Here's How Much Investing $1,000 In Sony Stock In 2010 Would Be Worth Today

Investors who owned stocks in the 2010s generally experienced some big gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500's SPY total return for the decade was 250.5%. But there’s no question some big-name stocks did much better than others along the way.

Sony’s Difficult Decade: One underperformer of the last decade was Japanese electronics and media giant Sony Corp SNE.

One of the biggest changes for Sony in the past decade was Kazuo Hirai taking over as president and CEO in 2012. After years of losses, Hirai said he planned to focus Sony’s electronics business on three areas: imaging technology, gaming and mobile technology. At the same time, he wanted to focus on reducing losses in the company’s TV business.

Throughout the decade, Sony trimmed non-core businesses, including selling off its Vaio PC division in 2012 and divesting its lithium-ion battery business in 2017. Sony also fully acquired its Sony Financial Holdings subsidiary in 2019.

Sony shares started the 2010s trading at around $30. After peaking at $40.45 in early 2010, the stock began to tank in early 2011, ultimately hitting its decade low of $9.57 in late 2012. After the CEO change was announced, Sony shares began to gain steam, ultimately making new highs above $40 by the end of 2017.

Sony hit the $60 mark in 2018 and the $70 mark in early 2020.

While sales growth from the company’s gaming segment slowed in recent years due to an aging PlayStation 4, Sony’s image sensor business is booming. Sony currently supplies image sensors for roughly half of the world’s smartphone makers. In addition, the stock hit new highs in 2020 as investors anticipate a major revenue boost from the launch of the PlayStation 5 ahead of the holiday season.

2020 And Beyond: Sony recently peaked at $84.14 after dropping down to just $50.94 during the COVID-19 sell-off in March. While the stock has been a top market performer since late 2012, its horrendous performance in 2011 and 2012 have weighed on its overall 10-year returns.

In fact, $1,000 worth of Sony stock in 2010 would be worth about $2,806 today, assuming reinvested dividends.

Looking ahead, analysts expect Sony’s climb to continue in the coming months. The average price target among the 22 analysts covering the stock is $91.56, suggesting 15.1% upside from current levels.