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Question of the Day (Update): If you invested $1,000 in Netflix stock ten years ago, what would it be worth now?

By Mason Butts

Jun 02, 2020

Question of the Day, Investing

Answer: NFLX: $71,765.89! (as of 5/29/20)

Remember when subscribing to Netflix meant watching the mailbox for DVDs?

Netflix shares have been prone to large gains and losses as it has grown into a dominant media company. But like Apple, Netflix wasn’t exactly the company it is today 10 years ago. In May of 2008, Netflix was primarily a mail-order DVD rental company that had just rolled out a streaming service that was capped at 10 hours of free viewing a month for the base membership.

If you predicted that streaming was the wave of the future — like CEO Reed Hastings did — every $1,000 you invested in Netflix would be worth over $70,000 today.

Yahoo! Finance provides 10 year results for a number of well-known stocks (to view the rest click here):

Netflix (NFLX): $71,765.89! (as of 5/29/20)
Share price June 1, 2009: $5.63
Share price May 29, 2020: $419.73
Compound annual growth rate: 47.51%

Questions for your students:

Do you think the increase in value was steady over time? Why or why not?
What competitive or technological innovations may have disrupted and then accelerated Netflix’s growth?
Do you think as an investor it would have been easy to buy Netflix stock 10 years ago and hold it over this time period? Explain your answer.
Who do you think are Netflix’s competitors today?

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Here are the ready-to-use slides for this Question of the Day

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Check out one of NGPF's most popular investing projects in which students track the long-term performance of stocks they select: 5 Stocks on Your Birthday

About the Author

Mason Butts

After graduating from UCLA with a Master's in Education, Mason spent 5 years as a science educator in a South Los Angeles public high school. He is committed to supporting the holistic growth of all students and empowering them to live a life of relational, academic, and financial success. Now settled in the Bay Area, Mason enjoys facilitating professional developments and partnering with educators as they prepare students for a bright financial future. When Mason is not building curriculum or planning a training, he can be found cycling, trying new foods, and exploring the outdoors.