Spoiler: You’d have a lot.
Ten years ago, it was 2015 — an eventful year. Nearly 200 countries agreed to reduce emissions and focus on renewable energy, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were accused of underinflating footballs, and the Supreme Court affirmed same-sex marriage nationwide.
It was also a year when Tesla (TSLA -0.05%), founded in 2003, was still called Tesla Motors. Tesla debuted its first freestanding charging stations in 2012 in California, and in 2013, it had reported its first profitable quarter. In 2015, the company launched solar energy products. You might wonder, then, how you’d have done had you invested in Tesla way back — such as in 2015.
Image source: Getty Images.
Here’s your answer: If you’d invested $1,000 in shares of Tesla at the beginning of 2015, you’d have a stake worth $27,615 a decade later. That’s an average annual gain of around 39%, more than triple the S&P 500‘s average annual gain of 12%. (That S&P 500 gain is without dividends reinvested. Reinvesting them would bump up the return to 13%.) The S&P 500 has averaged annual gains of close to 10% over many decades, so this decade was an above-average one, turning $1,000 into almost $3,400 with dividends reinvested.
Tesla has grown so powerfully, recently valued at $1.3 trillion, that it’s among the “Magnificent Seven” stocks, along with Apple, Amazon.com, (Google parent) Alphabet, (Facebook parent) Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
Tesla shares are volatile, though. Over the past year, they soared more than 50%, but over the past three years, they averaged only 2.49% growth. Over the past five years, they averaged 67.6%. How will Tesla perform in 2025? Where will Tesla stock be in five years? You need to have an idea of how to answer those questions if you’re thinking of investing in Tesla today.
Check out its valuation, too, which seems rich at recent levels, with a recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 110, well above the five-year average of 77. Its growth has been slowing, too.
John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Selena Maranjian has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
