Top 10 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever

In this article, we will look at the Top 10 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever.

People often say diamonds are forever, but in the world of investing, the right stocks can shine even brighter over time. That means markets rise and fall, but a select group of companies proves their worth year after year. That’s why identifying stocks you can hold for a very long time or forever remains the cornerstone of sound equity investing.

For a company to endure, it needs to have a durable moat, steady earnings power, and long-term growth drivers. Investment research firm Morningstar believes that the best long-term investment results come from owning undervalued companies with competitive advantages. Morningstar assesses a company’s moat or its long-term competitive advantage by using five factors: intangible assets, switching costs, network effects, cost advantage, and efficient scale.

Building on that framework, this article focuses on fundamentally strong companies that have competitive advantages, a sound returns performance track over 5-10 years (covering a few economic cycles), low debt, and shareholder returns through dividends or buybacks. These qualities make them well-positioned to create value and deliver growth even during periods of volatility, such as today’s uncertain market environment.

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That said, volatility remains top of mind for investors, and things don’t seem to be changing any time soon. Chris Hyzy, CIO of Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, joined CNBC on August 22 to discuss the current market environment. Hyzy described the recent volatility in equities as a seasonal reset rather than a sign of weakness. With little fundamental news in late August, he said the market is taking a breather, and the pullback should be seen as a buying opportunity. Profit expectations remain resilient, with consensus earnings forecasts for this year and next continuing to move higher.

Hyzy pointed to earnings as the market’s main driver and noted that mega-cap tech, particularly companies linked to generative AI, is still leading, supported by rising hyperscaler capital spending. While valuations have stretched at times, he believes earnings momentum will keep these stocks at the forefront.

With that backdrop, let’s turn to the top 10 stocks to buy and hold forever.

Our Methodology

To create our list of the best stocks to buy and hold forever, we focused on U.S.-listed stocks with a market capitalization above $10 billion to filter out smaller and more volatile names. From the shortlisted universe, we narrowed the universe to stocks that delivered a 10-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in returns of at least 15–20%, have a debt-to-EBITDA ratio below 2, and paid a dividend, even if modest. We then screened for companies with durable competitive advantages, or “moats,” to ensure long-term resilience. From this refined pool, we identified the 10 stocks most widely held by hedge funds, using Q2 2025 data from Insider Monkey’s database, and ranked them by hedge fund ownership.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Note: All pricing data is as of market close on August 22, 2025.

Top 10 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever

10. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 25.5%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 78

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. The company enjoys an unrivalled competitive position due to its monopoly on EUV lithography technology, which is critical for advanced semiconductors. This unique position has also helped ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) to command one of the best operating margin profiles in the semiconductor equipment space, making it attractive to long-term investors.

Following its latest quarterly results on July 16, Wells Fargo analyst Joseph Quatrochi reiterated a Buy rating on ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) with an unchanged price target of $890. His view was supported by strong order momentum, particularly in non-EUV systems, and encouraging demand from China. For the rest of 2025, the company is expecting substantial revenue from China.

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) had also raised its 2025 revenue outlook to roughly 15% year-over-year growth, broadly in line with consensus. However, the management refused to confirm revenue growth for 2026, citing macroeconomic uncertainty. This was against its earlier guidance of 2026 being a growth year, and market expectations of around 7% growth, which led to shares tanking around 8% on the results day.

Since Quatrochi’s update, the shares have largely moved sideways and now trade close to $754, the same level they settled at following that  results day drop.

Despite the cautious guide, Quatrochi believed that while macro and geopolitical issues remain a risk for 2026, the company’s backlog and improving margins provided a buffer.

Later, on August 8 and 24, Goldman Sachs analyst Alexander Duval and Ruben Devos from Kepler Capital also reiterated their Buy ratings on ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth trajectory.

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is a Netherlands-based technology company that designs and manufactures advanced lithography systems. ASML is the world’s largest supplier of lithography equipment and remains the sole provider of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which are essential for producing leading-edge semiconductors at advanced process nodes (5nm and below).

9. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 9.4%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. Founded in 1887, the company has built a global brand and a portfolio of patent-protected drugs in oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and infectious diseases. Combined with its strong distribution network, these factors provide Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) with a durable competitive advantage and make it a solid name to hold for the long run.

On August 21, Citi analysts raised their price target on Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) from $185 to $200, while keeping a Buy rating. The adjustment came as part of the firm’s review of Q2 earnings across the medtech space. The analysts described the sector’s fundamentals as healthy and flagged Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), along with peers such as Edwards Lifesciences and Penumbra, as having potential positive catalysts ahead.

