“Thirty-five years ago this weekend, Apple went public. At the offering price of $22 a share, 100 shares would have cost you $2,200,” Stephen Gandel writes for Fortune. “Since then the stock has split four times, including three 2-for-1 splits and one 7-for-1 split, which occurred last year.”
“That means your 100 shares would have multiplied into 5,600 today, and your initial investment would now be worth $632,800,” Gandel writes. “That’s a return of 28,663%. And that’s before dividends, which would have added another $5,936 to your return so far this year alone.”
Gandel writes, “By comparison, a $2,200 investment in the S&P 500 in the same time would have netted you about $79,000.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That’s a pretty decent investment outcome.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Hindsight is always $20/$20
$2,200 in 1980 was the equivalent of ~$6,000 today. Not a bad ROI.
What the author doesn’t say is that your investment in Apple would have been “dead money” for at least 25 years.
While had you invested in Microsoft, you would have made 5 times more but you would of had to endure 10 years of “dead money”.
Which is better?
Hum … let me think … I’ll let you know as soon as I can figure it out!
“. . . you would of had to endure 10 years . . .”
Would “of”? “Would’ve”! “Would have”! Please. Don’t denigrate your argument with such poor GMU.
Good point … Thanks!
I was given Appl as a 1980 Christmas present, expensive then but I am still reaping the rewards.
I bought in with a number of shares (wish it had been 100 but not even close) at about $13 within a month of Steve’s return to Apple. At least I’m fairly sure that was the price. And boy, did my stock broker try to talk me out of that one! I have the last laugh. Haven’t spent any of it and my emergency fund is looking pretty good.
I bought 50 shares Oct 1996 after the Microsoft office support anouncement and still have all of it. Just waniing on some respect from the market which we never get. P/E = no respect lately.
Tech P/E should be at least 20!!!
Bought 200 shares at $16.125 per share in March of 1997. With splits that would be 5,600 shares with a split-adjusted basis of 57-1/2 cents per share. Would be worth $632,000 had I kept them old. Sold some off along the way. First sale was after the stock had recovered from Steve’s first cancer scare – recovered my original investment. Second was for other financial needs. But still holding 3,500 of those shares with a ~20,000% return. Yes, a 200-bagger. Never going to see another one of those in my lifetime.
A buddy of mine worked for Steves back then. They got paid with the options and he never sold them.
Over $35M today. Smart mofo then and now…
Been there! Done That! Got it!
You wouldn’t have had to invest at the start. You could have invested in early 2002 and made a fortune.
what would that investment be worth if microsoft where the company in question?
this is why 401ks are a joke if you think of it as retirement plan. demand pensions!!!
You can use all sorts of start points, but I distinctly remember when my brother and I talked about buying Apple back in March 2003, when an article appeared in the WSJ pointing out that Apple was $12, back then, and had $10 in cash, meaning the enterprise value was about $2. Of course, when you factor in the splits, that $12 is less than $1, so that if you bought, you’d have a return over 11200% today. That’s only 12 and a half years ago, as opposed to 35 years ago. I’ve bought in an out since the 80s, but I’ve been very long Apple shares since January 2007, for obvious reasons.
The compound average annual share price appreciation based on the article is 16%. That is over a period of 35 years.
If someone bought shares in Spring 2003 at a split-adjusted price of $1, then a current share price of $113 represents a compound average share price appreciation of 37% per year. That is over a period of 12.75 years.
The long-run average return of the stock market is often cited as 8%.
By either metric, Apple shares have done well. But, of course, it all depends on exactly when — i.e., at what price — you buy _your_ shares, and when you measure _your_ appreciation (or cash out your shares).
I put everything I had in AAPL in 2008, and this year built a log home on 9 acres, all with AAPL money. Plus a Charger R/T and SUV along the way. Hanging on to 1/3 of it for retirement suplement.
But the wildest trick was when (2009-10 I think it was) I was looking over $50,000 worth of 0% credit card offers one day, and cashed them all in and bought AAPL – all with VISA’s money. One year later pocketed $50,000 in profit. Thanks VISA, and Apple!
Investing less than half as much in Nike (NKE) five years early would have made you $100k more by now. http://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/120315/if-you-had-invested-right-after-nikes-ipo.asp
i believe all the initial big shareholders of Apple (before the IPO) sold most of their shares including Jobs, Wozniak and Markkula.
Jobs sold his when he was pressured out of Apple. He used the money to start Next and buy Pixar.
Without NEXTSTEP there won’t be OSX and thus iOS.
so effectively selling all (except one I believe) his Apple Shares Jobs saved Apple.
Wozniak sold most his in the 1980s.
(btw when Jobs returned to Apple he got some shares which he didn’t sell (except those he cashed out for income tax) . After 2003 he refused all share options and with his $1 a year salary he from then on worked practically for free for apple).
Bought my first shares when I got a rare tax refund in Y2K and decided to put my money down on Apple. It split at 90 2 for 1 and then the most recent split of 7 for 1. I added steadily to my holdings until Apple was in the 300 + /share range and then have held since that time, excepting selling off some shares to reward myself with a new car bought entirely with profit from the run up in the stock.
In retrospect, I probably should have held on to the shares I sold and maybe should have continued buying past the cutoff point. Either way, I still have a substantial portion of my investment in Apple stock and it will be a nice part of my retirement in the future.
It would have been huge gamble back then, but if I had bought as much stock in 2000 as I could have easily afforded, I could be retired today and very comfortable .
I as well bought over 5000 shares of Apple at $11. Sold soon after Steve Jobs died for (an adjusted) $620/share. I’ve retired early, have homes in Barbados and Atlanta, and do pretty much what I want. It wasn’t easy to hold this stock during all the ups-and-downs (including the 2007 crash), but it’s been rewarding. That’s for sure. Thanks Steve!