20-Year Backtest: Buy and Hold KO (The Coca-Cola Company)

This analysis evaluates a buy-and-hold strategy over the past 20 years, providing a historical perspective on KO's performance from 2005-07-05 to 2025-07-03.

Note: This simulation uses adjusted close prices, meaning all historical prices have been retroactively adjusted for splits and dividends. To achieve similar results in practice, you would need to reinvest all dividends automatically as they are paid.

Performance Overview

Starting with an initial capital of $10,000.00, we purchased shares of KO on 2005-07-05, at a price of $11.56 per share (adjusted for splits and dividends). No trading, no adjustments — just a simple buy-and-hold approach.

We held the position continuously through every market twist and turn, never selling. As of 2025-07-03, the price of KO had risen to $71.35. While we didn't sell, we can still assess the performance by calculating the current value of the investment: $61,728.19 — a total gain of 517.28%.

This translates into an annualized return of 9.53% over the entire period. This return is closely aligned with the typical long-term growth rates of diversified equity investments — a realistic and respectable outcome for a passive strategy.

Drawdown and Risk

The maximum drawdown recorded during this period was 40.60%. This drawdown began after a peak price of $19.10 on 2008-01-10, and reached its lowest point on 2009-03-05 when the price fell to $11.34. The drawdown lasted for 420 days.

The drawdown was moderate and aligns with the type of volatility observed in many broad market assets over extended periods. The maximum drawdown lasted over a year, indicating an extended period of underperformance. This duration is typical of major corrections or bear markets.

The Calmar Ratio — annualized return divided by maximum drawdown — was 0.23, reflecting the tradeoff between return and volatility.

This level is typical for diversified investments that face substantial drawdowns alongside steady long-term returns.