Stock Return Calculator

Q: Why are CAGR and XIRR different?

They answer slightly different questions. CAGR pretends all your money went in on day one. XIRR knows the real date of every deposit. If you turn on recurring contributions, use XIRR. CAGR will look too low because it gives new money credit for the whole time period.

Q: What price do my contributions buy shares at?

Each contribution buys shares at the open price on the contribution date. Reinvested dividends also buy at the open price on the ex-dividend date. Fractional shares are allowed, so no cash is left over.

Q: Why do I still see dividends listed when I choose Ignore?

The dividend total is shown for information only. With Ignore selected, those dividends are left out of your portfolio value and out of your return. You are seeing price gains only.

Q: What is the difference between shares purchased and total shares held?

Shares purchased (initial) is what your lump sum bought on day one. Total shares held adds shares from reinvested dividends and from every recurring deposit. Splits are already built into the prices.

Stock Return Calculator

Updated Aug 31, 2026 By Jehan Wadia

Results

Summary Metrics

Portfolio Value Over Time

Events (dividends, splits, contributions)

News / notable move markers

Logarithmic Y-axis

Inflation-adjusted (today's $)

Annotated events on the chart
Date	Marker	Type	Detail

Risk & Composition

Where the final value came from

Step-by-Step Solution

Introduction

This stock return calculator shows you how an investment in a stock could have grown over time. You pick a stock, type how much money you put in, and choose a start and end date. The calculator then shows your final value, your total return, and your yearly return.

You can also do more with it. Turn on dividend reinvestment (DRIP) to buy more shares with each payout. Add regular deposits, like $500 every month, to see how dollar-cost averaging works. Compare up to two other stocks side by side. Every result is measured against the S&P 500, so you can see if your pick beat the market.

The chart plots your money over time and marks dividends, stock splits, big price moves, and each deposit. You can switch to a log scale, adjust for inflation to today's dollars, or open the data table to read the exact numbers. A step-by-step section shows the math behind every answer.

Please note: the prices used here are modeled, not real market prices. Use this tool to learn how returns work, not to make real investment choices.

How to use our Stock Return Calculator

Pick a stock, type how much you invest, and choose your dates. The stock return calculator then shows your final value, total return, yearly return (CAGR and XIRR), risk stats, a growth chart, and how you did against the S&P 500.

Stock ticker or company name: Type a symbol like AAPL or a name like Apple. Use the arrow keys and press Enter to pick it from the list.

Quick pick buttons: Click any popular stock or ETF button to load it fast. The results update right away.

Initial Investment Amount (USD): Enter the lump sum you put in on the start date, like 10000. It must be more than $0.

Start Date: Choose the day you buy the stock. If that day is a weekend or holiday, the tool moves to the nearest trading day.

End Date: Choose the day you sell or check your value. It must be after the start date and cannot be in the future. Today's date is used by default.

Dividend Treatment: Pick "Reinvest (DRIP)" to buy more shares with each dividend, "Cash" to keep dividends as money, or "Ignore" to look at price gains only.

Add recurring contributions: Turn this switch on if you add money over time. Turn it off for a one-time investment.

Contribution Amount (USD): Enter how much you add each time, like 500. This only counts when the switch above is on.

Contribution Frequency: Choose how often you add money: daily, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, or annually.

Compare stocks: Turn this on to line up other stocks next to yours on the chart.

Compare Stock #1 and #2: Type two more tickers, like MSFT and QQQ. The S&P 500 (SPY) is always shown as a benchmark.

Events toggle: Turn this on to mark dividends, stock splits, and contributions on the chart.

News markers toggle: Turn this on to flag the biggest one-day price moves in your date range.

Logarithmic Y-axis: Turn this on to see percent-style growth over long time frames.

Inflation-adjusted: Turn this on to show your value in today's dollars using CPI data.

Calculate and Reset: Click Calculate to run the numbers, or Reset to go back to the default settings.

What Is a Stock Return?

A stock return is how much money you gain or lose on a stock. If you buy $1,000 of a stock and it grows to $1,500, your return is $500, or 50%. Returns come from two things: the share price going up, and the dividends the company pays you. Expressed as a percentage of what you put in, that same figure is your return on investment.

Price Return vs. Total Return

Price return only counts the change in share price. Total return counts the price change plus dividends. Total return is the more honest number. Over long periods, dividends can make up a big part of what you earn, so leaving them out makes a stock look worse than it really was.

Dividends and DRIP

A dividend is a cash payment a company sends to shareholders, usually four times a year. You can do three things with it:

Reinvest (DRIP): the cash buys more shares right away. More shares pay more dividends, which buy more shares. This is compounding, and it is powerful over many years.
Take the cash: you keep the money and your share count stays the same.
Ignore it: you look at price movement only.

Dollar-Cost Averaging

Dollar-cost averaging means adding the same amount of money on a set schedule, like $500 every month. You buy more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high. This smooths out your average cost and takes emotion out of the choice of when to buy.

CAGR and XIRR

CAGR stands for compound annual growth rate. It is the steady yearly rate that would turn your starting money into your ending money. It works well for a single lump sum.

XIRR is better when you add money over time. It weighs every deposit by the exact date it was made. A dollar added last year has not had as much time to grow as a dollar added ten years ago, and XIRR knows the difference. If you use recurring contributions, trust XIRR over CAGR.

Risk Numbers to Watch

Volatility shows how much a stock jumps around. A high number means big swings up and down; it is the annualised standard deviation of daily returns. Maximum drawdown is the worst drop from a high point to the low point that followed. If a stock fell 55% at its worst, you need to ask yourself if you could have held on through that. Big gains often come with a bumpy ride.

