Diageo plc (ADR) (DEO), eBay Inc (EBAY) & Buffett: Taking the 10Y Challenge

Ten Years of Cleaning Products
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) has been an absolutely terrific stock these past ten-years (up more than 550% including dividends); hardly missing a beat even during the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis. Although Church & Dwight itself is not a household name, its many brands are, as indispensable products for consumers in good economic times and bad. These brands include Arm & Hammer, OxiClean, Trojan, Nair, Spinbrush, Orajel, First Response and XTRA. All of these brands, except XTRA, are the No. 1 brands in their respective product categories.

A significant reason for this share price appreciation is the excellent management team, which has transformed the company completely; almost unrecognizable from a little more than decade ago. Of the eight ‘Power Brands’ mentioned above (accounting for 80% of revenue), seven were acquired during the last decade (Arm & Hammer being the company’s original nearly 150 year old brand). Similarly, management has transformed Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) from an almost US-only company ten years ago into an emerging international player, with 18% of sales now originating from outside the United States.

Foolish Bottom Line
I like to close this out with a final piece of Buffett wisdom: “When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.” While forever is an awfully long time, but I can certainly take up his ten year challenge to find wonderful long-term investment. And for my money, these four companies are a good place to start looking for such an investment.

The article Taking the Ten Year Buffett Challenge originally appeared on Fool.com.

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