Many money experts and stock analysts agree that Microsoft stock is currently a good investment. As of September 2025, it is being driven by strong recent earnings and continued growth in its cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses.
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When it first went public in 1986, Microsoft stock (NASDAQ: MSFT) was worth just $21 a share. In today’s dollars adjusted for inflation, that’s about $60. So what does that look like over the past decade? If you’d invested in Microsoft 10 years ago, what would it be worth today? Let’s take a look.
What You’d Have Now If You’d Invested Then
As of 2015, Microsoft’s stock price averaged around $48.61. For the sake of simple math, if you round that up to $50 per share, that means if you invested $2,000 at that time, it would have given you about 40 shares. As of Sept. 5, 2025, the stock price is $493.62, which means you would have about $19,745.
Even though you can’t go back in time and invest when you didn’t, it’s still an interesting thought experiment to run the numbers and see what could have been. Here are a few other examples of what you could have now if you’d invested different amounts a decade ago:
- If you’d invested $1,000 in MSFT a decade ago, you’d have roughly $9,872 now.
- If you’d invested $5,000 in MSFT a decade ago, you’d have roughly $49,362 now.
- If you’d invested $10,000 in MSFT a decade ago, you’d have roughly $98,724 now.
- If you’d invested $15,000 in MSFT a decade ago, you’d have roughly $148,086 now.
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Quick Take: Is Microsoft Stock a Buy?
Microsoft has been on a winning streak for decades. One of the biggest tech companies in the world, it’s currently valued at about $3.67 trillion. This isn’t surprising considering Microsoft is a pioneer in AI, cloud computing, software and leading operating systems in general. As of Sept. 5, 2025, MSFT is considered a strong to moderate buy and here is how it is currently performing:
- Stock price: $493.62
- Market cap: $3.67 trillion
- 52-week high: $555.45
- 52-week low: $344.79
What Does This Mean for Your Portfolio?
This doesn’t necessarily mean you should run out there and start investing in Microsoft right now — but it doesn’t mean the opposite either. It’s up to you, your financial goals and situation and what works best with your investing strategy and risk tolerance.
If you are thinking about investing in stocks, however, here are a few things to consider first:
- Long-term returns: Even the most profitable companies can have their ups and downs. Investing in stocks is a long-term strategy, not a short-term one. Look into a company’s history to see how it’s done over time and where it’s headed.
- Price-to-earnings ratio: A company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio measures the company’s per-share earnings relative to its share price. It’s worth knowing as it shows what investors are willing to pay for those shares. Even if the P/E ratio seems low, if the company is growing quickly, it might be worth investing in — or at least watching.
- Dividends: As an investor, dividends can be a great way of boosting your regular income. But it depends on how much you earn each month or, more commonly, quarter. Larger, more predictable dividends mean higher, more consistent profits. So, check the company’s dividend rate over time and, if you want to earn more, go with stocks with larger historical dividends.
- Overall investment strategy: What works for one individual investor might not work for another. Weigh your options, consider the risks and, when in doubt, consult a professional before investing.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: If You Invested $2K in Microsoft 10 Years Ago, It Would Be Worth Nearly $20K Today
