Over the past year, I’ve been on a personal mission to grow my portfolio and beat the S&P 500 — a challenge that many experienced investors admit is hard to pull off consistently. I decided it was time to hold myself accountable and share my actual performance, including not only the wins but also the lessons learned from the losses.
Beating the Market (Just Barely)
As of now, my portfolio is up about 13.24% over the past year, while the S&P 500 is up 11.91%. It’s not a massive difference, but the goal was growth and outperformance, and I’ve achieved that, despite recent volatility. I'm not relying on one good day — I reviewed my progress on a red day, where both my portfolio and the S&P 500 were down.
Out of 14 stocks I currently hold, 11 are in the green, while 3 are in the red. That ratio alone tells me the strategy is working reasonably well, but there are clear patterns in what’s gone wrong.
Stocks That Underperformed — And What They Had in Common
1. AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)
- Down ~36% since I bought it
- Past year: down 31.76%
- 5-year return: ~105.75% total or ~21.15% annually
- P/E Ratio: 83.21
- Dividend: None
Despite a recent 33% surge thanks to news like Amazon acquiring a stake, AMD has had a rough year. It’s often referred to online as “Advanced Money Destroyer,” and while that may be harsh, the high P/E ratio compared to its historical growth makes the valuation hard to justify. AMD also continues to live in Nvidia’s shadow, and without a dividend, it’s purely a growth play — one that hasn’t delivered lately.
2. Qualcomm
- Year-to-date: roughly flat
- Past year: down 22.22%
- 5-year return: ~95.45% total or ~19.09% annually
- P/E Ratio: 15.67
- Dividend: 2.31%
Qualcomm’s fundamentals are solid — low P/E, steady growth, and a nice dividend. But the stock hasn’t moved much in a year. Given their involvement in smartphones, wireless communication, and automotive tech, I don’t believe they’re going anywhere. For now, I’m holding, but they haven’t been a standout performer.
3. Amazon
- Year-to-date: down 7.33%
- Past year: up 11.19%
- 5-year return: ~67.49% total or ~13.49% annually
- P/E Ratio: 33.28
- Dividend: None
Amazon was a surprise underperformer. The long-term view still looks promising, but over the last year and even the last five, the growth hasn’t justified the high valuation. The company remains a giant, but for someone looking for growth and not dividends, it's underdelivered compared to names like Nvidia or Meta.
The Pattern: High Valuation, Low Returns
What stuck out to me most was the relationship between P/E ratio and historical returns. The three underperformers all had a disconnect between valuation and actual growth.
- AMD’s sky-high P/E (83) didn’t match its 5-year average return (~21%)
- Amazon had a P/E of 33 but only ~13.5% average annual growth
- Qualcomm was closer to fair valuation, especially when factoring in its dividend, but still lagged in recent momentum
In contrast, the winning stocks in my portfolio tended to either:
- Have reasonable P/E ratios in line with their historical returns
- Offer strong dividends to compensate for lower price growth
- Or were part of booming sectors (like AI or energy) with clear upside potential
Final Thoughts
This isn’t financial advice, but one insight I’m taking forward is to closely examine P/E ratios in the context of actual growth and dividend yield. While valuation isn’t everything, it can be a helpful check against overpaying for hype or loyalty to a brand name.
Going forward, I’ll continue tracking not just growth but value alignment and hope to keep outperforming the S&P 500 — even if it’s just by a few percentage points.