How much money you would have if you invested R1,000 in these tech companies at the start of 2021

2021 was a turbulent year for the global tech industry, with several companies seeing significant growth in their share values while others saw substantial declines.

Nvidia’s share price rose by 91.5%, while companies such as Netflix and Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) saw drops of 22.8% and 18.1%, respectively.

MyBroadband analysed tech company share prices from the start of 2021 to determine what a R1,000 investment in each would be worth today. We also looked at the stock prices of several South African tech companies.

Of the companies compared, Nvidia had the most remarkable growth, with the value of its shares increasing from $131.13 (R2,008.33) in January 2021 to $251.08 (R3,845.42) in February 2022.

This works out to a 91.5% increase over the period, meaning an investment of R1,000 in Nvidia Corp. in January 2021 would have grown to R1,915 today.

Another semiconductor company, AMD, also saw the value of its shares increase significantly. Its stock value climbed 38.9% from $92.30 (R1,411.15) to $128.23 (R1,960.47) over the same time period.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, had a great 2021, with its share value increasing from $1,726.13 (R26,390.30) to $2,787.98 (R42,624.62) — a rise of 61.5%.

Microsoft and Tesla also performed well in 2021, with their share prices surging 39.9% and 26.3%, respectively.

While prominent mobile phone manufacturers such as Samsung and Xiaomi saw declines in their share prices during 2021, Apple’s increased.

Valued at $129.41 (R1,978.51) in January 2021, Apple’s stock value increased 34.4% to $173.83 (R2,657.64) between then and February 2022.

The worst-performing shares compared were those of Netflix. In January 2021, investors would pay $522.86 (R7,993.85) per share, but this figure has dropped 22.8% to $403.53 (R6,169.45) as of 9 February 2022.

Stock performances for ten of the world’s best-known technology companies, between 4 January 2021 and 9 February 2022, are summarised in the table below.

Notable South African tech climbers

Several South African tech companies saw significant growth in 2021, with the mobile network operator MTN’s shares surging 175.3% between January 2021 and February 2022.

If you had invested R1,000 in MTN shares at the beginning of January 2021, that amount would have grown to R2,753 today.

In comparison, MTN’s shares grew 20% on average over the past five years.

Another South African mobile network operator, Telkom, increased its share value by 36.1% during the same period.

Mustek also experienced significant growth, despite their Durban North offices being looted and burnt during the July unrest.

Mustek’s shares grew 84.1% between January 2021 and February 2022.

Vodacom’s shares were valued at R131.88 in January 2021, and as of 9 February 2022, its shares cost R145.50 each — an increase of 10.3%.

Notably, if you had invested R1,000 in each of these companies at the start of 2021, your R4,000 investment would have grown to R7,058. This works out to a 76.5% return on investment.