What if you invested in Alibaba in 2020?
BABA · Technology · Data through 2026-06-01
If you invested $1,000 in Alibaba in 2020
The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $2,540(+154%)
The S&P 500 returned $2,540 on the same $1,000. S&P 500 outperformed by $2,051.
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See how Alibaba stacks up since 2020, head to head.
What if Alibaba keeps this up?
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Growth of $1,000
Alibaba vs. S&P 500 vs. US Dollar, 2020 to present
Year-by-Year Returns
$1,000 invested in Alibaba starting January 2020
| Year | Price | Value | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $194.41 | $1,000 | - |
| 2021 | $238.87 | $1,229 | +22.9% |
| 2022 | $118.37 | $609 | -50.4% |
| 2023 | $103.70 | $533 | -12.4% |
| 2024 | $68.83 | $354 | -33.6% |
| 2025 | $96.31 | $495 | +39.9% |
| 2026 | $168.02 | $864 | +74.4% |
What this return means
Buying Alibaba (BABA) in 2020 cost you money. That stake is worth $489 as of 2026-06-01, a -51.1% move that left you with less than you started with after 6.6 years.
That averages out to -10.3% a year, meaning the position shrank in compound terms across the 6.6-year window. The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund would be about $2,540 over the identical span, so the index came out ahead by roughly $2,051. The index compounded at about 15.2% a year, a reminder that a single stock can lag a basket of them.
The year-by-year record shows how bumpy the ride was. The best single year was 2025 at +39.9%, and the worst was 2022 at -50.4%. At its lowest point the position was down about 71% from an earlier high. These figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, trading fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.
Treat this as history rather than advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
What if you invested $100 a month instead?
Most people do not drop a lump sum in on day one. They add a fixed amount every month. Putting $100 into Alibaba at the close of every month from January 2020 through June 2026 means 78 buys and $7,800 contributed over about 6.5 years.
$100/month, dollar-cost averaged
$6,682
-14.3% on $7,800 in
Same $7,800, all in at the start
$3,816
-51.1% on $7,800 in
Spreading the buys out beat going all in at the start by $2,866. That happens when the price spent time below where it began, so averaging in caught the cheaper months. Averaging in also meant an average buy price of $111.03 per share across the whole stretch, so the monthly buyer never had to time a single low. Neither number counts dividends, taxes, or trading costs.
Illustrative fixed $100/month example, not a recommendation. Figures are computed from BABA split-adjusted monthly closes through June 2026. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Alibaba at different times
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Numbers worth sharing
Occasional data drops when something interesting surfaces. No schedule, just signal.
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.