Investing $20,000 in Apple Stock 10 Years Ago Paid Off More Than Investing the Same Amount in Amazon. Here's the Better Buy for the Next Decade.

A 10-year comparative analysis between technology giants Apple and Amazon highlights substantial historical returns alongside contrasting future growth catalysts. A $20,000 investment made in Apple stock a decade ago expanded to $277,000 including dividends, compared to $133,000 for an equivalent position in Amazon. Apple currently commands a market capitalization of $4.8 trillion, supported by strong iPhone demand—which generated 54% of total revenue with 22.4% year-over-year growth across the first three fiscal quarters—and its high-margin Services unit, which grew 14% to $91.7 billion. Despite these strengths, analysts note Apple faces long-term growth questions regarding product innovation beyond the iPhone under new CEO John Ternus. Meanwhile, Amazon's cloud computing arm, AWS, generated a 63.6% surge in quarterly operating income to $16.6 billion, accounting for over 60% of Amazon's total profits. With massive planned capital expenditures of $220 billion to capture generative AI and enterprise demand, Amazon is viewed as possessing stronger long-term growth momentum relative to Apple.