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.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to 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 June 30, 2026, Schwab had 39.8 million active brokerage accounts, 2.4 million banking accounts and 5.9 million workplace plan participant accounts, with total client accounts of 48 million.
Bottom Line
While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in The Charles Schwab Corporation ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in August 2016 would be worth $3,705.72, or a gain of 270.57%, as of August 14, 2026, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.
Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 257.09% and gold's return of 210.33% over the same time frame.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for SCHW.
Schwab shares have outperformed the industry in the past three months. Its earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, with second-quarter 2026 results aided by record revenues. Growth in advisory and managed investing is aiding stable asset-based fees and net new assets, while strong client engagement, record trading activity and higher margin balances should aid transaction and lending revenues. Disciplined cash management amid the higher-for-longer rate environment will aid net interest revenues (NIR). Yet, costs are rising due to investments in advisers, branches and technology. Competition from fintechs may limit monetization, while market volatility could affect client cash allocations and trading behavior. Still, product development is on track, with portfolio insights and spot crypto offerings launched.
Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 7.06%, and there have been 13 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2026 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.
7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."
Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention.
See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
