MakeMyTrip’s Breakout: A Lesson in Opportunity Cost and Capital Efficiency
Today’s story is about MakeMyTrip, a company primarily operating in India but listed on U.S. exchanges. The interesting part? Its stock traded between $10 and $40 for 13 long years. It didn’t break $40, and rarely dipped below $10 — a tight range that persisted from around 2010 to 2023.
Now think about all the investors who bought in at different points — $20, $30, or even $40 — and waited through that entire decade, hoping for a breakout. Many may have lost patience or assumed the range would continue forever.
But in 2024, the stock broke through $40, and in no time surged to $122. That move likely came as a surprise to long-time holders, but momentum investors would have spotted the breakout and participated in the sharp move without waiting through the painful consolidation.
The key lesson here is opportunity cost. Holding capital in a stock that goes nowhere for years is like locking up your potential. You could have used that capital in other high-momentum opportunities during that same time, growing your portfolio far more effectively.
Markets reward those who allocate their capital efficiently, not those who stay emotionally attached to past buys. When the trend emerges, get in. When the trend fades, get out. That’s the best way to respect your capital — your raw material in this factory called the stock market.
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