If You'd Invested $10,000 in Amazon 10 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

Key Points

• Despite its already huge size a decade ago, Amazon has put up a tremendous return for shareholders.

• Strong growth in revenue and operating income has driven the stock.

• Amazon is uniquely positioned to benefit from multiple secular trends.

• 10 stocks we like better than Amazon ›

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is one of the most impressive success stories in the internet age. The business seemingly has its hands in so many parts of the economy. This strategy has worked out quite well, as the massive market cap of $2.5 trillion and trailing-12-month sales of $670 billion clearly indicate.

Those bold and smart enough to bet on Amazon have been rewarded with huge returns. If you'd invested $10,000 in this "Magnificent Seven" 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. Learn More »

Image source: Getty Images.

A dominant force in the internet age

Between early September 2015 and today, Amazon shares have surged 845%, turning a $10,000 investment into $94,540. On an annualized basis, this translates to more than 25% gain per year. Amazon trades not too far off of its record high, which was established in February of this year.

Amazon is a perfect example of big companies getting bigger. Its market cap was already a sizable $233 billion 10 years ago. I'd assume that investors back then had reservations that the business could keep expanding in a meaningful way.

Multiple growth drivers

But keep expanding is precisely what Amazon has done. Revenue between Q2 2015 and Q2 2025 was up 623%, while quarterly operating income went from $464 million to $19.2 billion during that time. Amazon benefits from the rise of online shopping, digital advertising, and streaming entertainment, powerful secular trends.

There's also cloud computing. Amazon Web Services (AWS) undoubtedly deserves a ton of credit for pushing this business forward. It has been the key growth and profit driver for Amazon. And now with management's intense focus on artificial intelligence, AWS is poised to become an even more mission-critical platform for its customer base during this technological shift.

While the returns going forward probably won't mirror the past, Amazon is still a smart investment opportunity today.

Should you invest $1,000 in Amazon right now?

Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this:

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $670,781!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,023,752!*

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Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.