 2004, today, you would have $60,107. Likewise, if you had invested $1,000 in an index fund replicating Nasdaq, you would have $9,000. A similar $1,000 investment in an index fund that replicates the S&P 500 would be worth $4,815.
Ten years ago, at market close on March 28, 2014, Apple's stock was trading at $16.85 per share. This means that $100,000 invested in Apple in March 2014 would be worth more than $1 million today.
What does that look like on a brokerage statement? Check out the above chart and you'll see that if you invested $1,000 in Apple stock 20 years ago, it would today be worth almost $530,000. The same $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 would have theoretically turned into $6,186 over the same period.
If an investor would have put $10,000 to work at Tesla's IPO price, that would have purchased 588 shares (not including fractional shares or any commission-related expenses). Accounting for the Tesla stock splits, this debut-day investor would hold 8,820 shares today.
But if you were smart enough to invest $1,000 in Apple stock at the start of the year 2000, you'd be sitting on a monster gain of 21,230%. This means that modest investment would be worth a whopping $213,000 today (as of July 27).
Factoring in the company's five stock splits, these 454 shares would have increased to 101,696 shares, as of today. With Apple closing last week at $140.09, it means an initial $10,000 investment nearly 42 years ago would now be worth $14,246,593. Keep in mind that this figure doesn't take into account dividends paid.
In any case, a $10,000 investment in Apple stock made in February 1984 -- held to today, with dividends reinvested -- would now be worth $22.8 million. Turning to the present, it's clear that artificial intelligence (AI) is about to change the world.
Introduction: My name is Arline Emard IV, I am a cheerful, gorgeous, colorful, joyous, excited, super, inquisitive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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