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.
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1. Microsoft
Microsoft (MSFT 2.63%) 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.
Microsoft has actually recently become even more attractive to me, as it announced plans to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard (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 (PYPL 2.22%) 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 quite impressive: Some 416 million active consumer and merchant accounts, total payment volume topping $1 trillion over the past year, and nearly 40,000 transactions per minute. Its third quarter featured 4.9 billion payment transactions and 44.2 payments per active account, and total payment volume growing by 26% year over year.
PayPal has made some promising acquisitions, too, such as the Honey shopping tool that it bought in 2020, and its family of brands includes Braintree, Chargehound, Happy Returns by PayPal, Hyperwallet, Paidy, Simility, Xoom, and Zettle. The company even appears to have entered the cryptocurrency space, developing its own stablecoin. Digital payments appear here to stay, and PayPal looks like it can remain prosperous in that arena for a long time.
3. Disney
Then there's Walt Disney (DIS -0.13%), which has had many irons in the fire for a long time, such as Disney theme parks, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Lucasfilm, ABC TV, FX, National Geographic, ESPN, the Disney+ streaming service, and part of Hulu.
The pandemic has certainly hurt business at its parks and resorts, but other businesses such as TV properties have been able to serve more people stuck at home. The company has enjoyed ample successes recently, such as its animated feature Encanto (with its buzzworthy soundtrack) and its Disney+ service -- which has racked up close to 120 million subscribers in less than three years, though its growth is slowing.
Whenever the pandemic ends, business at the resorts will pick up, and despite occasional headwinds that Disney will face, it can always rely on its powerful brands and franchises as it develops new entertainment for consumers.
These are three companies I look forward to seeing in my portfolio many years from now.
