Stocks can be very different: Some are tied to companies that seem promising and that might become great growers for your portfolio. Others have already proven themselves to be great growers — and have lots of things going for them that suggest they’ll keep performing well for many years. That latter group is worth hanging on to, for as long as you can.
Here’s a look at three companies in my portfolio that I have no intention of selling — at least not until I have to, such as in retirement. If you don’t have them in your portfolio, you might want to at least add them to your watch list.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Microsoft
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has been around for decades and sports the dominant computer operating system in Windows and a dominant suite of productivity software in Microsoft 365, which includes Word, Excel, Outlook, and more. Microsoft also encompasses the Azure cloud computing platform, Surface devices, Xbox gaming systems — and it even owns Skype and LinkedIn.
People are also reading…
Microsoft has actually recently become even more attractive to me, as it announced plans to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI). That move will give its successful Xbox platform — and its Xbox Game Pass subscription product (which recently featured some 25 million-plus players) — a lot more content, with titles such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Call of Duty. It will also deliver mobile games, which are a fast-growing niche, in the form of mobile versions of its flagship products as well as mobile titles such as Candy Crush that it acquired by buying King Digital. My colleague Billy Duberstein has noted that by “making smart acquisitions at reasonable prices in its mature stage of growth,” Microsoft is kind of becoming “the Berkshire Hathaway of technology.”
I’m bullish about this massive company’s future, and I want to remain a shareholder for a long time, to share in its prosperity.
2. PayPal
PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) is another company I’m bullish on. It’s a fintech giant, with a recent market value near $190 billion — a value that’s actually some 47% below its 52-week high, at the time of this writing. You probably know its digital payment platform, PayPal, but you may not realize that the company also owns another popular platform, Venmo. Its overall numbers are …….