After getting pummelled following the outbreak of the global pandemic in the early months of 2020, Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) shares have staged a remarkable comeback.
Indeed, on 28 August 2025, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) airline closed at an all-time high of $12.12 apiece. That meant investors who bought the stock for $2.36 on 20 March 2020 had enjoyed a 413.6% share price gain.
And this isn't some penny stock we're talking about.
By early 2024, the global COVID lockdowns and ensuing travel bans were thankfully fading into history.
So, if you'd waited out the early days of Qantas recovery and bought $10,000 worth of Qantas shares two years ago, just how much would you have today?
Let's dig into the numbers.
Qantas shares flying high
On 19 January 2024, you could have bought shares in the ASX 200 airline for $5.21 apiece.
So, for $10,000, you could have bought 1,919 shares.
On Friday, the stock closed up 1.97% at $10.38 a share.
Meaning the 1,919 Qantas shares you bought for $10,000 two years ago would be worth (a rounded) $19,919 today.
But wait. There's more!
With the company's profits surging, management reinstated the Qantas dividend in calendar year 2025. Management had suspended the dividend payouts in 2020 as global travel came to a standstill and the company's revenue evaporated.
If you bought shares two years ago and held onto them through to today, you'd have received the fully-franked interim dividend of 26.4 cents a share on 16 April. And the final Qantas dividend, also 26.4 cents per share, would have hit your bank account on 15 October.
So, if we add the 52.8 cents per share back into Friday's closing price, then the accumulated value of the shares you bought two years ago comes out to $10.908 per share.
Which brings the value of the 1,919 shares you bought for $10,000 to (a rounded) $20,932.
That represents a gain of 109.32%, with some potential tax benefits from those dividend franking credits.
What's been lifting the ASX 200 airline stock?
Qantas shares have benefited from a range of factors over the past few years. Those include lower jet fuel costs amid slumping global oil prices and pent-up travel demand following the lifting of the COVID restrictions.
In FY 2025, this helped the airline achieve an 8.6% year-on-year boost in revenue and other income to $23.82 billion.
And on the bottom line, Qantas' underlying profit before tax of $2.39 billion was up 15% from the prior year.
