Warren Buffett is currently the sixth-richest person in the world, with a fortune totaling $122 billion, according to Bloomberg. But he has also created substantial wealth for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. Buffett took control of the company in 1965, and the stock has doubled the performance of the S&P 500 since that time.
Suffice it to say, investors can always turn to Buffett when searching for inspiration, and while Berkshire's portfolio is packed with wonderful stocks, Amazon (AMZN 2.86%) and Visa (V 0.07%) stand out right now. Both stocks have crushed the broader market over the past decade, and investors can expect the outperformance to continue in the future.
Here's why I'd split a $1,000 investment evenly across Amazon and Visa without hesitation.
1. Amazon
In 2007, Buffett wrote the following in his shareholder letter: "A truly great business must have an enduring 'moat' that protects excellent returns on invested capital." Amazon fits the bill three times over as it has a strong competitive position in three large markets, and its investments across all three have paid off handsomely.
Amazon runs the world's most popular online marketplace, as measured by monthly visitors, and its U.S. market share exceeds that of the closest competitor by about threefold, according to Morgan Stanley. The company has also protected its foothold in e-commerce by constructing a logistics network that now rivals the size of UPS. That infrastructure makes its marketplace more compelling by enabling fulfillment services for sellers and reliable delivery for buyers.
Meanwhile, Amazon has become the third-largest adtech company worldwide, something made possible by its unparalleled ability to engage shoppers and source data through its marketplace. Amazon is expected to gain share in digital advertising through at least 2024, and it should be a formidable adtech vendor while its strength in retail persists.
Finally, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has led the cloud infrastructure and platform services (CIPS) market for 12 consecutive years, and its current market share rivals that of Microsoft's Azure and Alphabet's Google Cloud combined. Better yet, AWS should be able to stay ahead of the pack because it offers the broadest and deepest set of CIPS capabilities in the cloud, according to IT consultancy Gartner.
Amazon reported encouraging financial results in the second quarter. Top-line growth accelerated to 11% as sales reached $134 billion, and the company posted a net profit of $6.7 billion, up from a loss of $2 billion in the prior year. Investors can expect similar momentum for years to come.
Global retail e-commerce sales are forecast to grow 8% annually through 2030, while the adtech and cloud computing markets are both forecast to increase around 14% annually. That gives Amazon a good shot at double-digit revenue growth through the end of the decade, which makes its current valuation of 2.7 times sales look relatively cheap, especially when the three-year average is 3.2. That's why this Buffett stock is a no-brainer buy.
2. Visa
Visa is another excellent example of a business protected by an enduring moat. It operates the largest payments network in the world, as measured by purchase transactions and acceptance locations. That scale reflects immense brand authority, it underpins a powerful network effect, and it affords the company a significant cost advantage.
Visa consistently achieves higher profit margins than smaller competitors like Mastercard, American Express, and Discover Financial Services because it can spread its costs over more transactions. The chart illustrates that point.
V Profit Margin data by YCharts
More broadly, Visa taps directly into the global economy by assessing fees based on payment volume and processed transactions. It also capitalizes on its brand authority by providing value-added services like risk management to merchants. That means Visa is well-positioned to benefit as digital payments become more prevalent.
Visa reported solid results in the June quarter. Revenue rose 12% to $8.1 billion, driven by strong growth in payment volume and processed transactions, and non-GAAP earnings climbed 9% to $2.16 per diluted share.
Looking at the future, Statista says the digital payments market could grow at 11.8% annually through 2027, and Visa should be somewhere in that ballpark. That assumption makes its current valuation of 16.3 times sales look reasonable, and it's a slight discount to the three-year average is 18.6.
More bullish yet, management says Visa could grow tenfold by 2040. In that scenario, its market capitalization would climb from $500 billion today to $5 trillion in little more than 17 years, implying annual returns of roughly 14% for shareholders. That's why this growth stock is a no-brainer buy.
