What if you invested in Netflix in 2005?
NFLX · Technology · Data through 2026-06-01
If you invested $1,000 in Netflix in 2005
The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $9,342(+834.2%)
The S&P 500 returned $9,342 on the same $1,000. Netflix beat the market by $425,266.
Try a different start date
Pick any month and year to see what Netflix would be worth.
Compare Netflix to another stock
See how Netflix stacks up since 2005, head to head.
What if Netflix keeps this up?
Project forward at Netflix's 32.5% historical growth rate. See 5-30 year scenarios.
Growth of $1,000
Netflix vs. S&P 500 vs. US Dollar, 2005 to present
Year-by-Year Returns
$1,000 invested in Netflix starting January 2005
| Year | Price | Value | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | $0.16 | $1,000 | - |
| 2006 | $0.39 | $2,396 | +139.6% |
| 2007 | $0.33 | $1,983 | -17.2% |
| 2008 | $0.36 | $2,187 | +10.3% |
| 2009 | $0.52 | $3,143 | +43.7% |
| 2010 | $0.89 | $5,413 | +72.2% |
| 2011 | $3.06 | $18,616 | +243.9% |
| 2012 | $1.72 | $10,452 | -43.9% |
| 2013 | $2.36 | $14,369 | +37.5% |
| 2014 | $5.85 | $35,594 | +147.7% |
| 2015 | $6.31 | $38,417 | +7.9% |
| 2016 | $9.18 | $55,903 | +45.5% |
| 2017 | $14.07 | $85,649 | +53.2% |
| 2018 | $27.03 | $164,530 | +92.1% |
| 2019 | $33.95 | $206,652 | +25.6% |
| 2020 | $34.51 | $210,054 | +1.6% |
| 2021 | $53.24 | $324,063 | +54.3% |
| 2022 | $42.71 | $259,998 | -19.8% |
| 2023 | $35.39 | $215,393 | -17.2% |
| 2024 | $56.41 | $343,371 | +59.4% |
| 2025 | $97.68 | $594,549 | +73.2% |
| 2026 | $83.49 | $508,199 | -14.5% |
What this return means
Netflix (NFLX) is one of the biggest winners on the site. That is a +43,361% total return, or roughly 435x your money, measured through 2026-06-01.
That is a compound rate of about 32.5% a year, an extreme pace that few holdings sustain for 21.6 years. A plain S&P 500 fund would have turned that $1,000 into about $9,342 instead, leaving Netflix ahead by around $425,266. The index compounded at about 10.9% a year over that period.
The path was not smooth. The best single year was 2011 at +243.9%, and the worst was 2012 at -43.9%. At its lowest point the position was down about 44% 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.
None of this is a recommendation. It is a record of what already happened, and 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 Netflix at the close of every month from January 2005 through June 2026 means 258 buys and $25,800 contributed over about 21.5 years.
$100/month, dollar-cost averaged
$1,480,353
+5,637.8% on $25,800 in
Same $25,800, all in at the start
$11,513,250
+44,525% on $25,800 in
Going all in at the start beat spreading the buys out by $10,032,897. That is the usual result when a stock trends up: each monthly buy pays a higher price than the last, so the average cost climbs. Averaging in also meant an average buy price of $1.24 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 NFLX split-adjusted monthly closes through June 2026. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Netflix at different times
See how the start year changes the outcome
Featured matchups
See this investment against its closest market rivals
More Technology investments
Compare returns across the sector
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.