Top 10 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever

5. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 25.4%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 156

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is often seen as a textbook example of how to build and strengthen a moat over time. Its brand strength, device and services ecosystem lock-in, and customer loyalty enable it to generate recurring revenues, maintain strong pricing power, and consistently deliver robust cash flows. These factors make it one of the most resilient long-term investments in the market.

More recently, however, investor focus has shifted to Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) efforts in artificial intelligence, an area where it has lagged peers. On August 22, Bloomberg reported that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in talks with Google to use its Gemini AI system to power an upgraded version of Siri. The talks come as the company looks to speed up its AI roadmap after setbacks in rolling out updated Siri features. Those delays have weighed on sentiment, with the stock down about 9% year-to-date and trailing both the broader market and other large-cap tech names.

The Bloomberg report also highlighted that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has explored similar options with Anthropic and OpenAI, but has yet to finalize a decision. Internally, two competing versions of the next Siri are being developed, one using Apple’s own models and another relying on external partners.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a dedicated Foundation Models team, but its AI initiatives are not yet at the scale of leading players such as OpenAI. CEO Tim Cook has stressed that Apple’s objective is not to be first but to deliver a competitive, high-quality product when it enters the market.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) designs, manufactures, and sells consumer electronics, software, and services, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and related services and digital platforms.