They say a watched stock never rises. While investors are often tempted to check their portfolios daily and scrutinize their shares’ every move, often a “set it-and-forget it” style works best when it comes to investing. Buying high-quality companies that remain in growth mode and checking them only occasionally can be a recipe for success and peace of mind. But finding high-growth stocks that investors don’t need to worry about can be difficult.
There are few stocks that are able to grow during bull markets and withstand bear markets without losing too much value. Too often, stocks skyrocket when the bulls are running only to crash hard when the market gets mauled by the bears. But careful due diligence yields stocks that have huge growth potential and are also mature and diversified enough to ride out market downturns. Here are three high-growth stocks to buy and forget for the next decade.
| MSFT | Microsoft | $288.53 |
| PARA | Paramount | $22.33 |
| ABB | Airbnb | $34.32 |
Microsoft (MSFT)
At this point, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is like an elder statesman among tech stocks. Publicly traded since 1986, MSFT stock is mature and stable and able to comfortably weather any market downturns or gyrations. At the same time, the company is diversifying in a number of exciting ways that should prove to be catalysts for its share price over the next decade. Microsoft is out front in the artificial intelligence race thanks to its $10 billion investment in privately held OpenAI. The powerful, large-language model AI systems developed by OpenAI are being integrated into Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Additionally, Microsoft’s $68 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) suddenly looks likely to be approved by regulators, which could give the company’s Xbox division a huge boost. Video games remain the fastest growing segment of the entertainment industry.
And Microsoft continues to grow its popular suite of office products with enhancements to its Teams online and video conferencing platform. All of these attributes make MSFT a high-growth stock to buy and forget for the next decade.
Paramount Global (PARA)
Streaming is now the dominant way people consume content, whether music, television shows or movies. And among streaming companies, Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) looks like a long-term winner. A key reason for Paramount being a high-growth stock that investors can buy and forget for the next decade is its diversification. The company owns a wide variety of properties that include the Paramount Pictures movie studio, as well as cable channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, and Comedy Central.
If that wasn’t enough, Paramount also owns TV stations as far away as England and Australia, and its streaming platform, Paramount+, is coming on strong thanks to its addition of content from the Showtime premium TV channel and a slate of original programs that include shows such as Tulsa King, Star Trek: Picard, and a reboot of a sitcom, Frasier. This year, PARA stock is up 32% amid a number of analyst upgrades and news that famed investor Warren Buffett is a key shareholder with a 15% stake in the entertainment giant.
Airbnb (ABNB)
Travel is back and a great way to gain exposure to the industry is by owning shares of Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB), the world’s dominant short-term stay and rental company. While Airbnb struggled mightily during the pandemic when both domestic and international travel ground to a halt, the company has come roaring back over the last year. Airbnb just reported its first ever annual profit and a strong quarter that had investors applauding. For the fourth and final quarter of 2022, Airbnb reported earnings per share of 48 cents compared to 25 cents that was forecast, on average, among analysts who cover the company.
Looking ahead, Airbnb sees even better days in its future, noting that its bookings jumped 20% last quarter versus the same period a year earlier. The company’s revenue guidance for this year’s first quarter of $1.82 billion trounced the $1.69 billion that analysts, on average, had expected.
The impressive results and bullish outlook show that Airbnb remains in growth mode and that it is likely to continue to dominate its market for many years to come. Investors’ sentiment towards ABNB stock has certainly improved, with the share price having risen 44% through the first three months of the year.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole held a long position in MSFT. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
