An Amazon Prime membership almost seems like a necessity these days, as both online shopping and stay-at-home entertainment viewing have picked up dramatically in popularity. Many customers view the annual fee as relatively inexpensive for what they get out of it.
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Yet, despite all the benefits Amazon Prime can provide, there’s no doubt that an investment in Amazon stock would have been a much better use of that money, particularly in the first year that Amazon Prime debuted — especially now that you can’t avoid ads while streaming.
Keep reading for a closer look at how much you’d have with an investment in Amazon.
How Much Amazon Stock Could You Buy
Here’s a look at how much money you would have earned if you put your annual Amazon Prime membership fee into Amazon stock instead.
- Amazon Prime was first launched in 2005, and it cost members $79 per year.
- The price has jumped since then: first to $99, then to $119 and now to its current price of $139.
- On Feb. 2, 2005, the day Amazon Prime was introduced, the price of Amazon stock was $2.09. For the price of an Amazon Prime membership at the time, customers could have instead purchased about 38 shares of Amazon stock.
- Amazon stock’s current price is about $184, with a 52-week high of $242 and a 52-week low of $151.
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What That Stock Would Be Worth
As mentioned above, the cost of an Amazon Prime membership has jumped from $79 to $139, a jump of about 75%. This means that today’s customers pay about 75% more than the original price of an Amazon Prime membership in 2007. However, for those wise investors who instead bought Amazon stock in 2005 instead of subscribing to Amazon Prime, the results have been nothing short of incredible.
As of April 24, 2025, shares of Amazon stock traded at about $187. In other words, the $79 that Amazon Prime subscribers could have invested in Amazon stock would now be worth thousands of dollars. If those investors had been lucky enough to sell out at Amazon’s all-time high price of $3,773.08, those shares would have been worth $143,377.04.
Final Take To GO
It’s not unusual for a stock investment to outperform a common expense. After all, expenses represent consumption, whereas investment offers the potential to generate profits over time.
However, the unbelievable performance of Amazon stock over the years certainly shows that owning a portion of the company is a much wiser move than simply using its products. With $143,377 in profits, investors in Amazon stock at the start of 2005 could afford more than 1,031 years of Amazon Prime membership at the current price of $139 annually.
Of course, just like Amazon stock was a better bet than Amazon Prime membership in 2005, analysts feel that Amazon’s stock price can continue to run. Currently, analysts have a consensus “buy” rating on the stock, with an average monthly price target of $175 at the beginning of the year, but it is currently trending higher.
While no one is suggesting that you should give up your Amazon Prime, if the analysts are correct in their predictions, adding some money to Amazon stock as well could more than pay for the cost of your annual membership.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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Sources
- Market Watch, AMZN Stock Overview
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Amazon Stock vs. Amazon Prime: What’s the Better Investment?
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
