Saying you'll "never sell" a stock is exceptionally bold. Realistically, no investor can make that absolute guarantee, as anything can happen to a company over the long term.
However, a few stocks have kept themselves relevant for several decades and continue to prosper. Others lack that decades-long track record, but are on track to maintain growth over the long term. Given the state of their businesses, market positions, and financial conditions, we see this level of potential in stocks like Visa (V -0.23%), Roku (ROKU -10.29%), and Shopify (SHOP 1.11%).
Visa has rewarded shareholders by reducing its outstanding shares by nearly 18% over the last ten years.
Jake Lerch (Visa): When I think of a stock that I'm never selling, Visa is a name that immediately comes to mind. I've owned shares of this fintech behemoth for years, and I plan on keeping them for many more.
The reason is quite simple: Visa's business model is tried and true. It facilitates trillions of dollars' worth of payments between consumers and merchants through its vast network of credit cards, debit cards, and merchant terminals. From each of these transactions, Visa generates a small fee.
When operating at a massive scale, those fees really add up! In its most recent quarter (the three months ending on Jun. 29, 2023), Visa generated $8.2 billion in revenue, up 12% year-over-year. Net income increased to $4.2 billion, 22% higher than in the year-ago quarter.
What's more, the company repurchased close to $3 billion of its own shares in its most recent quarter, bringing year-to-date purchases of its stock to $8.3 billion. Indeed, over the last ten years, Visa has aggressively bought back its own shares, reducing its outstanding shares by almost 18%.
V Shares Outstanding data by YCharts
That's great for shareholders, as reducing outstanding shares makes each share more valuable, thus increasing its price.
Given its straightforward business model and simple strategy to reward its shareholders through massive share buybacks, I plan to hold Visa for as long as possible. And it's a name long-term buy-and-hold investors should definitely consider.
Roku's renewed growth could be a sign of things to come
Justin Pope (ROKU): Streaming isn't a new topic on Wall Street, but it's still got plenty of treads left on the tire. Roku's been there since streaming's early days, steadily accumulating a user base of more than 73 million accounts.
Today Roku's business is built on advertising, selling ads to the millions of eyeballs that stream through Roku-branded televisions and streaming dongles. Advertising is reported within Roku's Platform segment, approximately 88% of the company's revenue.
The stock had a tough 2022 when a bear market cooled investors' sentiment, and recession fears spooked advertisers into pulling back their ad spending, snuffing out Roku's revenue growth. However, improving economic sentiment sparked renewed revenue growth in Roku's second quarter.
ROKU Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts
There should also be plenty of room for long-term growth. In the United States, streaming is still just over a third of all television viewing; more than half of viewing is still broadcast and cable feeds. Roku is also an international company pursuing user growth in foreign countries. Roku-branded TVs are number one in Mexico, and the company just expanded to other parts of Central America.
Roku also has developed streaming ads where consumers can purchase directly through an ad using payment information saved on Roku. These innovations and continued user growth make Roku a potential multi-decade winner. This Fool plans on holding his shares for as long as Roku's steady worldwide growth continues.
This merchant site should support shoppers and shareholders for decades
Will Healy (Shopify): Although Shopify stock has only traded on the market since 2015, it has already shown signs of a maturing company still capable of rapid growth.
The e-commerce company sports a market cap of $86 billion, making it the largest company in Canada that is not a bank. Also, Shopify has become the No. 1 e-commerce platform in the U.S., according to BuiltWith, and remains a top e-commerce site globally.
Image source: Datanyze.
Moreover, with the stated goal of becoming a "100-year company," it seeks to balance growth with profitability, and maintains an investment portfolio with differing time horizons.
Another factor that could support this longevity is an extensive ecosystem. This goes beyond the flexible and easy-to-use sales platform that companies can tailor to get a desired appearance. It also includes an environment that supports functions such as raising capital, managing payments, and monitoring inventory that sells both online and offline. This added functionality makes Shopify easier to use and increases the likelihood that other merchants will choose its platform over Shopify's numerous competitors.
Furthermore, since it decided not to exit the fulfillment business, its financials have improved quickly. In the first half of 2023, its revenue of $3.2 billion increased by 28% compared with the same period in 2022. Additionally, when taking out one-time charges related to the sale of the logistics business and other factors, the adjusted net income for the first six months of the year was $190 million, reversing the adjusted net loss during the first half of 2022.
Consequently, Shopify stock has risen by approximately 80% this year. Although its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 14 has recently grown, it remains cheaper than 2021 levels, when Shopify routinely sold for more than 40 times sales. Given these results, it should bode well for the e-commerce industry -- and, by extension, Shopify shareholders, as more merchants expand their online presence.
