What if I had invested in Intel
Every lump sum scenario for Intel, start year by start year, using real prices and each month's exchange rate.
Intel, a stock listed on Wall Street, gained 69.4% in dollar terms between December 2003 and November 2026: a modest +2.3% a year. At $54.28, the price is 61.1% below the $140 record set in June 2026, split-adjusted. A lump sum would have paid off for 92% of the 275 possible purchase months since December 2003; the rest are still underwater.
Data: Yahoo Finance monthly closing prices, up to date as of (latest update November 5, 2026) MethodAuthor: Yann Avondo
If I had invested $1,000 as a lump sum in Intel in January 2016, today I would have $1,576
Over the same period
Worst moment: −69.6% between March 2021 and January 2025. To get this result, you had to hold on without selling.
Intel at a glance
Intel dominated PC processors for decades before losing ground to AMD, Apple and Asian foundries. Its stock shows that yesterday’s leader can underperform for a long time.
The ride was anything but smooth: between March 2021 and January 2025, Intel lost 69.6% of its value in dollar terms, and it took until April 2026 to regain that peak, 5 years and 1 month later. Calendar year after calendar year, 14 of 22 ended higher; the best, 2023, returned +90.1%, the worst, 2024, cost 60.1%. Over the same period, the MSCI World (price index) returned +7.0% a year in dollar terms: Intel did worse.
$1,000 invested in Intel, by start year
Bought in January, valued at the latest price. Click a year for the full story.
| Start | Worth today | Multiple | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,707 | ×2.71 | +68.1% | |
| $1,080 | ×1.08 | +2.7% | |
| $2,054 | ×2.05 | +20.2% | |
| $1,054 | ×1.05 | +1.1% | |
| $1,089 | ×1.09 | +1.5% | |
| $907 | ×0.91 | −1.4% | |
| $1,157 | ×1.16 | +1.9% | |
| $1,176 | ×1.18 | +1.8% | |
| $1,496 | ×1.5 | +4.1% | |
| $1,576 | ×1.58 | +4.3% | |
| $1,496 | ×1.5 | +3.4% | |
| $2,091 | ×2.09 | +5.9% | |
| $2,632 | ×2.63 | +7.2% | |
| $2,238 | ×2.24 | +5.5% | |
| $2,581 | ×2.58 | +6.1% | |
| $2,661 | ×2.66 | +6.0% | |
| $3,702 | ×3.7 | +7.6% | |
| $2,036 | ×2.04 | +3.8% | |
| $2,680 | ×2.68 | +5.1% | |
| $2,175 | ×2.17 | +3.8% | |
| $2,321 | ×2.32 | +3.9% | |
| $1,694 | ×1.69 | +2.3% |
Lump sum or DCA in Intel?
Since January 2016, investing in Intel all at once (lump sum) multiplied the stake by ×1.58, +4.3% a year. Investing every month (DCA) multiplied the total contributions by ×1.39, an annual return (IRR) of +5.9%.
Here DCA did better: spreading the purchases avoided putting all the money in at the wrong time.
Frequently asked questions
How much would $1,000 invested in Intel 10 years ago be worth today?
$1,000 invested in Intel in January 2016 would be worth about $1,576 today, an average annual return of +4.3% (price only, in the displayed currency).
What if I had invested $1,000 in Intel in 2015?
Invested in January 2015, $1,000 would be worth about $1,496 today, +3.4% a year on average.
What if I had invested $1,000 in Intel in 2020?
Invested in January 2020, $1,000 would be worth about $907 today, −1.4% a year on average.
What was the best year to invest in Intel?
Among the start years covered, 2009 gave the best result: $1,000 would have become $3,702. The weakest was 2020, worth $907 today. This ranking is only known with hindsight.
Are dividends included?
By default, the calculation follows the market price only. The "Reinvest dividends" option uses the adjusted price, which includes dividends paid and stock splits: the closest measure of what an investor actually earned.
Are exchange rates taken into account?
Yes. Intel trades in its own currency; every purchase and valuation is converted at that month's exchange rate. A US asset can gain in dollars and less in euros if the dollar weakened.
Are fees and taxes included?
No: results are before brokerage fees, fund fees and taxes. Your net result depends on the account you invest through.
Compare with
Before you have regrets
What this calculation does not tell you.
Hindsight bias
Picking Nvidia or Bitcoin today means picking known winners. Back then, nothing set them apart from hundreds of assets that went nowhere or vanished.
Holding on was the real test
The result assumes you never sold, including through the drawdowns shown above. Very few investors actually do.
The broad market, no bet required
The MSCI World never makes headlines, but it does not require guessing the winner. It is the fairest yardstick for any pick.
Method: past performance, computed from split-adjusted monthly closing prices (intra-month lows are smoothed out). Converted at each month’s exchange rate; no fees, no taxes. The MSCI World benchmark is the price index, excluding dividends. Sources: Yahoo Finance (prices, exchange rates, US Treasury bills), Eurostat (inflation), published regulated rates (Livret A). Not investment advice. NokxiHub.