Why Compare to the S&P 500

The S&P 500 tracks 500 large U.S. companies. Many people buy it through a low-cost index fund like SPY. It is the fair yardstick for any single stock. If a stock did not beat the index, the extra risk of holding just one company was not worth it. Most single stocks lose to the index over long stretches.

Stock Splits and Inflation

A stock split gives you more shares at a lower price each. A 4-for-1 split turns 10 shares at $400 into 40 shares at $100. Your money does not change. Split-adjusted prices let you compare old and new prices fairly.

Inflation means money buys less over time. $10,000 in 2005 does not go as far today. Adjusting for inflation shows your real return, which is what actually matters for your buying power.

Taxes and the Bigger Picture

Your headline return is not what lands in your pocket. Selling at a profit in a taxable account triggers a bill. Holding the same shares inside a Roth IRA or a 401k changes that picture completely.

Important Note on the Numbers

The share prices used here are modeled, not real market quotes. They are shaped to act like each stock's long-run growth, swings, and dividend yield, so the math and lessons hold up. Use the results to learn how returns, dividends, and compounding work. Do not use them as real historical data or as advice to buy or sell.

Formulas used

Initial shares purchased

\text{Shares}_0 = \frac{\text{Initial Investment}}{P_{\text{start}}}

Final portfolio value

V_{\text{end}} = \text{Shares}_{\text{end}} \times P_{\text{end}} + \text{Cash Dividends}

Total return

R = \frac{V_{\text{end}} - \text{Invested}}{\text{Invested}} \times 100\%

Compound annual growth rate (CAGR)

\text{CAGR} = \left(\frac{V_{\text{end}}}{\text{Invested}}\right)^{\frac{1}{n}} - 1

Annualized return from dated cash flows (XIRR)

\sum_{i=1}^{N} \frac{CF_i}{(1+r)^{t_i}} = 0, \qquad t_i = \frac{d_i - d_0}{365.2425}

Annualized volatility of daily log returns

\sigma_{\text{ann}} = \sqrt{\frac{1}{N-1}\sum_{i=1}^{N}\left(r_i - \bar{r}\right)^2} \times \sqrt{252} \times 100\%, \qquad r_i = \ln\!\left(\frac{P_i}{P_{i-1}}\right)

Maximum drawdown

\text{MDD} = \max_{t}\left(\frac{\max_{s \le t} P_s - P_t}{\max_{s \le t} P_s}\right) \times 100\%

Inflation adjustment to today's dollars (CPI-U)

V_{\text{real}} = V_{\text{nominal}} \times \frac{\text{CPI}_{\text{today}}}{\text{CPI}_{t}}

Frequently asked questions

Why are CAGR and XIRR different?

They answer slightly different questions.

CAGR pretends all your money went in on day one.
XIRR knows the real date of every deposit.

If you turn on recurring contributions, use XIRR. CAGR will look too low because it gives new money credit for the whole time period.

Can I use ETFs instead of single stocks?

Yes. ETFs like SPY, QQQ, and VTI are in the list. Type the ticker or use the quick pick buttons. ETFs work the same way in the math, dividends included.

What price do my contributions buy shares at?

Each contribution buys shares at the open price on the contribution date. Reinvested dividends also buy at the open price on the ex-dividend date. Fractional shares are allowed, so no cash is left over.

Why does my maximum drawdown stay the same when I add deposits?

Drawdown is measured on the stock price itself, not on your account balance. Adding money would hide the real drop by pushing your balance up. This way the number shows how far the stock actually fell.

Is SPY the same as the S&P 500?

Close, but not identical. SPY is an ETF that tracks the S&P 500 index and pays dividends. It is what most people can actually buy, so it makes a fair yardstick for a single stock.

Does the benchmark use my contributions too?

Yes. SPY gets the same starting amount, the same deposit schedule, the same dates, and the same dividend rule. That keeps the comparison fair.

Does the log scale change my results?

No. It only changes how the chart looks. A log scale makes equal percent moves look the same size, which helps over long periods. Your final value and returns stay the same.

Why do I still see dividends listed when I choose Ignore?

The dividend total is shown for information only. With Ignore selected, those dividends are left out of your portfolio value and out of your return. You are seeing price gains only.

Do share prices change when I turn on inflation adjustment?

No. The start and end share prices stay in nominal dollars. Only the portfolio values, the chart, and the totals are converted to today's dollars using CPI data.

What is the difference between shares purchased and total shares held?

Shares purchased (initial) is what your lump sum bought on day one. Total shares held adds shares from reinvested dividends and from every recurring deposit. Splits are already built into the prices.

Why do I get the same answer every time I run it?

The price model is deterministic. The same ticker, dates, and settings always give the same result. Nothing is random at run time, so you can share or redo a calculation and get matching numbers.

What does the annualized dividend yield mean here?

It is the average dividend per share paid each year, divided by the average share price over your holding period. It gives a rough sense of the income the stock threw off, not just its price growth.

Why is my return negative when the stock price went up?

This can happen with recurring deposits. If most of your money went in near the top, your average cost can be higher than the end price. Check the composition bar to see how much came from deposits versus gains.

Can I set an end date in the future?

No. The end date must be today or earlier, and it must come after the start date. This tool looks backward. For forward projections, use a growth or investment calculator instead.

What is the shortest time range I can use?

You need at least two trading days. Very short ranges still work, but annualized figures like CAGR and XIRR get extreme and are not useful. Ranges of a year or more give more meaningful numbers.