FAANG Since 2015: Which Megacap Won the Last Decade?
META · AAPL · AMZN · NFLX · GOOGL · Since 2015 · $1,000 split across each
FAANG is shorthand for the five names that dominated US equity returns through the 2010s: Facebook (now Meta), Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google (Alphabet).
A decade in, the grouping looks more historical than predictive. The gap between the best and worst FAANG performer since 2015 is wider than most investors remember. Chart them together and the story is not five parallel rockets, it is one steady cohort with two outliers that pulled in opposite directions at different times.
What the chart shows
Netflix ran hottest, but not for long
Netflix was the top FAANG performer through 2018, riding the original content thesis. The 2022 subscriber decline cost it roughly half its value in weeks, though it has since recovered much of that ground. Its long-term return is still strong, but the ride has been the bumpiest.
Apple is the quiet compounder
Apple rarely topped any single-year ranking since 2015, yet it finished near the top because it never had a down year comparable to Meta in 2022 or Netflix in 2022. Buybacks and services revenue did much of the work.
Meta had the ugliest 2022 and the best 2023
Meta lost more than two thirds of its value from 2021 highs, then rallied more than 3x off the lows as the metaverse spend moderated and Reels monetization improved. Starting date matters more for Meta than for the others.
Google was the boring middle
Alphabet sat near the median for most of the decade, which turned out to be a feature, not a bug. No catastrophic drawdowns, no blow-off tops. The 2023 AI narrative gave it a late boost.
Amazon trailed later than you would guess
Amazon was a FAANG leader through 2018 on AWS and e-commerce, then spent much of 2022 to 2023 underperforming its peers as growth normalized. The 2020 to 2021 spike masked a long flat period that followed.
Frequently asked questions
Which FAANG stock performed best since 2015?
The ranking shifts by end date, but Apple and Netflix have traded the top spot through most of the decade. Use the interactive tool above to check exact values through the most recent price date.
Is FAANG still a useful grouping in 2026?
Most professional investors now use Magnificent 7 (adds Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, drops Netflix) as the more relevant megacap cohort. FAANG remains useful for looking backward at the 2015 to 2020 era when these five dominated growth allocations.
What about dividends?
Apple pays a small dividend, Meta and Alphabet began paying in 2024, and Amazon and Netflix do not. All returns on this page are price-only. Including dividends would add roughly half a percent per year to Apple and less to the others.
Why does Facebook appear as META?
Facebook rebranded to Meta Platforms and changed its ticker from FB to META in June 2022. Historical prices stitch the two together, so the full 2015 to present series is continuous.
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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.