The best way to become wealthy and better prepare yourself for retirement is to invest in a portfolio of solid growth stocks. However, putting your money in such stocks is only the first step. You also need the patience to hold these stocks over the long term to realize their growth potential. As these businesses grow their revenue and profits steadily, they'll become more valuable and command a higher share price. Over time, higher share prices lift your investment portfolio's value and enable you to enjoy attractive capital gains.
Your next question should naturally be: Which stocks should I include in my portfolio to kick-start my wealth accumulation? Ideally, these companies should embody certain traits such as having a strong, recognizable brand, a robust track record of growth, and catalysts that enable them to continue growing for many more years. By analyzing these businesses and looking at their financial numbers, industry, and long-term plans, you can single out suitable investment candidates.
Here are three stocks that you can buy and hold over the long term that are poised to continue growing their businesses.
Image source: Getty Images.
Monster Beverage
Monster Beverage (MNST +1.04%) sells energy drinks under brand names such as Monster, Reign, Predator, and Full Throttle. The company's wide portfolio of energy drinks is a key success factor in helping to grow its revenue and net income, as shown in the table below.
| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (in billions) | $5.541 | $6.311 | $7.140 |
| Operating income (in billions) | $1.797 | $1.585 | $1.954 |
| Net income (in billions) | $1.377 | $1.192 | $1.631 |
Data source: Monster Beverage.
The business also generates consistent free cash flow to the tune of an average of $1.1 billion per year from 2021 to 2023. Monster Beverage has a healthy, innovative pipeline of new beverages that are released every year, contributing to sustained interest in its energy drinks while also bringing in new customers around the world.
The business also makes choice acquisitions to widen its portfolio so it can reach out to new consumer segments. It acquired Bang Energy, a smaller rival, for $362 million in 2023, and purchased CANarchy Craft Brewery Company, a craft beer manufacturer, for $330 million in 2022.
NASDAQ: MNST
Key Data Points
Monster Beverage has continued to report healthy growth for the first nine months of 2024. Revenue rose 5% year over year to $5.7 billion, while operating income increased by 2.2% to $1.55 billion.
Net income, however, dipped slightly by 2% year over year to $1.24 billion because of higher tax expenses and the recognition of lower interest income compared to the year before. However, free cash flow still grew by 9% year over year to $1.27 billion, demonstrating the cash-generative nature of Monster Beverage's business.
The company's competitive edge allows it to raise prices without suffering a sharp fall in sales volumes. Monster Beverage implemented an approximately 5% price increase for the majority of its products, effective Nov. 1, 2024, and this should filter down to sales and profits this year.
Its innovative product launches also help to generate encouraging consumer responses and boost sales. Monster Energy Ultra Vice Guava was launched in the U.S. this past October, while Predator Energy Gold Strike was launched in last April in selected provinces in China. Management has restructured the company's alcohol brands portfolio and is looking to distribute alcoholic products in certain international regions.
Monster Beverage's strong brand, constant innovation, and choice acquisitions should allow the company to continue increasing its revenue and profits over the long run.
Fortinet
Fortinet (FTNT 0.85%) is the only cybersecurity company in the top 50 of the Forbes Most Trusted Companies 2025 list. The business protects more than 830,000 organizations from threats, and 80% of those organizations belong to the Fortune 100. Fortinet is riding on the wave of digitalization to grow its business, as evidenced by the steady increases in revenue and net income shown in the table below.
| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (in billions) | $3.342 | $4.417 | $5.304 |
| Operating income (in millions) | $650.4 | $969.6 | $1,241 |
| Net income (in millions) | $606.8 | $857.3 | $1,148 |
Data source: Fortinet. Fiscal years end Dec. 31.
The company is also growing its free cash flow steadily, from $1.2 billion in 2021 to $1.7 billion by 2023. This consistent free cash flow generation is an attractive feature, as the business doesn't need to rely on banks and financial institutions to finance the growth of its business.
Fortinet just released its 2024 earnings earlier this month and delivered a solid performance. Revenue rose 12.3% year over year to $5.96 billion, while operating income continued its climb, touching $1.8 billion and growing by 45%. Excluding a gain of $106 million related to an acquisition in 2024, Fortinet's net income for the year would have increased by 43%. Free cash flow increased further to $1.88 billion for 2024.
The business ended the year with billings of $2 billion, 7% higher than the previous year, and also logged a record operating profit margin of 35%.
NASDAQ: FTNT
Key Data Points
There could be more growth in store for Fortinet. It touts itself as the only company to develop all secure access service edge (SASE) functions within a single, unified system called FortiOS. This system helps integrate networking and security capabilities, making it more convenient for customers to rely on just a single vendor for all their SASE needs.
During its 2024 Investor Day, Fortinet stressed that it had 1,027 U.S. patents, nearly double that of its closest competitor and significantly more than other cybersecurity companies such as Zscaler and CrowdStrike. The company sees its worldwide total addressable market growing from $183 billion in 2024 to $284 billion by 2028 for a 12% compound annual growth rate. With an annual revenue of just below $6 billion, Fortinet should have ample opportunities to tap into this market to continue posting healthy growth.
DoorDash
DoorDash (DASH 0.27%) offers online food ordering. It's the largest food delivery platform in the U.S., with around a 67% market share as of March 2024. The business has grown its revenue impressively over the years along with its operating and free cash flow, as shown in the table below.
| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (in billions) | $4.888 | $6.583 | $8.635 |
| Operating cash flow (in millions) | $692 | $367 | $1,673 |
| Free cash flow (in millions) | $455 | $21 | $1,349 |
Data source: DoorDash.
Like Fortinet, DoorDash also recently released its 2024 earnings and saw continued improvements in its financials and operating statistics. Revenue climbed 24.2% year over year to end at $10.7 billion, surpassing the $10 billion mark for the first time. Free cash flow also grew by 33.6% to $1.8 billion. Total orders on DoorDash's platform hit 685 million, an increase of 19%, while gross order value (GOV) surged 21% to $21.3 billion.
DoorDash is working to improve merchant selection, the breadth of categories offered, and the quality of its marketplace to continue attracting more customers to its platform. Monthly active users rose to an all-time high of 42 million at the end of 2024, and with the onboarding of more vendors, this number should continue to grow.
Management also intends to focus on increasing operating efficiency and scale, priorities that it outlined for 2025. The business is also exploring new initiatives that could end up as valuable services for both consumers and merchants on DoorDash's platform.
NASDAQ: DASH
Key Data Points
A glance at the company's business development initiatives over the past several months showed that DoorDash signed on with Wegmans Food Markets last October to enable delivery of hot and fresh ready-made meals to customers' doorsteps. In the same month, DoorDash also partnered with ride-hailing company Lyft to offer benefits for both rides and local deliveries. Earlier this year, DoorDash inked a partnership with Home Depot to enable home improvement essentials to be delivered expediently to customers' homes.
These collaborations demonstrate the success of DoorDash's business development efforts and should help to grow its top line, monthly users, and GOV even further.
