If You Invested $1000 in Generac Holdings 10 Years Ago, This Is How Much You'd Have Now

For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. This factor can impact your investment portfolio as well as help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

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 Generac Holdings (GNRC) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to GNRC for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Generac Holdings' Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Generac Holdings' main business drivers.

Headquartered in Waukesha, WI, and founded in 1959, Generac Holdings Inc is a leading manufacturer of backup and prime power generation systems for residential and C&I applications, solar + battery storage solutions, advanced power grid software platforms and services, energy management devices and controls along with engine and battery-powered tools and equipment.

The company has a wide distribution network spanning independent residential dealers, industrial distributors and dealers, national and regional retailers, e-commerce partners, wholesalers, equipment rental companies, equipment distributors, and solar installers. It also boasts a direct sales channel to various individual customers.

Beginning from the first quarter of 2026, Generac’s two segments are now Residential and C&I. 

The Residential segment consists of the former Domestic segment, excluding the domestic C&I operations. The C&I segment consists of the former International segment, along with the domestic C&I operations. 

Generac broadly classifies its products into three categories depending on the end user types, namely Residential, C&I, and Other products and services.

The Residential business includes automatic standby generators (that run mainly on natural gas and liquid propane), air-cooled engine generators for emergency backup in small to medium-sized homes, and liquid-cooled engine generators for larger homes and small businesses. It also provides remote monitoring system for home standby generators called Mobile Link, offering Wi-Fi-enabled feature to conveniently check the status of generator online, while receiving maintenance and service alerts.

The C&I business includes cleaner-burning natural gas-fueled generators and C&I generators that are fueled by diesel and Bi-Fuel.

The Other products and services category primarily comprises of aftermarket service parts and product accessories.

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 Generac Holdings ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in August 2016 would be worth $5,561.78, or a gain of 456.18%, as of August 27, 2026, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 253.88% and gold's return of 234.25% over the same time frame.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for GNRC.

Generac's second-quarter performance was driven primarily by robust momentum in its C&I segment, where revenues surged 29% year over year, supported by data center demand, mobile products and international expansion. The company's growing exposure to data centers, backed by $1.6 billion in backlog and multiyear hyperscale agreements, enhances revenue visibility. Ongoing capacity expansion and vertical integration efforts further reinforce Generac's position. Management now expects C&I product sales to increase in the low 30% range in 2026, up from the prior mid-to-high 20% outlook. However, Residential revenues declined amid weak outage activity and macro headwinds, prompting a downward revision to the growth outlook. Increasing reliance on data centers and margin sensitivity to mix and tariffs remain concerning.

Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 5.86%, and there have been 7 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2026 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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