If You Invested $1 in Dollar Tree and Dollar General 10 Years Ago, Which Would Have Made You More Money?
The cost of a missed opportunity is often greater than we realize. Anyone who missed the chance to invest in Apple, Google, or Amazon before they skyrocketed in value could tell you as much. What about other stocks like Dollar Tree and Dollar General?
Dollar Tree Stock Investment
Dollar Tree is a discount merchandiser founded in 1986. If you’re not familiar, the stores sell a variety of household supplies, personal care products, seasonal goods and even food items. As of July 8, 2013, the price of one share of Dollar Tree stock was $53.96.
The current stock price, as of July 12, 2023, is $147.32. That’s a total increase of 273% overall.
If you’d invested $1 in Dollar Tree in 2013, it’d be worth about $2.73 today. Adjusting for inflation, the original stock would have cost $70.67 in 2023 dollars, per the CoinNews U.S. Inflation Calculator. This makes the actual (inflation-adjusted) increase in stock value of approximately 208%.
To better illustrate the strength behind these returns, let’s use a larger base investment of $1,000. With the same returns, that investment would be worth $2,730. So your investment would be worth — on paper — almost triple what you started with.
Dollar General Stock Investment
Dollar General is another discount retailer with locations throughout 47 states. Its prices aren’t as consistent as Dollar Tree’s $1.25 per item, but it offers a similar selection of merchandise. Dollar General Corporation was originally founded in 1939. As of July 7, 2013, one share of Dollar General stock was worth $53.77 — which is relatively on par with Dollar Tree’s figures at the time.
Purchasing a single share of Dollar General stock would cost $168.02 as of mid-day on July 12, 2023, producing a total increase of 312%.
If you’d invested $1 in Dollar General in 2013, you’d see about $3.12 in your investment account today. Adjusting for inflation, the original stock would have set you back $70.42 in today’s dollars, according to the above calculator. This calculation produces an actual (inflation-adjusted) increase in stock value of about 239%.
With a heftier hypothetical investment of $1,000, that 2013 investment would be worth $3,120 today.
Which Is the better investment?
By the numbers alone, we can tell that Dollar General would have been the more lucrative investment if you chose to cash in your 2013 stock purchase today. However, Dollar General hasn’t performed well as of late.
Last month (June 2023), Dollar General’s stock price tanked from a recent high of $220.10 on May 9 down to $153.05 on June 9.
While Dollar General is considered a discount retailer, other companies like Dollar Tree and Walmart have arguably provided consumers with lower prices and wider selections, respectively. That could be a leading factor behind why Dollar Tree has seen a +5.1% change in stock price this year as compared to Dollar General’s -31.9%.
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