Investing is always risky, and veteran investors will tell you there’s no “sure thing” and no guarantee any initial stock purchase will balloon in value. However, hindsight can be frustratingly clear, and there are a handful of stocks with something of a legendary status for performance over the past decade.
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They’re known as the “FAANG” stocks. Keep reading for a more thorough explanation of these stocks and a look at how much you would have made had you invested $5,000 in them a decade ago.
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FAANG: Stocks With Real Bite
When people talk about the FAANG stocks, they’re referring to five of the most prominent and traditionally high-performing tech and social media companies. Here’s what the acronym originally stood for, though now it’s a little outdated.
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Facebook, now called Meta Platforms, with the ticker symbol META.
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Apple, with the ticker symbol AAPL, which hasn’t changed since the company’s December 12, 1980, initial public offering.
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Amazon, another globally recognized brand, with the ticker symbol AMZN.
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Netflix, which still sports its original ticker symbol, NFLX.
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Google, whose parent company is now Alphabet Inc., though it’s retained the ticker symbol GOOG.
Together, the FAANG stocks are often referenced for their consistently strong market performance, ongoing efforts to innovate and huge market capitalizations.
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A Decade of Technological Development
In terms of how far and fast technology has developed, 2014 seems like a lot more than 10 years ago. The tech sector was still seen as one of the largest opportunities for growth and formed the backbone of many forward-thinking financial strategies. But even the most astute analysts would have been hard-pressed to predict how big these tech companies would become and the financial performance that has made them the titans they are today.
Historical FAANG Prices Compared With Where They Are Today
Here are the prices of each of the five FAANG stocks from 10 years ago and today.
|
Stock Symbol |
Approximate Price as of June 2014 |
Closing Price on June 13, 2024 |
|---|---|---|
|
Meta (META) |
$67.22 |
$503.60 |
|
Amazon (AMZN) |
$16.24 |
$183.83 |
|
Apple (AAPL) |
$20.55 |
$214.24 |
|
Netflix (NFLX) |
$62.94 |
$653.26 |
|
Alphabet (GOOG) |
$28.69 |
$176.74 |
If you had invested $5,000 equally in these five companies, for an investment of $1,000 each, those $1,000 investments would look something like the following.
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With an initial $1,000 investment, you would have been able to pick up almost 15 shares of Facebook. Today, those 15 shares would be worth $7,554.
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By 2014, Amazon was well on its way to dominating the online retail space, and a $1,000 investment would have yielded about nearly 62 shares. Today, those 62 Amazon shares would be worth $11,397 and some change. Not a bad return on investment.
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A cool thousand invested in 2014 would have netted you almost 49 shares. Today, those 49 shares would be worth a little over $10,497.
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In 2014, a $1,000 investment in Netflix would have amounted to nearly 16 shares of the stock, which today would be worth right around $10,452.
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Rounding out the list, a $1,000 investment in Google 10 years ago would have been just about 35 shares. Today, those shares would be worth over $6,185.
In total, that initial $5,000 investment in 2014 would be worth over $46,000 today.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: If You Had Invested $5,000 in the FAANG Stocks 10 Years Ago, Here’s How Much Money You Would’ve Had Today