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Apple shares drastically outperformed the S&P 500 in the last 10 years, receiving a small boost from the dividend.
Besides earnings growth, valuation expansion was a key factor that propelled the stock.
Ten years ago, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) carried a market cap of $591 billion. At the time, it was the most valuable business in the world. What's impressive is that even coming off a massive starting base, this company has continued to grow. It now sports a market cap of more than $4 trillion (as of Dec. 20).
This means that long-term shareholders have benefited. If you'd invested $1,000 in this consumer discretionary stock 10 years ago, here's how much you'd have today.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
Image source: Getty Images.
A $1,000 starting sum to buy Apple shares in December 2015 would be worth $11,450 right now. This translates to a total return of 1,040%. That gain includes the dividend, which is a small payout today at $0.26 per quarter. However, the dividend has increased by 100% in the past 10 years.
The S&P 500's total return during the same time period of 305% comes up well short of Apple's.
Between fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2025 (ended Sept. 27), Apple's revenue soared 78%, as it sold more of its popular hardware devices and saw its services segment grow rapidly. Net income rose 110% over that time. But valuation expansion was the biggest tailwind for the stock.
Looking out at the next decade, Apple's more muted growth prospects mean that investors shouldn't expect past returns to repeat.
Before you buy stock in Apple, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Apple wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $509,039!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,109,506!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 972% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of December 21, 2025.
Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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