The stock of beverage company Celsius Holdings (CELH 4.46%) has taken investors on a roller-coaster ride recently. The energy drink maker's wild ride was capped by a 30% plunge during the first week of November after it reported a $61 million net loss for Q3.
However, one bad week doesn't define an investment. How has Celsius' stock done for long-term investors?
One-year returns: A smash hit
It's hard to believe, but even with the company's recent 30% share price plunge, investors who bought Celsius stock a year ago on Dec. 8, 2024, are still handily beating the market:
NASDAQ: CELH
Key Data Points
That's because in August, in the wake of the company's second-quarter earnings report, shares jumped by about the same amount as they declined in November. Add in some healthy share price growth earlier in the year, and the company's 53.2% one-year return easily beats the S&P 500's 12.4% return over the same period.
But the picture looks starkly different for medium-term investors.
Three-year returns: Losing big
Celsius' shares beat the market by so much over the past year that you'd think they'd at least be even with the market over three years, but unfortunately for investors who bought stock on Dec. 8, 2022, that's not the case.
The company's shares soared in early 2024, but then came crashing down in the latter part of that year. By early 2025, they were more than 75% off their 2024 highs. The shares have since recovered somewhat, but not enough to beat the market (even before the most recent 30% share price drop). Celsius' three-year return is just 9.5%, losing to the S&P 500's 72.6% gain by 63.1 percentage points.
So, the stock solidly outperformed the market over the past year, and badly underperformed it over the past three years. Take a second to guess how it's done over the last five years.
Image source: Getty Images.
Five-year returns: Back in (the) black
Celsius' stock has crushed the market over the last five years, more than tripling the S&P 500's 86.4% return. Thanks in large part to solid gains during 2022, the stock is now up 264.9% over that time period. Investors who bought Celsius shares even earlier have done even better. The stock's 10-year returns measure more than 8,000%!
This outperformance demonstrates how a long-term buy-and-hold strategy can produce market-thumping returns. If Celsius shareholders had sold when the stock dipped in late 2021, or after shares had dropped at the beginning of this year, they would have missed out on a lot of the stock's gains. That's why it pays not to sell too hastily, even when it seems like the market has given up on a stock. Instead, taking the time to evaluate why the shares dropped and whether the underlying business is still sound is often the best strategy.
