Tech giant Apple Inc. (ticker: AAPL) has only grown in stature over the last 12 months. Through April 21, AAPL stock is up 63% in the last year, including dividends. Not bad for a company now worth $3.9 trillion.
But Apple hasn’t always been one of the top three most valuable companies in the world — 20 years ago, the tech giant had a humble market cap of around $58 billion.
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Despite its ferocious multi-decade rally, Apple shares have still been hitting fresh new all-time highs in in the last year, emphasizing the fact that buying the dips in Apple stock has historically been a shrewd move for long-term investors.
Apple’s 20-Year Journey
In 2026, it’s difficult to imagine a world of phones and personal electronic devices that is not dominated by Apple. However, way back in 2006, Apple wasn’t even in the smartphone business.
Apple launched the first iPhone in 2007. Over the 19 years that followed, Apple has sold more than 3 billion iPhones, making it one of the most successful and profitable products of all time.
When iPhone growth began to slow in 2016, Apple made the aggressive decision to pivot its focus from hardware sales to recurring services revenue. In fiscal 2025, Apple’s services alone, including its App Store, iCloud and Apple Care businesses, generated $109.2 billion in revenue, more than double the total revenue of Fortune 500 companies like Intel Corp. (INTC), Visa Inc. (V) and Nike Inc. (NKE).
Apple’s stock has performed so well in the past two decades that the company has completed two stock splits over that time: a 7-for-1 split in 2014 and a 4-for-1 split in 2020.
During the global financial crisis of 2008, Apple took a hit along with the rest of the market. Shares finished 2008 down 56.9%, its worst annual performance of the past 20 years. Fortunately for Apple investors, the sell-off didn’t last long. In fact, after hitting its low point of the crisis in January 2009, Apple shares were back at all-time highs once again by October 2009.
Apple investors also dealt with uncertainty surrounding the transition of power when visionary co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. Jobs stepped down from his position as CEO in August 2011 and died roughly two months later. Jobs was replaced by Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, and plenty of investors were skeptical about Apple’s ability to continue to grow without Jobs at the helm. Cook quickly proved his detractors wrong, however, and Apple shares gained more than 76% in his first 12 months as CEO.
In 2026, a new executive transition is under way, as it’s Cook’s turn to pass the torch. On Sept. 1, Cook will become executive chairman of the board of directors, and John Ternus, currently the head of hardware engineering, will step into the CEO role. Cook’s 15-year tenure was enormously lucrative for Apple investors; as of April 21, the stock has surged 2,262% over Cook’s reign, when including dividends.
The iPhone wasn’t the only key product launch for Apple in the past 20 years that fueled the stock’s meteoric rise. Apple launched the iPad in 2010, the Apple Watch in 2015, AirPods in 2016 and the HomePod smart speaker in 2018.
Today, Apple investors are in good company. Legendary billionaire investor Warren Buffett began buying AAPL stock for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B) portfolio in early 2016. Though Berkshire has trimmed its position in recent years, Buffett now holds about $61 billion in Apple stock, making it Berkshire’s largest public stock holding.
The Numbers on Apple Stock
Apple’s ability to continue to innovate has helped the company absolutely balloon its financials over the last two decades. Between fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2025, Apple grew revenue from $13.9 billion to $416 billion (2,893% growth) and its net income from $1.34 billion to a staggering $112 billion (8,258% growth).
Over the past 20 years, Apple shares have generated a total return of roughly 13,142% compared to a 439% total return for the S&P 500 during that stretch. Those gains translate to a 27.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for Apple compared to an 8.8% CAGR for the S&P 500 in that time.
That means that $10,000 in AAPL stock purchased 20 years ago would be worth more than $1.32 million today, assuming reinvested dividends. The same amount invested in the S&P 500 20 years ago would be worth $53,871 today with dividends reinvested.
Analyst Outlook
Even after those extremely impressive long-term returns, Wall Street analysts remain bullish on the iPhone maker. Among the 47 analysts covering Apple stock, Apple has 31 “buy” or “strong buy” ratings compared to just 14 “hold” ratings and two “underperform” or “sell” ratings.
Time will tell which analysts are directionally correct on Apple; the bullish analysts have certainly been more on target for the past two decades.
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How Much Would $10,000 Invested in Apple Stock 20 Years Ago Be Worth Today? originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 04/22/26: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
