First profit · then the run
$1,000 in Apple on its first profit day is $2.0M today.
Amazon
Netflix
Amazon's first profit was $5M.
SpaceX's was $4.4B, right after a $541M loss.
This is day 1. You're early.
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Ranked by how far they ran after the first profit
| # | Company | Profit quarter | Price then | Now | Multiple | Years | CAGR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple Dec qtr 1997 (Q1 FY98) · reported 14 Jan 1998 $47M GAAP net income. Return to profit after 7 losing quarters, not first ever (pre-announced 6 Jan 1998 at Macworld) |
first close 15 Jan 1998 | $0.1713 | $343.99 | x2,008 | 28.8 | 30%/yr |
| 2 | Amazon Q4 2001 · reported 22 Jan 2002 $5.1M GAAP net income, first ever |
first close 22 Jan 2002 | $0.63 | $262.37 | x416 | 24.7 | 28%/yr |
| 3 | Netflix Q2 2003 · reported 17 Jul 2003 $3.3M GAAP net income, first ever (guided 9 Jun 2003) |
first close 18 Jul 2003 | $0.1725 | $65.04 | x377 | 23.3 | 29%/yr |
| 4 | Tesla Q1 2013 · reported 8 May 2013 $11.2M GAAP net income, first ever. Helped by a one-time $10.7M warrant gain and ZEV credits; losses came back after |
first close 9 May 2013 | $4.63 | $386.47 | x83.5 | 13.5 | 39%/yr |
| 5 | Priceline (now Booking) Q2 2001 · reported 31 Jul 2001 $2.8M GAAP net income, first ever |
first close 1 Aug 2001 | $2.28 | $158.38 | x69.3 | 25.2 | 18%/yr |
| 6 | Palantir Q4 2022 · reported 13 Feb 2023 $31M GAAP net income, first ever |
first close 14 Feb 2023 | $9.22 | $201.72 | x21.9 | 3.7 | 131%/yr |
| 7 | Tesla, streak start Q3 2019 · reported 23 Oct 2019 $143M GAAP net income. Not first ever; every quarter since has been profitable |
first close 24 Oct 2019 | $19.98 | $386.47 | x19.3 | 7.0 | 53%/yr |
| 8 | Robinhood Q2 2023 · reported 2 Aug 2023 $25M GAAP net income, first as a public company |
first close 3 Aug 2023 | $11.54 | $101.93 | x8.8 | 3.2 | 97%/yr |
| 9 | Spotify Q4 2018 · reported 6 Feb 2019 EUR 94M first operating profit (net income already positive in Q3 2018, EUR 43M) |
first close 6 Feb 2019 | $135.45 | $525.34 | x3.9 | 7.7 | 19%/yr |
Split-adjusted Yahoo Finance daily closes, not dividend-adjusted. "Now" is the close on Wed 21 Oct 2026.
Same start line: each stock = 1.0 on its first-profit close
Log scale. X axis = years since the first close after the profit print. Weekly closes.
What $1,000 at the first profit became
Day one: Wall Street often shrugged
| Company | Close before | First close after | Day one |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla | $3.72 | $4.63 | +24.4% |
| Amazon | $0.508 | $0.63 | +24.0% |
| Palantir | $7.61 | $9.22 | +21.2% |
| Tesla, streak start | $16.98 | $19.98 | +17.7% |
| SpaceX | $147.79 | $159.31 | +7.8% |
| Priceline (now Booking) | $2.13 | $2.28 | +7.3% |
| Apple | $0.1763 | $0.1713 | -2.8% |
| Spotify | $139.40 | $135.45 | -2.8% |
| Netflix | $0.1806 | $0.1725 | -4.5% |
| Robinhood | $12.44 | $11.54 | -7.2% |
Close before = last close before the release was public. Apple pre-announced the profit on 6 Jan 1998 at Macworld, so its "day one" was really priced in a week earlier. Netflix guided to its first profit on 9 Jun 2003.
Didn't run (so you know this isn't cherry-picked)
| Company | Then | Now | Multiple | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Q2 2020 · reported 29 Jul 2020 · $36.0M GAAP net income. Not first ever: Q4 2019 had $0.8M | $105.36 | $174.29 | x1.65 | 6.2 |
| Uber Q2 2023 · reported 1 Aug 2023 · $326M first GAAP operating profit (GAAP net income already positive in Q4 2021 from investment gains) | $46.65 | $67.62 | x1.45 | 3.2 |
| Airbnb Q3 2021 · reported 2 Nov 2021 · $834M GAAP net income, first profit as a public company | $172.87 | $173.69 | x1.00 | 5.0 |
A first profit is not a guarantee. Uber and Shopify still went up, Airbnb went nowhere in 5 years.
SpaceX · Q3 2026
-$541M in Q2. +$4.404B in Q3.
Released Tue 20 Oct after the close. First close after: Wed 21 Oct $159.31 (+7.8% from $147.79). Now $144.75, -9.1% vs the first-profit close.
Honest caveat: the $4.404B includes $1.025B of other income and a $390M tax benefit. Income from operations was $2.791B. Still a profit with or without them.
Sources: Q3 release · 8-K. Q2 net loss from the Q2 release; it ties to the 9-month total (-$413M).
Method
Profit quarter: the first GAAP net profit unless the row says otherwise (Apple = return to profit, Tesla 2019 = start of the streak, Robinhood/Airbnb = first as a public company, Spotify/Uber = first operating profit).
Price then: the first close after the profit became public. After-close releases use the next day's close. That's the price a buyer who waited for proof could actually get.
Now: close on Wed 21 Oct 2026. Multiple = now / then. CAGR = multiple^(1/years) - 1.
Prices: Yahoo Finance daily closes, split-adjusted, not dividend-adjusted. Splits: AAPL 2:1 (1987, 2000, 2005), 7:1 (2014), 4:1 (2020). AMZN 2:1 and 3:1 (1998-99), 20:1 (2022). NFLX 2:1 (2004), 7:1 (2015), 10:1 (Nov 2025). TSLA 5:1 (2020), 3:1 (2022). BKNG 1:6 reverse (2003), 25:1 (Apr 2026). Raw sanity checks: Amazon $12.60, Tesla 2019 $299.68, Priceline $8.87 pre-split math, Tesla 2013 about $69.
Sources: Apple · Amazon · Netflix · Tesla · Priceline (now Booking) · Palantir · Tesla, streak start · Robinhood · Spotify · Shopify · Uber · Airbnb
Not financial advice. Past runs don't promise future ones.