$10,000 put into Nvidia shares at the close on 13 October 2016 was worth $1,425,305 ten years later, on 13 October 2026, with stock splits and dividends counted. That is 142.53 times the starting sum. The largest fall from a previous high on the way was 66.3%, between November 2021 and October 2022.
A stock split turns each share into several, so the price per share falls but the holding keeps its value. Nvidia split its shares twice in these ten years. Dividends, the cash a company pays its shareholders, are counted here as reinvested in more shares.
What would $10,000 invested in Nvidia 10 years ago be worth now? $10,000 put into Nvidia shares at the close on 13 October 2016 was worth $1,425,305 at the close on 13 October 2026, with stock splits and dividends counted. That works out at 64.21% a year.
The largest fall from a previous high on the way was 66.3%, from 29 November 2021 to 14 October 2022. The balance first closed at or above its 29 November 2021 level again on 25 May 2023, 542 calendar days after that peak.
SPY (the S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, or ETF), which holds the S&P 500, an index of large US companies, turned the same $10,000 into $42,798, so the Nvidia balance was 33.30 times that. Three-month US Treasury bills, loans to the US government, would have given $12,749 on monthly data to September 2026.
Nvidia split its shares four-for-one in July 2021 and ten-for-one in June 2024. Dividends added $26,560, which is 1.9% of the final balance.
How the ten-year balance is worked out
The $1,425,305 comes from an adjusted series that restates each earlier day for the splits and dividends that came after it.
Nvidia closed at $65.35 on 13 October 2016. In the adjusted series that day has the value 1.603306, which is not a share price. The 13 October 2026 value is $228.52, the actual close.
Dividing 228.52 by 1.603306 gives about 142.53 times the starting money. So $10,000 became $1,425,305, a gain of 14,153% over the ten years. The exact multiple, 142.5305, comes from the unrounded 1.6033058974.
Source: YX Insights
The chart shows the balance on each 13 October, or on the next trading day where that date fell at a weekend. A trading day is a day the US market is open.
The balance fell in two of the ten years. It fell 20.42% in the year to 14 October 2019, from $36,275 to $28,868. It fell 42.84% in the year to 13 October 2022, from $130,029 to $74,330.
Spread evenly across the ten years, the gain works out at 64.21% a year. This is the compound annual growth rate, the steady yearly rate that turns the starting sum into the final one.
Investing $100 a month for ten years runs the same test for monthly payments.
What stock splits and dividends do to the price
Nvidia split its shares twice in the ten years. Trading on a split-adjusted basis began on 20 July 2021 for the four-for-one split and on 10 June 2024 for the ten-for-one split.
Four times ten is 40. $10,000 would have bought 153.02 shares at $65.35. After the two splits those shares had become 6,120.89, worth $1,398,745 at $228.52 each, which is the balance from the share price alone.
On 20 July 2021 the closing price fell from $751.19 to $186.12 as every share became four. The holding itself lost 0.89% that day.
That is why two quoted prices can mislead. $65.35 in 2016 and $228.52 in 2026 suggest 3.50 times the money, but the share count gives 139.87 times on the share price alone.
Dividends are the second adjustment. With every dividend used to buy more shares, the balance was $1,425,305, against $1,398,745 on the share price alone. Reinvested dividends added $26,560, which is 1.9% of the final balance.
Our explainer on dividends sets out how the payments work.
How far the balance fell below its previous high
A drawdown is the fall from the highest point a balance has reached to its lowest point before it makes a new high. What a drawdown is goes through the measure.
Source: YX Insights
The line is weekly: each point is the lowest daily reading in that week of how far the balance sat below its own previous high. The deepest drawdown came on 14 October 2022, 66.3% down.
The balance stood at $207,261 on 29 November 2021 and $69,774 at the low. The two dates are 221 trading days apart. The balance first closed at or above the 29 November 2021 level again on 25 May 2023, 542 calendar days after that peak.
That 66.3% runs from the November 2021 high to the October 2022 low. The year to 13 October 2022 in the first chart fell 42.84%, a different measure, the change between two 13 Octobers.
The balance fell by more than half from a previous high twice in the ten years. The table gives both.
Peak | Low | Fall | Balance, peak to low | First close at or above the peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 October 2018 | 24 December 2018 | 56.0% | $44,594 to $19,605 | 14 February 2020 |
29 November 2021 | 14 October 2022 | 66.3% | $207,261 to $69,774 | 25 May 2023 |
Source: YX Insights.
