Patiently holding top growth stocks over many years is how you can build significant wealth in the stock market. Identifying companies with a record of delivering meaningful shareholder returns and still have opportunities to keep growing are the ideal setups to look for.
Here are two stocks that delivered monster returns over the last decade and are still solid buys for the long term.
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1. Shopify
Shopify (SHOP 0.63%) stock delivered an astounding 4,000% cumulative return over the last 10 years. It has grown into a leading e-commerce solutions platform for small and large businesses, providing just about everything needed to setup an online storefront and accept payments. The stock is up 40% year to date and still looks like a solid long-term investment.
Shopify continues to show impressive results. Its second-quarter financial results beat expectations, with revenue up 31% year over year. One of the top criticisms by investors has been the company's weak profitability, but the company is starting to show its potential as a very profitable business. Shopify's free cash flow has exploded over the last few years, reaching $1.8 billion on a trailing-12-month basis. That's a margin of 16% relative to revenue.
Importantly, Shopify is still experiencing strong growth in merchant solutions, which includes spending on additional services and payment processing. This now makes up three quarters of the company's revenue and signals a tightening relationship between Shopify and its merchant customers, providing a competitive advantage.
Shopify should benefit from artificial intelligence (AI). Its SideKick AI tool automates the process of starting an online business. It can handle time-consuming tasks like writing product descriptions, inventory management, customer service, and much more. As Shopify continues to invest in making its AI tools smarter and able to handle more tasks, it could unleash spectacular growth for the company over the next decade.
Wall Street analysts expect Shopify's revenue and earnings per share to grow at high double-digit rates in the coming years. The global e-commerce market is worth around $6 trillion and growing, according to eMarketer. Shopify has the brand recognition and technology to continue gaining share of this market and deliver fantastic returns for investors.
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2. Take-Two Interactive
Video games have become the largest entertainment industry, with Americans spending more money on games than movies, music, and books combined. Take-Two Interactive (TTWO 1.55%) has been a major beneficiary, with its stock delivering a return of more than 600% in the last 10 years.
The main drivers of that performance were the release of Grand Theft Auto V in 2013, which has sold more than 215 million copies to date, and the shift to digital downloading of video games, which boosted the company's margins. With the next major release in the Grand Theft Auto series less than a year away, the stock could head higher over the 12 months and kick off a nice stretch of profitable growth for the company.
Take-Two is off to a great start in fiscal 2026 (which ends in March). Net bookings (non-GAAP revenue) grew 17% year over year to $1.4 billion. The company is experiencing strong growth across its mobile games and tentpole franchises for console and PC like NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto.
The latest NBA 2K release has sold more than 11.5 million copies. This popular sports title reported a 48% year-over-year increase in recurrent consumer spending in the most recent quarter. This includes sales of virtual currency to unlock additional features while playing the game, which is beneficial for Take-Two's margins.
Grand Theft Auto continues to exceed expectations. This title's growing popularity explains why the stock continues to move higher ahead of next year's release of Grand Theft Auto VI, expected on May 26, 2026. Consistent with management's long-term outlook, Wall Street analysts expect sales of Grand Theft Auto VI to drive record bookings over $9 billion in fiscal 2027. This compares to $5.6 billion the company reported for fiscal 2025.
Assuming a large number of players that have played the current installment purchase the new Grand Theft Auto title, Take-Two should see tremendous growth in recurrent consumer spending over the next several years. This is expected to push the company's adjusted earnings to $10 by fiscal 2028, based on the consensus Wall Street estimate, representing a notable increase from less than $3 the company reported for fiscal 2025.
Take-Two's upcoming releases across its catalog are part of management's plan to scale costs across more games and improve profitability. Investors are giving it a big thumbs up, with the stock up 53% over the last year, but the shares still trade at a reasonable multiple on forward earnings, which should support more returns for long-term investors.
