Few stocks trigger more investor regret than Amazon (NASDQ: AMZN). The company has truly been one of the greatest investments of all time, and provided no shortage of opportunities to invest along the way. Like similar tech darling Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) the company had a meteoric rise during the 90’s tech bubble, epic collapse, and subsequent rebound that made both look small in comparison. 

For much of it’s time as a public company shares looked too expensive, too risky, and too volatile. But patience has won out in the end and handsomely rewarded those who were able to motor through. But, just how much would one of those patient investors have made today? Let’s see what $1,000 invested in Amazon 10 years ago would be worth right now. 

$1,000 Invested in Amazon A Decade Ago Is Worth…

 

If you’d had the nerves of steel to invest $1,000 in Amazon in March, 2014 that investment would be worth $9,279 today. That’s close to an 830% return, compared to 174% in the S&P 500 over the same period. That is a truly incredible figure. Few companies can claim this sort of compounding over any time frame. 

But investors should note this hasn’t always been an easy ride. 

• If you’d bought in March, 2014 you’d have seen shares decline over 20% (multiple times) first, tempting tax loss harvesting with each downdraft. 
• That $1,000 investment wouldn’t have recovered back to the initial value until almost a year later. 
• Amazon doesn’t pay a dividend, meaning there was no passive income while investors waited
• The company had to answer for multiple product flops, including the Fire Phone over the past decade
• Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos stepped down from his role

All of this is to say, while the returns above are certainly tempting, it’s only by zooming out so far that the volatility experienced looks minor in comparison. To be there day to day as shares swing wildly can be very difficult. 

Something Unique?

While Amazon may be an exceptionally unique and impressive company, the story of investors having to hold through thick and thin is not. See what $1,000 invested in Walmart 30 years ago, and what $1,000 invested in Tesla 10 years ago are worth today for more examples of patience paying off. 

While we can’t go back in time and make those investments, there are plenty of fantastic options for investors today. If you want growth AND income here are three fantastic dividend stocks I’m buying in March. Multiple studies by Schwab, Fidelity, and others have shown that dividend stocks tend to outperform over the long run. I’m not sure if these will produce Amazon like returns over the next decade, but I’m happy to bet they’ll grow in value and leave you richer than you started. 

 

 

 

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