The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, has made a name for himself in the investing world through his relatively simple and straightforward investing strategies. They're not flashy, but they've been proven to work time and time again.
Part of Buffett's strategy is investing in companies he feels comfortable holding regardless of economic conditions. As a long-term investor, he preaches the importance of ignoring short-term noise and focusing on the end game. Here are two Buffett investments than can lead you through any economy.
1. Visa
Visa (V -0.48%) has had a good 2023 so far, up more than 9% on the year. While higher inflation in 2022 had a negative effect on many businesses, it actually benefited Visa because the company takes a percentage of sales made with a Visa card or on a Visa payment processing system. More inflation equals higher bills, which equals higher cuts for Visa (provided consumers don't pull back, which so far they haven't).
Data source: YCharts
Visa earned $29.3 billion in revenue in fiscal 2022 ended Sept. 30, up 22% year over year. In its fiscal 2023 Q1 ended Dec. 31, it had $7.9 billion in revenue, up 12% year over year. Visa has been a cash cow of late, but what may matter more is the company's sky-high margins.
Much of the investment it took to expand Visa's reach was made many years ago, so now the company is reaping the benefits without spending much in the present. It's not like a physical product where the company has to spend money for each sale it makes. Visa's margins routinely hover in the 80% range.
Buffett has always preached the importance of companies having competitive moats. That is, a substantial and sustainable competitive advantage. In Visa's case, its competitive moat is its merchant reach and its vast payments networks. Three years ago, 61 million merchant locations were accepting Visa. Today, there are over 80 million. That's much more that competitors Discover and American Express. Only Mastercard comes close.
It will be all but impossible for competitors to overtake Visa's merchant reach in the short term (especially if it continues expanding at current rates), and even the long term would be a tall task for any company. The world is steadily transforming into a digital-dominant economy, and who better to benefit from that transformation than the company with all the resources and working relationships at its disposal?
2. Coca-Cola
There's arguably no company in the world that has the brand recognition of Coca-Cola (KO 0.68%), and it's been one of Buffett's most rewarding investments. Coca-Cola has risen to dominance by managing to market and sell its products everywhere. This may not sound hard in theory, but doing so profitably is no small feat. The logistical and local expertise this takes should not be taken for granted.
Coca-Cola has underperformed the S&P 500 over the past three years (the index has large tech stocks to thank for that), but it has outperformed various broader consumer staples ETFs.
DATA BY YCharts
Despite underwhelming stock performance over the past three years, Coca-Cola's ability to make money has stood strong. In its 2022 fiscal year, the company had $43 billion in revenue, up 11% year over year and 41% in the past three years. Coca-Cola has products that'll sell no matter the economic conditions.
Coca-Cola is also a Dividend King, having increased its yearly dividend for 61 consecutive years (it's paid one for 103 years). Regardless of how Coca-Cola's stock price performs, you can be confident your quarterly dividend will be there as expected. For example, the company's stock is down about 2% in the past 12 months, yet investors made $2.22 per share in dividends over that span.
Buffett once said, "If you aren't willing to own a stock for 10 years, don't even think about owning it for 10 minutes." Coca-Cola is, without a doubt, a stock I'd feel confident investing in consistently and not worrying about the stock price or relatively short-term factors like the economy.
