Intel Surges 327%: What 100,000 Shekels Invested a Year Ago Is Worth Now
A retrospective look at investments made a year ago reveals Intel as the massive winner with a 327.5% surge, while shekel strength weighed on foreign indices like the S&P 500.
Exactly one year ago, the dollar traded at 3.336 shekels and Intel shares hovered around $24, after years of Wall Street writing the company off. Anyone who held 100,000 shekels back then and wondered where to invest it can now see precisely what every decision was worth.
The Big Winner: Intel
An investment of 100,000 shekels in Intel stock a year ago is worth about 427,000 shekels today—a yield of 327.5% in dollars. Even after deducting the weakening of the dollar against the shekel, the Israeli investor is left with about 386,000 shekels. No other asset on the list comes close. The background: massive demand for chips and memory, alongside giant investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Insurance Beats Banks and Local vs. Global
Harel Insurance surged 85.3%, turning 100,000 shekels into 185,000 shekels. The Tel Aviv Insurance Index as a whole rose 69.8%. In contrast, Bank Leumi, the anchor stock of the local exchange, managed a modest 31.7%, reaching 132,000 shekels, while Teva posted a stellar 70% gain.
Meanwhile, the Tel Aviv 35 Index rose 36.4%, turning 100,000 shekels into 136,000. The S&P 500 rose 18.1% and the Nasdaq 100 rose 24.2% in dollar terms. However, for Israeli investors purchasing in shekels, the dollar's drop from 3.336 to 3.012 shekels shaved off about 9.7% of the return, leaving the S&P 500 at roughly 107,000 shekels.
"Past performance doesn't guarantee future results, but looking back at historical market swings teaches valuable lessons on single-stock risk versus broad index diversification."
Losers and Deposits
On the losing side, defense contractor Ashot Ashkelon (referenced as Arit Industries) dropped 44.2%, turning 100,000 shekels into 56,000. Bitcoin fell 29.2% in dollars, translating to a 36.1% drop in shekels, leaving about 64,000 shekels. Meanwhile, holding cash in dollars yielded a loss down to 90,000 shekels, while a standard one-year shekel bank deposit returned about 4%, amounting to 104,000 shekels.
