Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)

Yes. The calculator uses historical daily adjusted closing prices for the selected stock over the available trading dates within your chosen period. Closing prices represent the close of the regular trading session on the stock’s primary exchange, normally 4:00 PM ET for U.S. stocks. Early-close sessions may end earlier. These prices do not reflect after-hours or extended-trading activity.

The prices come from a financial data service provider. If the provider cannot return adjusted prices, the calculator displays an error instead of invented results.

The provider’s adjusted-close price series incorporates its dividend and split adjustments. The calculator does not add dividends again.

Our saved price history starts from 1970 or the stock’s listing date, whichever is later. If you select an earlier start date, the calculation begins on the first available trading date in our saved data. It does not include the period before that date.

Total Invested is your one-time investment amount. Total Return = Final Value − Total Invested. The displayed dollar amount is your gain or loss, calculated separately for the stock investment and savings.

Return (%) = Total Return ÷ Total Invested × 100%. It expresses your gain or loss as a percentage of the amount invested. It is not an annualized return.

Price Change = (End adjusted price ÷ Start adjusted price − 1) × 100%. The two adjusted prices appear below the percentage.

This measures the stock’s performance between the actual trading dates used in your result, assuming you bought at the start and held throughout. It uses the provider’s dividend and split adjustments, so it is not simply the change in the unadjusted share price. Dividends are not added again. For a one-time investment, Price Change and Return (%) normally match.

Price CAGR means compound annual growth rate of the stock’s adjusted price. It summarizes the price movement between the actual trading dates as an average yearly growth rate. The subtitle “Annualized price change” describes this price-based metric.

It is different from an investor’s annualized investment return. The adjusted prices include the provider’s dividend and split adjustments; dividends are not added again.

Maximum Drawdown is the largest percentage decline from a previous high within your selected period. The first available trading-day price is the initial high. As prices reach new highs, the reference high updates. Each later price is compared with the highest price reached so far.

Daily drawdown = (Daily adjusted closing price ÷ Highest adjusted closing price so far − 1) × 100%. Maximum Drawdown is the most negative daily drawdown. For example, prices of $100 → $80 → $90 → $45 give a Maximum Drawdown of −55%, from $100 to $45. A recovery does not erase an earlier decline.

Only actual trading-day adjusted closing prices inside your selected date range count. Earlier peaks, intraday highs and lows, and non-trading-day savings entries are excluded. Your investment amount does not affect this percentage.

Avg. Daily Price Movement describes how much the adjusted closing price typically moved per trading day, up or down, during your selected period. It averages the absolute daily percentage changes, so gains and losses do not cancel out.

Daily price change = (Today’s adjusted closing price ÷ Previous trading day’s adjusted closing price − 1) × 100%. Take the absolute value of each change, then add them and divide by the number of daily changes. For example, changes of +2% and −2% give an average movement of 2%, rather than 0%.

With 752 trading-day prices, there are 751 daily changes. Weekends and market holidays are not separate observations; each price is compared with the previous available trading-day price. This is a descriptive average, not a forecast or a formal volatility measure.

Annualized Return describes the investment’s average yearly growth over the actual trading period. “Per year” means the percentage is expressed as an annual rate, rather than the full-period Return (%).

Price CAGR describes the asset’s price growth; Annualized Return describes the investment’s growth. In this one-time Stock Calculator, they can show the same percentage because the investment is bought at the start and held throughout, using the same adjusted prices. With recurring investments, the timing of contributions also matters; the DCA Calculator reports a separate money-weighted annualized return.

Beta measures how sensitive a stock’s returns have historically been to movements in a market benchmark. Beta = covariance of stock and benchmark returns ÷ variance of benchmark returns.

A beta of 1 indicates similar sensitivity to the benchmark; above 1 indicates greater sensitivity, and between 0 and 1 indicates lower sensitivity. A negative beta indicates a tendency to move in the opposite direction. Beta does not measure every type of investment risk or predict future returns.

The displayed beta is a pre-calculated estimate supplied by our financial data service provider. Our calculator does not calculate beta or change it based on your selected dates. The provider uses five years of monthly return data, compared with the S&P 500 benchmark, and updates the estimate monthly.

This Stock Calculator calculates a one-time investment. To see how investing a fixed amount regularly would have performed, use the DCA Investment Calculator. The link below keeps your selected stock.

Try the DCA Calculator →

Savings Rate is the yearly interest rate you choose for the savings benchmark. For example, 4% per year means a 4% annual rate. It is your selected comparison rate, while the stock’s Annualized Return is a historical investment result.

Savings interest accrues over calendar days, including weekends and holidays, from the actual investment start date through your selected end date. Use Cash (0% interest) uses a savings rate of zero. Total Return (Savings) is Savings Final Value minus Total Invested.

The amount in the stock vs Savings card is Stock Final Value minus Savings Final Value, using the same starting investment.

A positive amount means the stock finished higher than savings; a negative amount means it finished lower. A value close to zero means the results were about the same. The stock ticker and “more with” or “less than savings” description update with your selection.

Stocks do not trade every calendar day. If the selected start date falls on a weekend or market holiday, the investment starts on the next available trading day. For a non-trading end date, the result uses the latest available trading price. For example, a Sunday end date usually uses Friday’s price.

The “Actual trading dates” label in Your Result shows the dates used for the stock prices. If the stock has no available history for the earlier part of your selected period, the calculation begins with its first available trading date. Savings interest continues through your selected end date.