We Fools are known for having particularly long time horizons when it comes to investing. While the Street tends to look at short-term price targets and financial models, Fools often look at the business from a longer-term perspective. Here are a handful of stocks to consider holding for the next 10 years.
Andres Cardenal: When you are making a long-term commitment to an investment, you need to make sure the business is strong enough to continue creating value for investors over the years, no matter what the future may bring for the economy in general, or the industry in particular.
Coca-Cola (KO 1.33%) is the undisputed global leader in non alcoholic drinks. Soda consumption is declining in developed markets due to health considerations, but Coca-Cola is about much more than traditional soda. The company owns a global portfolio of 20 brands making over $1 billion each in annual revenue around the world, and 14 of those names are non-carbonated drinks.
Names such as its flagship Coca-Cola brand are so ubiquitous that investors can easily lose sight of the fact that Coca-Cola is also the largest still beverage company in the world. Water, tea, juice, and sports drinks are some of the categories in which Coca-Cola is finding promising growth venues in the years ahead.
Management is also making a big effort to cut costs and keep operations as lean as possible. In 2014, Coca-Cola launched a new productivity program aimed at producing annualized savings of $3 billion by 2019. Among other things, this includes a zero-based budgeting process across the organization, meaning every dollar of expenditures will need to be reevaluated thoroughly.
Being a market leader in a mature industry, Coca-Cola can't be expected to deliver explosive growth in revenue. However, investors in the company can sleep smoothly at night knowing that the value of their holdings will rise slowly but surely in the long term.
Todd Campbell: A decade is a long time, and obviously things can (and often do) happen that could cause even the best companies to stutter; however, Celgene Corp. (CELG) is one company I think has the chops to reward investors during the next 10 years.
Perhaps no company has been better at acquiring, developing, and marketing blockbuster therapies than Celgene, and thanks to drugs like Revlimid, Pomalyst, and Otezla, the company's already hauling in billions of dollars in sales annually, including $9.2 billion in 2015 and an expected $10.5 billion in 2016.
Celgene's ability to expand the market for existing medications and craft new therapies targeting new markets has management thinking it can double its sales to at least $21 billion in 2020, and if so, the company's profitability should surge, because operating margin is north of 50%.
Of course, for Celgene to remain a top performer through 2025, it will need to advance multiple new drugs to market that can offset patent risks to its existing medicines, but with lots of cash flow, a promising new therapy in the works for multiple sclerosis, and various collaborations, including one with Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) on CAR-T cancer therapies, I believe it will be able to do that and reward investors in the process.
Brian Feroldi: With a decade-long time frame in mind, investors should be looking for a company with strong competitive advantages that operates in an industry that will benefit for an undeniable long-term trend. One company that fits that description perfectly is the electronic payment giant MasterCard (MA 0.10%), which is why I think it's a great stock to own for the ultra long term.
You may think credit and debit card usage is already so ubiquitous that there isn't much room left for growth, but that assumption is wrong. Even in developed markets like the U.S., cash and checks still make up well over half of all transactions. The picture is even more skewed in developing nations where more than 90% of payments are still made with cash. In total, only 15% of global transactions are performed electronically right now, which gives MasterCard an enormous runway for future growth.
On the competition front, MasterCard has proven itself to be adept at winning its fair share of business, and new mobile payment methods are still reliant on networks like MasterCard to complete transactions. That means these new payment methods aren't a threat, but are actually another avenue for future growth.
MasterCard also offers investors an extremely attractive business model. With its network already in place, the company doesn't have to make huge capital investments in order to process additional volume. That means as its business continues to grow, more and more of its revenue will find its way to the bottom line. The company's regular share repurchases programs will work to turbo charge that growth even further, allowing its earnings per share to grow at a rapid clip over the coming decade.
MasterCard is a rare business that offers a scalable business model with growth opportunities galore, so this is one stock I personally will be holding on to for at least another decade.
Jason Hall: Phillips 66 (PSX -0.91%) is one of very few energy stocks I'd be willing to buy and hold for any extended period of time, much less a decade. But this is one great company that's currently in my own portfolio, and that I do intend to own for the long term.
Phillips 66 is the kind of company worth holding for decades for a few reasons.
To start, it's a buyer of oil and natural gas, not a producer. So, while oil & gas producers really struggle when commodity prices are down, Phillips 66's profits aren't affected nearly as much. Yes, the company will see smaller revenues because gas, diesel, and jet fuel sell for less, but its profits are much more secure.
Additionally, Phillips 66 has some of the best refining operations out there and is able to process nearly any kind of crude oil. Because of this, it's able to source lower-cost crude oils that are cheaper than Brent crude, which plays a role in setting prices for the things made from oil. Since Phillips 66 can lower its input costs, its profits can go up even when -- sometimes especially when -- oil prices are low.
Lastly, Phillips 66 management is focused on what comes next. Demand for refined products is growing at a very slow rate, but demand for natural gas and the products made from it is growing faster. So, the company is investing in natural gas pipelines, gathering, processing, and petrochemical manufacturing, while also regularly boosting its dividend payment. If you're looking for an energy investment you can count on for a decade or more, Phillips 66 deserves a close look.
Evan Niu, CFA: I finally bought into Under Armour (UAA -0.44%) last week. The fitness apparel maker has been on my radar for a long time, and I've been sitting on the sidelines watching it rise over the years. After hitting an all-time high of nearly $106 late last year, and subsequently giving back a lot of those gains by pulling back to below $70, I figured it was time to jump in at last. I ended up purchasing shares at $68 and change, and the timing turned out to be rather fortuitous.
Under Armour just reported a blockbuster quarter, with fourth-quarter revenue jumping 31% to $1.2 billion. That translated into earnings per share of $0.48. Guidance was impressive, too, with 2016 total sales expected to approach $5 billion. This year will mark the company's 20th year in business. Under Armour continues to grow both international revenue as well as its footwear business, helping to diversify both geographically and categorically.
There is also a new opportunity in wearables fitness trackers, a nascent market that Under Armour is hoping to get in on. Under Armour just recently unveiled the UA Band, and the company is building out a broader platform. It has scooped up a handful of popular mobile fitness apps that will ideally help drive hardware sales.
Under Armour has built an enduring brand that can withstand the test of time. I plan on holding this position for at least the next decade.
