Dec 17, 2017

Question of the Day: If you invested $1,000 in Netflix stock ten years ago, what would it be worth today?

 

Answer: $51,966 (as of 10/31).

Remember when subscribing to Netflix meant watching the mailbox for DVDs?  One look at their stock price appreciation lets you know they successfully navigated through the “disruption” to at-home entertainment with the adoption and availability of streaming video.  In fact, they are expected to spend $8 billion on original content in 2018.  As for Blockbuster, they did not fare so well. Netflix’s success earned it a place in the group of stocks affectionately referred to as “FAANG” – along side Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Google.

CNBC provides visual display of the 10 year results for a number of well-known stocks: 

Questions for your students

  • Do you think the increase in value was steady over time?  Why or why not?
  • What competitive or technological innovations may have disrupted and then accelerated Netflix’s growth?
  • Do you think as an investor it would have been easy to buy Netflix stock 10 years ago and hold it over this time period? Explain your answer.
  • Who do you think are Netflix’s competitors today?

--------------

Here are the ready-to-use slides for this Question of the Day

--------------

Check out one of NGPF's most popular investing projects in which students track the long-term performance of stocks they select: 5 Stocks on Your Birthday

 

About the Author

Mail Icon

Subscribe to the blog

Get Question of the Day, FinCap Friday, and the latest updates from NGPF in your inbox by subscribing today: