DCA vs Lump Sum Comparison
Compare dollar-cost averaging vs lump sum investing across top 50 US stocks
What is DCA vs Lump Sum Investing?
Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA)
Invest a fixed amount at regular intervals (e.g., $500/month), regardless of stock price. Buy more shares when prices are low, fewer when high.
Lump Sum Investing
Invest your entire amount at once, getting all your money working in the market immediately. Maximizes time in market.
Our analysis: We compared $500/month DCA vs investing the same total upfront for each stock over 3, 5, and 10 year periods.
5-Year Summary: Which Strategy Wins?
32
Lump Sum Wins
(64%)
18
DCA Wins
(36%)
Lump Sum
Overall Winner
across 50 stocks
This aligns with academic research showing lump sum investing outperforms DCA approximately two-thirds of the time in rising markets.
All Stocks: DCA vs Lump Sum Results (5-Year)
$500/month DCA vs $30,000 lump sum | Sorted by lump sum return
| Stock | DCA Value | DCA Return | Lump Sum Value | Lump Sum Return | Winner | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVDA NVIDIA Corporation | $142,806 | +376.0% | $241,243 | +704.1% | Lump Sum | View → |
| AVGO Broadcom Inc. | $99,647 | +232.2% | $201,030 | +570.1% | Lump Sum | View → |
| LLY Eli Lilly and Company | $83,718 | +179.1% | $174,627 | +482.1% | Lump Sum | View → |
| AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | $119,336 | +297.8% | $125,934 | +319.8% | Lump Sum | View → |
| XOM ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation | $57,584 | +91.9% | $103,813 | +246.0% | Lump Sum | View → |
| ABBV AbbVie Inc. | $57,294 | +91.0% | $92,155 | +207.2% | Lump Sum | View → |
| PM Philip Morris International Inc. | $61,157 | +103.9% | $83,380 | +177.9% | Lump Sum | View → |
| WMT Walmart Inc. | $59,301 | +97.7% | $79,208 | +164.0% | Lump Sum | View → |
| AMGN Amgen Inc. | $54,695 | +82.3% | $78,903 | +163.0% | Lump Sum | View → |
| IBM International Business Machines Corporation | $48,816 | +62.7% | $78,298 | +161.0% | Lump Sum | View → |
| CVX Chevron Corporation | $50,009 | +66.7% | $75,396 | +151.3% | Lump Sum | View → |
| RTX RTX Corporation | $56,577 | +88.6% | $75,098 | +150.3% | Lump Sum | View → |
| AAPL Apple Inc. | $53,622 | +78.7% | $70,786 | +136.0% | Lump Sum | View → |
| JPM JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $58,845 | +96.1% | $67,387 | +124.6% | Lump Sum | View → |
| COST Costco Wholesale Corporation | $46,015 | +53.4% | $65,158 | +117.2% | Lump Sum | View → |
| CSCO Cisco Systems, Inc. | $58,990 | +96.6% | $64,256 | +114.2% | Lump Sum | View → |
| V Visa Inc. | $47,949 | +59.8% | $60,852 | +102.8% | Lump Sum | View → |
| MRK Merck & Co., Inc. | $48,202 | +60.7% | $59,370 | +97.9% | Lump Sum | View → |
| MA Mastercard Incorporated | $44,950 | +49.8% | $58,773 | +95.9% | Lump Sum | View → |
| KO The Coca-Cola Company | $46,657 | +55.5% | $57,988 | +93.3% | Lump Sum | View → |
| JNJ Johnson & Johnson | $51,067 | +70.2% | $57,850 | +92.8% | Lump Sum | View → |
| META Meta Platforms, Inc. | $58,773 | +95.9% | $57,580 | +91.9% | DCA | View → |
| GOOGL Alphabet Inc. | $55,040 | +83.5% | $57,271 | +90.9% | Lump Sum | View → |
| GOOG Alphabet Inc. | $54,412 | +81.4% | $56,826 | +89.4% | Lump Sum | View → |
| BRK-B Berkshire Hathaway Inc. | $42,284 | +40.9% | $56,702 | +89.0% | Lump Sum | View → |
| TXN Texas Instruments Incorporated | $52,553 | +75.2% | $55,386 | +84.6% | Lump Sum | View → |
| LIN Linde plc | $40,670 | +35.6% | $51,720 | +72.4% | Lump Sum | View → |
| MSFT Microsoft Corporation | $44,868 | +49.6% | $49,189 | +64.0% | Lump Sum | View → |
| INTC Intel Corporation | $59,682 | +98.9% | $43,719 | +45.7% | DCA | View → |
| ORCL Oracle Corporation | $35,137 | +17.1% | $43,718 | +45.7% | Lump Sum | View → |
| AMZN Amazon.com, Inc. | $45,081 | +50.3% | $42,769 | +42.6% | DCA | View → |
| QCOM QUALCOMM Incorporated | $35,436 | +18.1% | $41,427 | +38.1% | Lump Sum | View → |
| PG The Procter & Gamble Company | $34,012 | +13.4% | $38,566 | +28.6% | Lump Sum | View → |