The 1 October 2018 peak was matched or passed again on 14 February 2020. The 29 November 2021 peak was matched or passed again on 25 May 2023. At no point in the ten years did the balance close below the $10,000 put in.
One more fall was still open on 13 October 2026. The balance of $1,425,305 that day was 4.5% below its highest balance, $1,492,167 on 6 October 2026. The fall from that high had reached 5.4% at its lowest point so far, on 12 October 2026.
How Nvidia compares with the S&P 500 and with cash
The same $10,000 put into SPY on 13 October 2016 became $42,798 on 13 October 2026, with dividends reinvested. The S&P 500 version of this question has the full workings.
The growth rate was 64.21% a year against 15.65%. The deepest fall in SPY over the same ten years was 33.7%, against 66.3% for Nvidia.
A US Treasury bill is a loan to the US government for a year or less. Earning the three-month rate on $10,000 from October 2016 to September 2026 would have left $12,749.
The Treasury bill figure uses monthly data to September 2026, the latest month published as at 15 October 2026, while the stock window ends on 13 October 2026.
Outcome for $10,000 | Balance | Nvidia balance divided by this balance |
|---|---|---|
Nvidia shares | $1,425,305 | 1.00 |
SPY, the S&P 500 ETF | $42,798 | 33.30 |
Three-month US Treasury bills (monthly data to September 2026) | $12,749 | 111.80 |
Cash earning no interest | $10,000 | 142.53 |
Source: FRED series TB3MS; YX Insights.
What choosing Nvidia with hindsight leaves out
The start date is arbitrary. A different start gives a different answer: $10,000 put in a year later, on 13 October 2017, would have been worth $476,450 on 13 October 2026.
The return was not spread evenly. On 13 October 2023, three years before the end, the balance was $282,703. The last three years multiplied it by 5.04, against 142.53 over the ten.
Nvidia is in this question because its shares rose, which is known only afterwards. The same exercise on a company whose shares fell would give the opposite result.
Our guide to the study reports that Hendrik Bessembinder's paper "Do stocks outperform Treasury bills?" (Journal of Financial Economics, 2018) found that 57.4% of US stocks listed from 1926 to 2016 returned less than one-month Treasury bills over their listed lives.
The paper's data end in December 2016, so it covers almost none of the 2016 to 2026 window.
What the $1,425,305 does not include
Every figure here is before tax, which depends on the account and the country; how dividends are taxed covers the dividend rules.
Fees are missing too. An investment platform charging 0.25% a year, used here as an illustration, would have left $1,390,071.
Inflation is missing as well. The Consumer Price Index is the main US measure of the prices households pay. It rose 39.1% between October 2016 and September 2026, the latest month published as at 15 October 2026.
That rise is an index ratio of 1.39115. Dividing the $1,425,305 by it leaves $1,024,552, the same balance measured in October 2016 money.
So $10,000 became $1,425,305 over the ten years to 13 October 2026, or $1,024,552 once the rise in prices is taken out. The 66.3% fall inside it is a measurement of what has already happened.
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Common questions about investing $10,000 in Nvidia
How much is $10,000 invested in Nvidia 10 years ago worth today?
On 13 October 2026, $10,000 put into Nvidia shares at the close on 13 October 2016 was worth $1,425,305, with stock splits and dividends counted. That is 142.53 times the starting sum, or 64.21% a year, as at the 13 October 2026 close and not a live price.
How much would $1,000 invested in Nvidia 10 years ago be worth?
$1,000 put into Nvidia shares at the close on 13 October 2016 was worth $142,531 at the close on 13 October 2026, with stock splits and dividends counted. The multiple is 142.5305 times, so any starting amount scales the same way. Tax, fees and inflation are not included.
What was Nvidia's biggest drop in the last 10 years?
The deepest fall was 66.3%, from 29 November 2021 to 14 October 2022. A balance of $207,261 became $69,774 in 221 trading days. The balance first closed at or above that peak again on 25 May 2023, 542 calendar days after it.
Did Nvidia stock split in the last 10 years?
Yes, twice. Nvidia split its shares four-for-one, with split-adjusted trading from 20 July 2021, then ten-for-one, from 10 June 2024. A split changes the price per share but not the value of the holding.
Did Nvidia beat the S&P 500 over the last 10 years?
Yes, over the ten years from 13 October 2016 to 13 October 2026: $10,000 in Nvidia shares became $1,425,305, against $42,798 in SPY, the S&P 500 ETF. The Nvidia balance fell further on the way, 66.3% at its worst against 33.7%. The S&P 500 version has the workings.
DISCLAIMER: This article is strictly educational. Any information or analysis in this note is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice.