What if I had invested $100 a month in NIO
Investing a fixed amount every month, whatever the price: that is dollar-cost averaging. Here is what this strategy would have done in NIO, depending on the year you started.
NIO, a stock listed on Wall Street, lost 51.8% of its value in dollar terms between September 2018 and November 2026, −8.6% a year. For a monthly investor, only 9% of the 98 monthly purchases made since September 2018 were below today's price; the rest are at a loss today.
Data: Yahoo Finance monthly closing prices, up to date as of (latest update November 4, 2026) MethodAuthor: Yann Avondo
If I had invested $100 every month in NIO since January 2019, today I would have $5,207
Over the same period
Worst moment: −94.4% between January 2021 and October 2026. To get this result, you had to hold on without selling.
NIO at a glance
NIO is a Chinese premium electric-car maker known for its battery-swap stations. Its stock rose more than tenfold in 2020, then gave back most of those gains: a textbook growth-stock bubble.
Between January 2021 and October 2026, NIO lost 94.4% of its value in dollar terms, and that peak has still not been regained. Over the same period, the MSCI World (price index) returned +10.5% a year in dollar terms: NIO lagged well behind. Volatility is very high: the best calendar year, 2020, shows +1,112.4%, the worst, 2022, −69.2%; 2 of 7 years ended in the green.
$100 a month in NIO, by start year
One contribution at the start of each month since January of the given year, valued at the latest price. Click a year for the full story.
| Start | Invested | Worth today | Multiple | Annual IRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,300 | $1,657 | ×0.72 | −29.3% | |
| $3,500 | $2,452 | ×0.7 | −22.3% | |
| $4,700 | $2,888 | ×0.61 | −23.4% | |
| $5,900 | $3,114 | ×0.53 | −25.1% | |
| $7,100 | $3,209 | ×0.45 | −26.7% | |
| $8,300 | $3,889 | ×0.47 | −22.3% | |
| $9,500 | $5,207 | ×0.55 | −15.5% |
Lump sum or DCA in NIO?
Since January 2019, investing in NIO all at once (lump sum) multiplied the stake by ×0.53, −7.8% a year. Investing every month (DCA) multiplied the total contributions by ×0.55, an annual return (IRR) of −15.5%.
Here the lump sum did better: money invested early rode the whole rise. That is the most common outcome on an asset that goes up.
Frequently asked questions
What if I had started investing $100 a month in NIO in 2020?
Since January 2020, $8,300 invested in total would be worth about $3,889 today (IRR of −22.3% a year).
Is investing monthly better than investing all at once?
Historically, investing a lump sum right away returns more in most cases, because markets rise more often than they fall. But monthly investing smooths the purchase price, protects against the worst timing and matches how people actually save: from their paycheck, month after month.
How is the annual return calculated?
With spread-out contributions, the multiple of the amount invested does not tell the whole story: the last dollars had only a few months to grow. The IRR (internal rate of return) is the average annual return that, applied to each contribution from its date, produces the final value.
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.