What If You Invested $1,000 in NVIDIA in 2005?

Worth Today

$1,266,944.44

+$1,265,944.44 profit1267x

Invested

$1,000.00

CAGR

38.9%

Time Period

21.7 years

Return

+126,594%

A $1,000 investment in NVIDIA at the start of 2005 would be worth approximately $1,266,944.44 today — a 1266.9x return representing a 38.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over 21.7 years.

Try your own numbers

If I had putintoat the start of…

it would be worth today

$1,266,944

+$1,265,944 profit1267x38.9% a year

The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund: $9,564

Its shares paid about $2,889 in dividends over the last 12 months.

Aftertax on the gain, you’d keep$1,077,053

US federal long-term rates: 15% for most people, 0% on lower incomes, 20% + 3.8% on high incomes. No state tax included; none inside a Roth IRA.

Growth Over Time

Performance Metrics

Total Invested

$1,000.00

Current Value

$1,266,944.44

Total Profit

$1,265,944.44

Multiplier

1267x

CAGR

38.9%

Max Drawdown

-79.4%

Inflation-Adjusted

$759,000.77

Benchmark Comparison

How does $1,000.00 invested in 2005 compare across different asset classes?

AssetValue TodayReturn
NVIDIA$1,266,944.441267x
S&P 500$9,563.829.56x
Gold$9,657.939.66x
Savings (2% APY)$1,538.151.54x

Dividends

Over the last 12 months, the 5,556 shares you'd own now paid about $2,889 in dividends (about $240.74 a month). That's 289% of the $1,000 put in.

Price growth alone turned $1,000 into $1,158,874; reinvested dividends added the other $108,070, 8.5% of the gain.

Dividends from Yahoo Finance. Shares today assume every dividend was reinvested.

Back in 2005

  • In May 2005, Sony unveiled the PlayStation 3, revealing that the console would use an NVIDIA graphics chip called RSX. theregister.com
  • In 2005, a gallon of gas averaged $2.27 and a movie ticket averaged $6.41. eia.govvariety.com
  • During 2005 itself, NVIDIA rose 61%, #5 of the 60 investments we track. The best was Apple (+136%); the worst was Ford (−45%). Full 2005 results →

$1,000 in NVIDIA, year by year

Of the 60 investments we track that were available at the start of 2005, NVIDIA ranks #1 by growth to today, the best of them — ahead of Netflix. See the full 2005 ranking →

It has been worth more than the $1,000 put in at every January since, and still is today. Today's $1,266,944 is more than it was worth at any January since. It rose in 15 of the 21 full years since. It has been ahead of the same $1,000 in the S&P 500 at every January since, and still is. Month by month, the deepest fall ran from Sep 2007 ($4,610) to Nov 2008 ($950.14), a drop of 79%. At its lowest month-end, in Apr 2005, it was worth $929.79.

WhenWorthChangeS&P 500
Start of 2005$1,000—$1,000
Start of 2006$1,611+61%$1,049
Start of 2007$3,056+90%$1,215
Start of 2008$4,222+38%$1,282
Start of 2009$1,111−74%$807
Start of 2010$2,333+110%$1,021
Start of 2011$2,000−14%$1,175
Start of 2012$1,778−11%$1,200
Start of 2013$1,611−9.4%$1,392
Start of 2014$2,056+28%$1,842
Start of 2015$2,667+30%$2,095
Start of 2016$4,389+65%$2,124
Start of 2017$13,944+218%$2,378
Start of 2018$27,389+96%$2,897
Start of 2019$18,778−31%$2,770
Start of 2020$33,167+77%$3,642
Start of 2021$72,667+119%$4,312
Start of 2022$167,000+130%$5,550
Start of 2023$79,444−52%$4,544
Start of 2024$267,444+237%$5,739
Start of 2025$768,167+187%$7,175
Start of 2026$1,046,722+36%$8,458
Today$1,266,944+21%$9,564

Values at the start of each year (first trading day for stocks). The S&P 500 column includes reinvested dividends, like the stock values.

Historical Context

At the start of 2005, NVIDIA was priced at $0.18 (adjusted for later splits and dividends). $1,000 would have bought about 5,556 shares. NVIDIA designs graphics processors (GPUs) used for gaming, data centers and artificial intelligence.

Measured from one January to the next, NVIDIA's best year since then was 2023 (+237%) and its worst was 2008 (−74%). Holding on wasn't easy: between the start of 2008 and the start of 2009, the position fell 74% from its high.

Frequently Asked Questions

A $1,000 investment in NVIDIA at the start of 2005 would be worth approximately $1,266,944.44 today — a 1267x return ($1,265,944.44 profit) over 21.7 years.

Methodology & Sources

Price data: Historical prices are the closing price on the first trading day of each year, adjusted for splits and dividends (so returns assume dividends were reinvested), from Yahoo Finance and MacroTrends. Current prices come from Yahoo Finance and refresh hourly; if that source is unavailable, the last saved price is used.

Calculation: Assumes a single purchase at the start of 2005 (or the first trading day, for companies that listed that year), held until today. No transaction fees, taxes, or slippage are included.

Benchmarks: The S&P 500 comparison uses the S&P 500 Total Return index (dividends reinvested, like an index fund) at the start of2005 and today. Gold uses the price per troy ounce. Savings account assumes a 2% APY compounded annually.

Inflation adjustment: Uses U.S. CPI-U annual averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2026 CPI value is estimated.

Educational purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Not financial advice.

Other investments from 2005

See how every stock and crypto ranked since 2005 →

$1,000 in NVIDIA, by year

$1,000 in NVIDIA:1 year ago5 years ago10 years ago

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