We're only two months into 2023, but already, investors have experienced a fair number of volatile market days. Regardless of whether the bear market of 2022 will persist through this year is anyone's guess. 

Even if 2023 proves to be another tough year for the stock market, given the current macroeconomic environment, great businesses will continue to make themselves known. And it's these businesses -- and their shareholders -- that could find themselves in particularly advantageous positions when the market recovers. 

Here are two stocks that fit this bill that investors should consider jumping on in 2023 and holding onto for years. 

1. Airbnb 

Airbnb (ABNB 1.17%) has proven a mainstay in the travel industry in recent months even as other companies with long-established presences in that consumer discretionary-oriented space continued to struggle with the effects of macroeconomic headwinds and fluctuating spending patterns. While it's true that even as concerns about a recession linger, people are continuing to spend money on travel after being unable to easily move about for so long during the pandemic, there's a lot more driving this company's recovery than the so-called revenge travel period. 

The company is currently benefiting from a variety of tailwinds, which, although perhaps not immune to the effects of a potential recession, are durable factors that investors shouldn't overlook. For example, both long-term and short-term travelers continue to be mainstays in the company's continued growth quarter after quarter. In the company's Q4 2022 earnings report, management noted that in that quarter, long-term stays (which are bookings of 28 days or longer) reached 21% of all stays booked on the platform, while nearly half of gross nights booked in the final three months of the year were seven nights or longer.  

Management has also emphasized that the changed world that consumers are now reckoning with in a post-pandemic era, particularly with the rise of remote and flexible work, could also impact how travel looks over the long term. On the third-quarter earnings call, CEO Brian Chesky noted that "even with the macroeconomic uncertainties, we believe that we're well-positioned for the road ahead. Now, why is this? Well, new use cases such as long-term stays and non-urban travel are here to stay. And this is because millions of people now have the flexibility that they didn't have before the pandemic."

From a financial standpoint, Airbnb continues to go from strength to strength. 2022 was the company's first year in its history of annual profitability, and revenue hit a record high of $8.4 billion. Even as the stock is trading down by double-digit percentages from one year ago, shares have still roared up by around 45% since the start of 2023. While changes in consumer spending could have a short-term effect on Airbnb's business (and by short-term, I mean within the context of a three- to five-year investment), the fact that its platform is ideally poised to zero in on the needs of any type of traveler and is continuing to do so even in the current tough environment bodes particularly well for its future amid more favorable economic conditions. This could make the current moment a fortuitous time to take even a modest position in this top growth stock. 

2. MercadoLibre 

MercadoLibre (MELI -1.79%) is the e-commerce leader of Latin America, but this growth stock is so much more than that. The company has seen shares pop by roughly 40% since the beginning of 2023 alone, and investors who have stayed with the stock for the last five years are currently sitting on a total return to the tune of about 200%.  

The company, which currently controls about 21% of the entire Latin America e-commerce market -- a space that generated approximately $170 billion in revenue in 2022 alone -- has been able to maintain its impressive dominance of this industry with its diverse range of business offerings and platform that caters to a wide range of needs stemming from both merchants and its growing consumer base. From its namesake e-commerce marketplace to its Mercado ​​Envíos fulfillment operation to its Mercado Pago fintech segment that facilitates a range of both online and offline payment solutions, MercadoLibre is well-positioned to not only continue expanding its market share but to capitalize on the rapid growth this space is set to witness over the coming years. Bear in mind, while adoption of e-commerce solutions has grown rapidly in recent years in Latin America, it's still estimated that only about 20% of total online retail sales there will be online sales by 2026.

Last year was another banner one for the company, with MercadoLibre reporting record revenue of more than $10 billion, up about 50% from 2021. The company remained profitable, with earnings for the year hitting $482 million, up nearly 500% from the prior year. Meanwhile, it recorded a total payment volume of $124 billion in the 12-month stretch, representing a 60% increase from 2021, while gross merchandise volume popped 22% to $34 billion. And Mercado Envíos helped fulfill over a billion orders last year while operating income flew past the $1 billion mark.

An emerging segment of MercadoLibre's business is its advertising wing, which CFO Pedro Arnt said the following about in the Q4 earnings call. "Development of technology for Mercado Ads has been a major focus during 2022, increasing presence of ads and their monetization as well. Ads penetration, for example, grew another 10 basis points in the fourth quarter."

Given the rapid evolution of the Latin America e-commerce market -- not to mention the burgeoning presence that MercadoLibre maintains in other lucrative sectors like financial services solutions and advertising -- and the fact that this space still remains heavily under-penetrated, there is tremendous opportunity left for this company. Unlike some mature businesses in this space, this e-commerce stock is one that appears to have a prolonged runway of growth still well ahead of it. Investors searching for a growth-oriented business that is profitable, cash rich (the company had just shy of $2 billion in cash on its balance sheet at the end of the year), and maintains a key advantage in its markets of operation shouldn't hesitate to take a second look at this e-commerce stock.