How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.
FOMO, or the fear of missing out, also plays a role in investing, particularly with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to SCHW for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
The Charles Schwab Corporation's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at The Charles Schwab Corporation's main business drivers.
Headquartered in Westlake, TX, The Charles Schwab Corporation is a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody and financial advisory services. The company has nearly 400 branches across 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as locations in Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The company's main subsidiaries include Charles Schwab & Co. (securities broker-dealer), Charles Schwab Investment Management (an investment advisor for Schwab's proprietary mutual funds and Schwab’s exchange-traded funds or ETFs) and Charles Schwab Bank (a federal savings bank).
Schwab provides financial services to individuals and institutions through two reportable segments – Investor Services and Advisor Services.
The Investor Services segment (comprising 56.4% of total client assets in 2025) offers retail brokerage, investment advisory, and banking and trust services as well as retirement plan and corporate brokerage services. Through this segment, the company offers research, analytic tools, online portfolio planning tools, performance reports, market analysis and educational material to its clients.
The Advisor Services segment (43.6%) offers custodial, trading, banking and trust, and support services, as well as retirement business services to independent registered investment advisors (RIAs), independent retirement advisors and record-keepers.
In 2020, Schwab went on an acquisition streak: it bought USAA’s Investment Management Company assets (brokerage and managed portfolio accounts) in May, acquired Motif’s technology and intellectual property in June, and purchased Naples, FL-based Wasmer, Schroeder & Company in July. The year culminated in October with Schwab completing its buyout of TD Ameritrade (TDA), creating a major powerhouse in the brokerage industry. In March 2026, Schwab acquired Forge Global Holdings, Inc.
As of March 31, 2026, Schwab had 39.1 million active brokerage accounts, 2.3 million banking accounts and 5.8 million workplace plan participant accounts, with total client accounts of 47.2 million.
Bottom Line
Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in The Charles Schwab Corporation a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in July 2016 would be worth $3,645.59, or a 264.56% gain, as of July 1, 2026, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 257.31% and gold's return of 191.28% over the same time frame.
Analysts are anticipating more upside for SCHW.
Schwab's shares reflect a balanced setup. Advice and managed investing keep gaining mix, supporting steadier asset-based fees and net new assets. Elevated client engagement, high trading activity and rising margin balances will drive up transaction and lending revenues. Steady managed investing adoption and record trading volumes highlight the benefit of scale, and lower bank funding costs alongside disciplined cash management continue to aid net interest revenues (NIR). Product rollout is progressing, with portfolio insights now live and broader AI tools and spot crypto moving toward phased launches. Expenses are mounting as it invests in advisers, branches, technology and marketing. Moreover, competition from fintechs and larger rivals can limit monetization, and market volatility can shift client cash allocations and trading behavior.
The stock has jumped 5.32% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 9 higher, for fiscal 2026; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).