If you had invested $1,000 in Nvidia stock 5 years ago, here’s how much you’d have today

Nvidia (NVDA -2.13%) is undoubtedly one of the hottest stocks on the market and has been for several years now. Its position as a key hardware supplier to the artificial intelligence (AI) space has fueled triple-digit growth in its sales and earnings quarter after quarter.

While the stock has gained nearly 750% since the start of last year, it has charted a somewhat rocky course over the past few months. But Nvidia seems on track to continue to grow sales of high-end graphics processing units (GPUs) and remain the industry’s dominant supplier.

The company’s recent successes and its new place in the popular consciousness stem almost exclusively from AI, where tech giants like Meta platforms and Alphabet they spent hugely to build supercomputers and new AI data centers.

However, this is not an overnight success story. The company has been providing fast processing power to the video game and graphics markets since the early 1990s. Its GPUs previously transformed video game graphics and helped build the industry into what it is today.

More recently, the company saw a mini-boom during the last major cryptocurrency market, as cryptocurrency miners took their GPUs to power the machines that mine proof-of-work coins. However, none of these successes compare to those of the past two years.

Nvidia’s longer-term shareholders have reason to be happy

A $1,000 investment in Nvidia five years ago would be worth more than $28,000 today (with dividends reinvested).

Data by YCharts.

I’m sure many would like to buy Nvidia stock in 2019, or rather, in 1999, when the company went public. But hindsight is 20/20 and there’s no need to beat yourself up about missing out. Unless you’re the luckiest investor in history, you’re going to miss out on some opportunities. What’s more important is to keep looking for great investments and build a diverse portfolio of solid companies with positions you plan to hold for at least five years. Nvidia could still be a very profitable addition to such a portfolio—this company isn’t done growing.