Compiling a list of the ultimate buy-and-hold stock picks for forever investors is subjective. While you may disagree with some of the long-term stocks chosen for this article, each of them is fundamentally sound. Better, each one of these long-term stocks has the potential to serve as part of a solid portfolio. Solid companies, solid products, and solid operations are all hallmarks of the firms here.
Long-Term Stocks: Apple (AAPL)
Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings may have been disappointing, but with heavy product demand, and new product releases, its stock price continues to appreciate. I’d consider the latest pullback as an opportunity to accumulate shares. After all, demand for its iPhone is still strong. And there is no clear contender that will dethrone it anytime soon. That’ll be the main driver of Apple moving forward. Better, on Sept. 12, the company will introduce its iPhone 15, and quite possibly, its Apple Watch Series 9 smartwatches, as noted by Investor’s Business Daily.
In addition, consider this. According to analysts at Citi, Apple has “outperformed the S&P 500 during the period between June quarter earnings and the September iPhone announcement every year since 2016. It has climbed 8% on average over that period,” as noted by Barron’s.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is arguably the most stable of the highly visible AI stocks. The continued emergence of AI, paired with Microsoft’s massive footprint across tech, makes it a can’t-miss investment at this point.
Investors are aware of Microsoft’s early OpenAI investment. That alone has provided the firm with a first-mover advantage that the other tech titans haven’t been able to overcome. In time, that could help Microsoft to improve things, such as “search,” where it continues to lag behind Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL). That hasn’t happened yet although the firm did try to do just that earlier this year.
One of the clearest opportunities at this point includes CoPilot, the office AI upsell that could add more than $14 billion in annual revenue. Another is Azure which continues to grow rapidly. AI integrations are going to increase the pace of that growth as more firms adopt the technology. Gaming will continue to be important and it’s hard to see any glaring weakness in MSFT shares all things considered.
Long-Term Stocks: Nvidia (NVDA)
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is quickly becoming a long-term pick for forever stock investors. With strong earnings growth and demand, the company has emerged as one of the top AI chip providers of choice. Revenues of $13.5 billion were higher than just about anyone was expecting: Wall Street had been anticipating $11 billion +/- $0.2 billion. In addition, the results suggest that the AI boom only continues to strengthen. That’s a very positive sign for Nvidia. A lot of skepticism emerged after Nvidia gave that $11 billion guidance back in May. The firm has put those fears to rest. I also believe NVDA’s volatility will be reduced moving forward. It is the leader in AI and that is the biggest opportunity that any firm has had for a long time. Selling is going to be much less likely now.
Realty Income (O)
Realty Income (NYSE:O) is a retail real estate investment trust (REIT) that could serve as a vital income generator for any portfolio. The firm’s asset base by industry can be seen here. Convenience stores make up the largest chunk of its investment at 11% but it also spans restaurants, big box stores, and pharmacies as well.
Realty Income provides investor income through a dividend that has never been reduced since its inception in 1999. It currently yields 5.4% and is approaching a three-year high as the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio simultaneously approaches a three-year low. Yield falls as price rises. I think the price will rise because Realty Income’s earnings justify a higher price. Even if that happens, dividends will likely increase based on firm history. Realty Income has successfully produced predictable earnings so continued dividend growth looks likely.
Long-Term Stocks: Costco (COST)
Costco (NASDAQ:COST) continues to grow its top-line results at an average of roughly 10% over the past five years. The stock offers growth, a dividend that continues to grow, and a general position that is unassailable.
Better, Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh believes Costco has one of the most defensible moats in retail. The analyst also raised his target price to $630 a share. Costco emerged as a pandemic play and more recently an inflation play. Consumers are increasingly pinched financially which benefits Costco due to its discounted, bulk good pricing. Inflation may be falling but I get the distinct sense that consumers continue to feel as distressed as they did when inflation numbers were higher. That could increase demand at Costco.
Toyota (TM)
Toyota (NYSE:TM), which is well-known for extremely dependable internal combustion vehicles, is quickly moving into electric vehicles (EVs). With that, it’s one of the primary reasons to believe TM stock is particularly strong at this time.
The company projects to sell 1.5 million EVs by 2026. Yet, it hasn’t gone in as hard as others in that regard. It has long championed hybrid technology. Toyota has also become very good at producing reliable hybrid vehicles in the process. It is the antithesis to the ‘go fast and break things’ mantra that has characterized EV development. I’d bet dollars to dimes that the EVs Toyota does release will be much more reliable than those from its competitors. Why? Because that’s exactly what has happened with its gasoline vehicles and its hybrid vehicles.
Pfizer (PFE)
It’s time to buy shares of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). Not only is it oversold, the reaction to its post-pandemic business, is overdone.
True, 2023 hasn’t been kind to Pfizer. Revenues have dropped, as we saw with second-quarter numbers. However, most of the negativity appears to have been priced into the stock. Plus, it reportedly has plans to deploy capital as it attempts to find new revenue sources to bring it into a post-pandemic era. To that end, Pfizer plans to introduce nearly 20 new products and product uses in the coming year. It’s a simple investing bet. Pfizer is one of the leading pharma firms globally. It has to do what all pharma firms have to do and find new revenue as champions die. Pfizer’s track record suggests that it’s more likely to be successful than not.
On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.