Which was the better investment since 2005, AMD or Nvidia?

Nvidia was the better investment. $1,000 invested in Nvidia in 2005 would be worth $1.14M today, compared to $36,766 for AMD.

What would $1,000 in AMD vs Nvidia be worth today?

$1,000 invested in AMD in 2005 would be worth $36,766 today (+3576.6%). The same $1,000 in Nvidia would be worth $1.14M (+114168.0%).

How do AMD and Nvidia compare to the S&P 500 since 2005?

The same $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 in 2005 would be worth $9,342 today (+834.2%). AMD returned $36,766 and Nvidia returned $1.14M over the same period.

AMD vs Nvidia: $1,000 invested since 2005

AMD vs NVDA · Data through 2026-06-01

Investment amount

$1,000 invested in 2005 would be worth

AMD

$36,766

+3576.6%

NvidiaWinner

$1.18M

+117464.7%

The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $9,342(+834.2%)

Growth of $1,000

AMD vs. Nvidia vs. S&P 500, 2005 to present

Year-by-year comparison

AMD vs. Nvidia, 2005 to present

Year	AMD	Return	Nvidia	Return	S&P 500
2005	$1,000	-	$1,000	-	$1,000
2006	$2,646	+164.6%	$1,962	+96.2%	$1,098
2007	$984	-62.8%	$2,675	+36.3%	$1,261
2008	$480	-51.2%	$3,219	+20.3%	$1,227
2009	$139	-71.1%	$1,041	-67.7%	$758
2010	$472	+240.6%	$2,014	+93.6%	$1,005
2011	$496	+5.0%	$3,131	+55.4%	$1,228
2012	$425	-14.3%	$1,933	-38.3%	$1,280
2013	$165	-61.3%	$1,615	-16.5%	$1,491
2014	$217	+31.9%	$2,113	+30.9%	$1,811
2015	$163	-25.1%	$2,631	+24.5%	$2,066
2016	$139	-14.4%	$4,080	+55.1%	$2,048
2017	$656	+371.4%	$15,354	+276.3%	$2,458
2018	$870	+32.5%	$34,702	+126.0%	$3,104
2019	$1,545	+77.7%	$20,351	-41.4%	$3,029
2020	$2,975	+92.5%	$33,603	+65.1%	$3,678
2021	$5,420	+82.2%	$73,970	+120.1%	$4,310
2022	$7,231	+33.4%	$139,557	+88.7%	$5,309
2023	$4,756	-34.2%	$111,455	-20.1%	$4,875
2024	$10,613	+123.1%	$351,156	+215.1%	$5,879
2025	$7,339	-30.9%	$685,475	+95.2%	$7,421
2026	$14,983	+104.2%	$1.09M	+59.2%	$8,633

Which came out ahead

Starting in 2005, Nvidia (NVDA) was the better of the two against AMD (AMD). That $1,000 grew to $1,142,680 in NVDA versus $36,766 in AMD as of 2026-06-01, about 31x the ending value.

The headline returns line up with the dollar figures. Nvidia returned +114,168% against AMD at +3576.6%, a gap of about 110,591 percentage points over the 21.6-year window. Compounded, that is about 38.6% a year for NVDA against 18.2% for AMD.

Both holdings beat a plain S&P 500 fund over the same span, which would have turned that $1,000 into about $9,342 at roughly 10.9% a year. The ride was not equally smooth. AMD moved across a far wider band of yearly returns than Nvidia did. All figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.

Treat this as history rather than advice about either company. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Other start years

AMD vs Nvidia from a different starting point

Since 2000 Since 2010 Since 2015 Since 2020 Since 2023

Individual stock pages

AMD since 2005+3576.6%Nvidia since 2005+114,168%

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For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All calculations are based on split-adjusted closing prices from Yahoo Finance and do not account for dividends, taxes, or trading fees. See our methodology and full disclaimer.