What if I had invested? › Compaq Computer

$1,000 in Compaq Computer in 1990

$1,000 put into Compaq Computer (CPQ) on January 2, 1990, its first trading day of 1990 in our data, was worth $4,060 on May 3, 2002, its last trading day, with dividends counted. Over the same days to May 3, 2002, $1,000 in the whole US stock market became $3,827.

Compaq Computer no longer trades. Its last trading day was May 3, 2002; the delisting record says: merged or acquired. The figure above is what the shares were worth at the last trade. What holders received after that (a merger payout, or nothing in a bankruptcy) is not in our price data.

Bought at the close on January 2, 1990, dividends put back in, no costs and no tax. Dividends are counted to the end of 2024; from 2025 on our prices are adjusted for splits only, so dividends paid since then are left out. The stock figure counts dividends; the S&P 500 index figure does not, so compare the stock with the whole-market figure. The market figure is the Fama-French US market return (Kenneth R. French data library), which runs to July 31, 2026. Our stock prices run to September 23, 2026.

Another stock, another year

Compaq Computer in: 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002

Also in 1990

• Apple Inc. · $1,000 became $1,285,894
• Microsoft · $1,000 became $1,317,054
• Micron Technology · $1,000 became $1,115,557
• Lilly (Eli) · $1,000 became $174,801
• Walmart · $1,000 became $92,518
• Jpmorgan Chase & Co · $1,000 became $102,815
• Advanced Micro Devices · $1,000 became $149,041
• Oracle Corporation · $1,000 became $299,601

History, not advice. How these numbers are made.