Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares ended the week in the green.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank stock closed up 0.65% on Friday, trading for $173.84 apiece.

Despite an ongoing and growing chorus of analysts citing the big four bank's high valuation relative to its peers, accompanied by numerous sell recommendations, CommBank again outpaced the benchmark returns over the week.

And shares in Australia's biggest bank have smashed the ASX 200 returns over the past full year.

So, if you'd ignored the consensus sell recommendations and bought $5,000 of CBA shares a year ago, how much would you have today?

Let's find out!

Banking on CBA shares to outperform

One year ago, on 23 May 2024, you could have picked up CommBank stock for $120.23 a share at the intraday lows.

Meaning you could have bought 41 CBA shares for $5,000, with enough change left over for a decent dinner out.

At yesterday's closing price of $173.84, those same shares were worth $7,127.44.

That's a tidy gain in just 12 months for an 'overvalued' ASX bank stock.

But we're not done yet.

Over the full year, CBA also paid out $4.75 in fully franked dividends.

If we add that welcome passive income back into Friday's closing price, then the accumulated value of CBA shares, purchased for $120.23 a year ago, comes to $178.59.

Or $7,322.19 for those 41 shares.

That's a gain of 46.44% over the year, with some potential tax benefits from those franking credits.

What's been going right for the ASX 200 bank stock?

CBA shares have continued to defy bearish analyst forecasts and broker sell recommendations amid strong ongoing performance.

At its third-quarter update, released on 14 May, the company reported a 1% boost in operating income. Management credited this to lending volume growth and higher trading income, which was offset by two fewer days in the quarter.

Pleasingly, the bank's net interest margin (NIM) was broadly stable, while CBA's cash net profit after tax (NPAT) of $2.6 billion was up 6% year on year.

Commenting on the third-quarter results, CBA CEO Matt Comyn said:

Our balance sheet settings remain strong. We have maintained strong capital and provisioning levels and have successfully completed our FY 2025 funding task during the March quarter.

Our deliberate and long-term conservative approach to key balance sheet settings enables us to support our customers, the economy and our shareholders through a range of macroeconomic scenarios.

CBA shares closed up 0.8% on the day the results were reported.