| BAC Bank of America Corporation | $40,619 | +35.4% | $35,485 | +18.3% | DCA | View → |
| MCD McDonald's Corporation | $29,623 | -1.3% | $35,434 | +18.1% | Lump Sum | View → |
| NEE NextEra Energy, Inc. | $35,857 | +19.5% | $33,664 | +12.2% | DCA | View → |
| HON Honeywell International Inc. | $33,680 | +12.3% | $33,588 | +12.0% | DCA | View → |
| TMO Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. | $39,054 | +30.2% | $33,506 | +11.7% | DCA | View → |
| TSLA Tesla, Inc. | $45,026 | +50.1% | $32,292 | +7.6% | DCA | View → |
| HD The Home Depot, Inc. | $31,184 | +3.9% | $30,160 | +0.5% | DCA | View → |
| PEP PepsiCo, Inc. | $27,941 | -6.9% | $29,962 | -0.1% | Lump Sum | View → |
| UNH UnitedHealth Group Incorporated | $29,150 | -2.8% | $29,030 | -3.2% | DCA | View → |
| ABT Abbott Laboratories | $30,112 | +0.4% | $27,295 | -9.0% | DCA | View → |
| DHR Danaher Corporation | $31,405 | +4.7% | $25,853 | -13.8% | DCA | View → |
| ACN Accenture plc | $29,163 | -2.8% | $23,571 | -21.4% | DCA | View → |
| CRM Salesforce, Inc. | $31,787 | +6.0% | $23,379 | -22.1% | DCA | View → |
| UPS United Parcel Service, Inc. | $27,218 | -9.3% | $19,271 | -35.8% | DCA | View → |
| CMCSA Comcast Corporation | $22,449 | -25.2% | $17,197 | -42.7% | DCA | View → |
| ADBE Adobe Inc. | $19,253 | -35.8% | $11,537 | -61.5% | DCA | View → |
| NKE NIKE, Inc. | $15,179 | -49.4% | $7,603 | -74.7% | DCA | View → |
Stocks Where DCA Won (5-Year)
These stocks had enough volatility that DCA outperformed lump sum investing
META
Meta Platforms, Inc.
DCA: +95.9%
Lump: +91.9%
INTC
Intel Corporation
DCA: +98.9%
Lump: +45.7%
AMZN
Amazon.com, Inc.
DCA: +50.3%
Lump: +42.6%
BAC
Bank of America Corporation
DCA: +35.4%
Lump: +18.3%
NEE
NextEra Energy, Inc.
DCA: +19.5%
Lump: +12.2%
HON
Honeywell International Inc.
DCA: +12.3%
Lump: +12.0%
TMO
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
DCA: +30.2%
Lump: +11.7%
TSLA
Tesla, Inc.
DCA: +50.1%
Lump: +7.6%
HD
The Home Depot, Inc.
DCA: +3.9%
Lump: +0.5%
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
DCA: -2.8%
Lump: -3.2%
ABT
Abbott Laboratories
DCA: +0.4%
Lump: -9.0%
DHR
Danaher Corporation
DCA: +4.7%
Lump: -13.8%
ACN
Accenture plc
DCA: -2.8%
Lump: -21.4%
CRM
Salesforce, Inc.
DCA: +6.0%
Lump: -22.1%
UPS
United Parcel Service, Inc.
DCA: -9.3%
Lump: -35.8%
CMCSA
Comcast Corporation
DCA: -25.2%
Lump: -42.7%
ADBE
Adobe Inc.
DCA: -35.8%
Lump: -61.5%
NKE
NIKE, Inc.
DCA: -49.4%
Lump: -74.7%
Top 10 Stocks for Lump Sum Investing (5-Year)
Stocks with the largest advantage for lump sum over DCA
AVGO
Broadcom Inc.
+337.9% advantage
NVDA
NVIDIA Corporation
+328.1% advantage
LLY
Eli Lilly and Company
+303.0% advantage
XOM
ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation
+154.1% advantage
ABBV
AbbVie Inc.
+116.2% advantage
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation
+98.3% advantage
CVX
Chevron Corporation
+84.6% advantage
AMGN
Amgen Inc.
+80.7% advantage
PM
Philip Morris International Inc.
+74.1% advantage
WMT
Walmart Inc.
+66.4% advantage
Key Takeaways
1.
Lump sum wins most of the time - In 32 out of 50 stocks (64%),
investing everything upfront produced better returns than DCA over 5 years.
2.
DCA wins in volatile stocks - For 18 stocks, DCA outperformed because price volatility
allowed investors to buy at lower average prices during dips.
3.
Psychology matters - DCA's real advantage is making investing easier psychologically.
It's easier to invest $500/month than $30,000 at once, which means you're more likely to actually invest.
4.
Both strategies work - Every stock in this analysis grew money over 5 years with both strategies.
The difference between DCA and lump sum is often smaller than the overall gains.
Investment Terms Explained
Learn about DCA, CAGR, and more
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Disclaimer: This page is for educational purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
This is not investment advice. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.