Investing for the long term isn't always easy. Bear and bull markets come and go, and it can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day machinations of the market if you don't have your mindset fixed on your long-term investing goals.
If you're focused on building long-term wealth, it's important to consistently put cash into quality businesses in all market environments. You should only invest in companies that align with your portfolio preferences as well as risk tolerance level, and are businesses that you understand inside and out.
On that note, here are three top stocks that could be wealth builders in the coming decade and beyond.
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1. Shopify
Shopify (SHOP +0.78%) offers a user-friendly interface and design tools that allow individuals without coding skills to set up a professional online store quickly. The platform streamlines complex operations by integrating essential business tools, including web hosting, secure payment processing, inventory management, and marketing features, all from a single dashboard. The platform serves a wide range of customers, from small start-ups to large enterprise brands, which means a merchant can start small and grow their business significantly without needing to migrate to a different platform.
Unlike marketplaces such as Amazon that may compete with their sellers, Shopify's success is directly tied to its merchants' success. This alignment incentivizes continuous innovation of tools that help merchants thrive and build their own independent brands. By handling the technical infrastructure, Shopify allows entrepreneurs to concentrate on critical business activities like product development, marketing, and customer service.
NASDAQ: SHOP
Key Data Points
Shopify benefits from powerful industry and strategic tailwinds that position it for sustained growth. The company is also rapidly growing its presence in international markets, which currently account for a smaller but increasing share of its revenue.
Tools like Shopify Markets simplify cross-border selling by handling localization, currency conversion, and tax compliance. The company is even embedding AI-powered tools into the merchant workflow to help automate tasks like product descriptions, data analysis, and store building, and is actively moving beyond small businesses to capture a larger share of the complex enterprise markets.
In the third quarter, Shopify's revenue increased 32%, as did its gross merchandise volume (GMV), and it reported a free cash flow margin of 18%. It was also the ninth consecutive quarter of Shopify reporting double-digit free cash flow margins. E-commerce still accounts for a relatively small portion of total global retail sales, so there's a massive runway for continued expansion that Shopify is well-positioned to capitalize on in the coming decade and beyond.
2. Aritzia
Canadian retailer Aritzia (ATZA.F +0.00%) occupies a unique niche between fast fashion and high-end luxury, offering high-quality, stylish apparel at attainable price points. This positioning attracts a broad and loyal customer base (primarily millennial and Gen Z women) and allows the company to maintain brand integrity and avoid heavy discounting, which supports its healthy margins.
As a vertically integrated design house, Aritzia controls the entire process from design to manufacturing and sales. This allows for better quality control, faster response to trends, and more efficient inventory management compared to many peers.
New boutique openings, particularly in the U.S., tend to have strong unit economics and often achieve a payback period of just 12 to 18 months on the initial investment. This predictable and rapid return on capital makes physical expansion a reliable engine for growth. Aritzia has successfully blended its physical and digital presence. Its e-commerce platform complements its stores, and its new stores often act as catalysts for boosting online sales in adjacent markets.
The U.S. market is Aritzia's primary growth engine and now accounts for the majority of its revenue. Management has identified more than 150 potential locations for its plans to open eight to 10 new U.S. boutiques annually through fiscal 2027. Aritzia has a healthy balance sheet that is not only free of bank debt but boasts a significant cash position ($352 million as of the recent quarter), which continues to provide it with the financial flexibility to fund its growth initiatives and weather potential economic volatility.
In Q2 of the company's fiscal 2026, Aritzia's revenue jumped 32% to $812 million, and comparable sales increased 22%. U.S. net revenue grew 41% to $486 million, which was nearly 60% of its total net revenue in the three-month period. E-commerce accounted for nearly 30% of the company's total revenue in the quarter, and rose about 27% from one year ago. Meanwhile, Aritzia's net income jumped 263% to $66 million. This looks like a fantastic wealth-building stock to buy and hold for the long run.
3. SoFi Technologies
SoFi Technologies' (SOFI +2.19%) core strategy is to attract members with a popular product (e.g., high-yield savings accounts), then encourage them to adopt other offerings like loans, credit cards, and investing services. This fintech ecosystem approach increases the longevity of each customer and significantly lowers customer acquisition costs compared to traditional banks. As an online-only bank, SoFi also avoids the substantial overhead costs of physical branches.
This operational efficiency allows it to offer competitive rates on deposits and loans, and attract more customers and improve profit margins as it scales. The company has successfully shifted toward high-margin, fee-based revenue streams (e.g., loan origination fees, interchange fees, technology platform services), which reduces its dependence on interest income and exposure to interest-rate volatility.
NASDAQ: SOFI
Key Data Points
SoFi also provides essential back-end banking infrastructure and payment processing services to other fintech companies, which serves as a valuable, recurring revenue stream.
In Q3, the company's adjusted net revenue reached a record $950 million, a 38% hike from the same period last year. GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) net income came to $139.4 million, and this figure was not only up 129% year over year but marked its eighth consecutive quarter of GAAP profitability.
SoFi also added a record 905,000 new members, up 35% from Q3 2024. And total products in use reached nearly 18.6 million, up 36% year over year. SoFi also achieved record total loan originations of $9.9 billion, up 57% from one year ago thanks to strength across its personal, student, and home loan products.
A significant cultural shift away from traditional brick-and-mortar banks and toward convenient digital platforms could create massive, long-term market opportunity for SoFi. With the federal student loan payment pause now ended and new federal caps on borrowing, more borrowers are expected to turn to private lenders like SoFi for refinancing and new loans in the coming years. Despite its rapid growth, SoFi remains a relatively small player in the broader financial landscape so there's substantial room for the company to expand its member base and total assets in the years ahead.
