If I'd invested in Microsoft since 2003
$1,000 put into Microsoft at the end of 2003 would be worth about $14,276 today — a 14.3× return, or roughly 12.6% a year. Change the amount below to run your own number.
You'd have
$14,276
from $1,000 invested — up 1328%.
The story behind the number
Microsoft since 2003 has been a remarkably smooth ride. $1,000 put in at the end of 2003 grew to $14,276 — a 14.3× return, or about 12.6% a year. That beat the S&P 500, which turned the same $1,000 into $6,666 — you'd have come out roughly 2.14× ahead of simply buying the index.
The ride mattered as much as the destination. The strongest single year was 2007, up 25%; the worst was 2008, down 17%.
Holding on took nerve: the position fell as much as 56% from its 2007 peak to its 2009 low, before climbing back above that high by 2012. Inflation takes a bite, too — consumer prices rose about 80% over the period, so in today's money the result is closer to 7.93× what you put in.
Common questions
- How much would I have if I'd invested $1,000 in Microsoft in 2003?
- $1,000 invested in Microsoft at the end of 2003 would be worth about $14,276 today — a 14.3× return, or roughly 12.6% per year.
- What were the best and worst years for Microsoft since 2003?
- The best year was 2007, up about 25%. The toughest was 2008, when it fell about 17%. Across the window, 112 of 270 years finished lower than they started.
- What was the biggest drop along the way?
- The steepest decline was about 56%, from a peak in 2007 to a low in 2009, with the value recovering above its prior high by 2012.
- Would I have done better in S&P 500?
- No — the S&P 500 turned $1,000 into about $6,666 over the same window, while Microsoft reached $14,276. Microsoft came out ahead.
The chart above shows the whole journey, not just the destination. Try switching to a bit each year to see how spreading your buying would have changed the outcome — or skip the latte to find out what a small daily habit could have grown into instead.
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