Times like this can be difficult for an investor. Seeing one's ASX share portfolio value getting torched in a relatively short amount of time is painful.
The tricky thing is that shares can drop really quickly and take time to grow and compound.
Over the long term, the share market has returned approximately 10% per annum. But, a few shares have managed to achieve extraordinary returns after starting as microcap ASX shares and then steadily achieving various goals and becoming multi-billion-dollar businesses.
I'm not suggesting that investors should go and try to find the smallest ASX shares they can. But, I think these two examples show that with a promising business, it can be worth holding through recessions and worries about various global events.
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Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)
Altium is a leading electronic PCB design software business. While it may be one of the global market leaders now, just over ten years ago it was a much smaller business.
In fact, at the end of FY11, the Altium share price was sitting at just 9 cents. By the end of the 2021 calendar year, it had reached $45.19. That's a gain of just over 50,100%.
If someone had invested $5,000 at the end of FY11 into Altium shares, that investment would have been worth just over $2.51 million.
Altium shares have obviously fallen back since then. In 2022 to date, the Altium share price has dropped by 23% amid the ASX share market volatility.
The ASX share is expecting revenue growth in FY23. Total revenue is expected to be between US$255 million to US$265 million in FY23, an increase of between 15% to 20%.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
Pilbara Minerals is one of the largest Australian lithium miners. While it's a major player today, a decade ago that wasn't the case.
In October 2013, the Pilbara Minerals share price was under 1 cent per share, it was just 0.75 cents, according to the ASX. Earlier in October, the Pilbara Minerals share price reached $5.42. That means, between those two dates, the Pilbara Minerals share price has grown by more than 72,160%.
A $5,000 investment would have turned into approximately $3.6 million.
However, the ASX lithium share has dropped by 8% since that peak earlier in October, so the gain doesn't look quite as spectacular.
The ASX share is selling some of its lithium production for a high price at the moment, as it benefits from strong demand. Its latest cargo sale for 5,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) was for an equivalent of around US$8,000 per dmt after adjusting for lithia content on a pro-rata basis and inclusive of freight costs.
