If You'd Invested $1,000 in Home Depot 15 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

Back in August 2011, Home Depot (NYSE: HD) didn't look like a multibagger in the making. Shares had bounced back from the lows they sank to at the height of the Great Recession in early 2009, but they remained well below the high-water mark they had set around the start of the new millennium.

Looking back, however, that was an ideal time to load up on this blue chip stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

A five-figure nest egg

Over the past 15 years, total returns, or stock price appreciation with dividends reinvested, for Home Depot have totaled around 1,290%. For comparison, total returns for the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index come to around 757% over the same time frame.

In other words, a $1,000 investment made in August 2011 would now be worth around $13,900. Not only that, based on Home Depot's current forward dividend yield of about 2.8%, that position would generate about $389 in annual dividend income. That would be a nearly 39% yield on the initial 2011 investment.

The key lesson for investors

Some factors driving Home Depot's stunning price appreciation over the past decade and a half may prove difficult to replicate. In 2011, the U.S. housing market was still near the bottom of its post-financial crisis trough. The 2010s housing market recovery, coupled with the pandemic-era boom in both home purchases and renovations, meant several extended periods of robust demand growth.

Home Depot's share repurchases during the 2010s further boosted earnings per share growth. Between 2010 and 2019, Home Depot reduced its share count by around 35%. As a result, Home Depot went from earning $2.47 per share in 2011 to $14.23 per share in 2025, an over fivefold increase. Add in other factors like multiple expansion, and it's easy to see why another 13x gain within the next 15 years may be unlikely.

However, this example could help you identify current stocks similar to Home Depot in 2011. Namely, look for out-of-favor stocks in industries that are at the bottom of their business cycles, trading at discounted valuations that suggest further trouble ahead. Finding such potential winners is not easy, but the challenge is what creates the long-term opportunity.

Thomas Niel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Home Depot. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.