What If You Invested $100 a Month in Tesla Since 2015?

Investing $100 a month in Tesla from Jan 2015 to Oct 2026 would have turned $14,200 into about $160,467, a gain of $146,267 and a money-weighted annual return of 37.4%. Dividends are reinvested.

Invested
$14,200
Value today
$160,467
Gain
+$146,267
Annual return
37.4%
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Year by year

The value of the portfolio at the end of each year, investing $100 a month at the start of every month from Jan 2015. Money went in 142 times, and the total grew to 11.3 times what was invested.

Invested and portfolio value at the end of each year
Year Invested Portfolio value Gain or loss
2015 $1,200 $1,266 +$66
2016 $2,400 $2,335 −$65
2017 $3,600 $4,654 +$1,054
2018 $4,800 $6,265 +$1,465
2019 $6,000 $9,798 +$3,798
2020 $7,200 $87,288 +$80,088
2021 $8,400 $132,411 +$124,011
2022 $9,600 $46,849 +$37,249
2023 $10,800 $95,974 +$85,174
2024 $12,000 $158,236 +$146,236
2025 $13,200 $177,778 +$164,578
Oct 2026 (latest) $14,200 $160,467 +$146,267

The hardest moment to keep going

The biggest fall in the portfolio's value came between Nov 2021 and Dec 2022, when it dropped 67%, from $143,334 to $46,849, even with new money going in every month. An investor who kept buying through that stretch got more shares for each $100, and those purchases are part of the result above.

Monthly investing vs other choices

  • All at once: putting the same $14,200 into Tesla in Jan 2015 would be worth $386,237 today. The lump sum did better because all of it was invested for the whole period, which is the usual result when prices rise. Most people invest from their income, so few have the whole amount at the start.
  • The S&P 500 instead: $100 a month in the S&P 500 over the same months, with dividends reinvested, would be worth $37,090 (15.2% a year). Tesla came out $123,377 ahead, with more risk from holding a single company.
  • Cash: keeping the money uninvested would leave exactly $14,200, worth less after inflation.

Annual return is the money-weighted return (IRR) of the monthly contributions. Prices are monthly closes from Yahoo Finance, updated each time the site is rebuilt. See the methodology. This is for education only and is not investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.