You might need to sleep with one eye open if you own some of the most popular stocks on the Robinhood trading platform. Quite a few equities can experience such wild and rapid changes of fortune that sleeping peacefully could be out of the question.
That's not the case with every popular Robinhood stock, though. Here are three of the top 10 most popular stocks on Robinhood that you can buy and hold without worries.
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1. Apple
The most popular stock of all on Robinhood is also one of the best long-term picks. Apple (AAPL 0.52%) ranks as the biggest publicly traded company based on market cap, but it's poised to grow even larger.
After a few years in second place, Apple's iPhone once again claims the highest market share among smartphones. That's not surprising, considering the enormous demand for the new iPhone 12 models. Look for the iPhone to continue its reign as more consumers want 5G capabilities and Apple rolls out new augmented-reality functionality.
While iPhone remains the center of Apple's ecosystem, the company has other growth drivers. iPad sales soared 41% year over year in Q4. Sales for wearables, home, and accessories, which include AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats, HomePod, and other products, jumped nearly 30%. And services revenue, such as AppleCare and advertising, rose 24%.
Investors can also rest easy knowing that Apple sits atop a cash stockpile of $76.8 billion. With this cash position and its ability to keep generating enormous profits, Apple is a stock you can buy and hold for years.
2. Disney
If someone told you in 2019 that Disney (DIS -1.01%) would have to shut down its theme parks and cruise lines for months and delay the launches of major movies, you'd probably have predicted the stock would languish. However, Disney's shares are instead near all-time highs.
The reason behind this perhaps surprising success is the company's streaming service, Disney+. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have been at home looking for something entertaining to watch. And Disney has provided exactly that, with hit shows such as The Mandalorian and WandaVision.
Disney has a lot more in store for eager Disney+ subscribers. It plans to launch 10 new Marvel series and 10 new Star Wars series over the next few years. In addition, the company will bring 15 live-action, animation, and Pixar series to the streaming service, along with 15 new feature movies.
The reopening of the economy as COVID-19 vaccines become widely available will also work to Disney's advantage. In particular, Disney's theme-park and movie sales should begin to rebound strongly. A stock like Disney that can survive and thrive despite a global pandemic is one that you can own and not lose any sleep over.
3. Microsoft
Robinhood users like a lot of tech stocks. Microsoft (MSFT -2.45%) stands out as one of the most popular -- and one of the best -- in the group.
Microsoft's shift of its productivity software business to a subscription model was managed very well. As a result, it now has more than 47 million Microsoft 365 personal and family subscribers. Its Office 365 sales to businesses also continue to grow briskly.
An even more important growth driver, though, is Microsoft's cloud business. The company's Azure cloud-services revenue skyrocketed 50% year over year in Q4, with only a 2% dent from currency fluctuations. Microsoft is investing even more heavily in Azure to capture increasing market share from its big rivals.
In addition, the company is a strong contender in the gaming market with Xbox. Microsoft topped $5 billion in revenue for the first time ever in Q4. Look for gaming to be an increasingly important growth driver for the tech giant.
If you liked Apple's big cash stockpile, you'll love Microsoft's cash position. As of the end of 2020, Microsoft's cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaled nearly $132 billion. The company is likely to use this enormous balance to make more acquisitions, as well as reward shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks. Buying and holding Microsoft stock should pay off nicely over the long run.