Around the same time, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced that it is expanding its U.S. manufacturing footprint with a new over 160,000 square foot facility at FUJIFILM’s biopharmaceutical site in Holly Springs, North Carolina. The company has committed $2 billion over the next decade to the project.

Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato emphasized that the U.S. remains J&J’s largest base of operations. Earlier this year, the company also outlined a $55 billion investment plan over four years to support domestic manufacturing, R&D, and technology.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is a global healthcare company that engages in the research and development, manufacture, and sale of a wide range of healthcare products, including pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, and consumer health products.

8. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 18.1%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 105

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is a consistent performer, deriving strength from its scale, supply chain advantages, and price leadership, which give it an advantage over the competition.

Confirming the bullish outlook, on August 22, Citi analyst Paul Lejuez reiterated his Buy rating on Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) with a $120 price target. Q2 2025 earnings came in slightly below expectations, but he pointed to strength in U.S. comparable sales, faster e-commerce growth, and rising contributions from advertising and membership income.

Lejuez noted that Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is gaining share across income groups, including higher-income households, and sees its scale and efficiency as competitive advantages. While near-term headwinds exist, the analyst expects sales and operating income growth to continue, supported by a more favorable tariff environment.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is up a healthy 7% so far this year, and the consensus 1-year median price target still indicates an 18% upside.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is a retail corporation that operates hypermarkets, discount department stores, and e-commerce platforms serving customers globally.

7. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 25.9%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 119

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. The company’s strength lies in its strong moat from a patent-protected drug pipeline and diabetes/obesity leadership. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) estimates its addressable market of patients with obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities to be over 170 million patients in the US, with an opportunity outside the US of over 1 billion by 2030.

Reflecting this potential, Goldman Sachs analyst Asad Haider on August 15 reiterated a Buy rating on Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) with a price target of $876, following results from the ATTAIN-1 trial of its oral obesity drug, orforglipron. Initial market reactions were cautious, but feedback from medical experts, generally known as key opinion leaders (KOLs), was broadly constructive, with many viewing efficacy and tolerability as competitive.

Physicians indicated they would prescribe orforglipron more often, especially for patients preferring oral treatments over injectables. Pricing is still being discussed, but expectations suggest a discount versus injectable therapies. The upcoming ATTAIN-2 trial is expected to shed more light on the drug’s positioning.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacture, and marketing of medicines for diabetes, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience.

6. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 19.9%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 124

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. Over the years, JPMorgan has gone from strength to strength with its significant scale advantage and entrenched position in U.S. banking. With $4.6 trillion in assets, it is the largest bank in the United States and the world’s largest bank by market capitalization, as per Forbes (as of July 17, 2025).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) continues to assert its leadership in large-scale financing. According to an August 20 Bloomberg report, JPMorgan and MUFG are arranging a loan of about $22 billion to fund Vantage Data Centers’ planned campus in Shackelford County, Texas.

The project will cover 10 data centers across 1,200 acres, with Oracle expected to lease capacity to serve OpenAI. Alongside the debt, Silver Lake and DigitalBridge are contributing $3 billion in equity.

The Bloomberg report highlights that this deal underscores the scale of capital flowing into AI-related infrastructure, following other large financings such as Meta’s $29 billion data-center expansion in Louisiana.

On the operations front, in mid-July, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) delivered another strong quarter. Q2 net income reached $15 billion with EPS of $5.24, driven by steady revenue of $45.7 billion and an ROTCE of 21%. However, it should be noted that the year-on-year comparison was affected by a large one-time gain in Q2 2024. Stil, the results were comfortably ahead of consensus. The bank also returned $11 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is a financial services firm that provides banking, investment, and asset management services to individuals, businesses, governments, and institutions worldwide.

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.

4. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 18.1%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 167

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. The company derives its strength from its global payment network effects and brand trust, with it commanding over 50% of the worldwide credit market outside of China.

On August 4, Truist analyst Matthew Coad lowered his price target on Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) slightly, from $397 to $392, while keeping a Buy rating. The revision followed Q3 2025 results and reflects modest cuts to FY 2026 and FY 2027 EPS forecasts (less than 1%).

Slower travel-related cross-border growth, higher client incentives, and rising personnel costs drove the changes to estimates. However, the analyst’s Buy rating indicates that, despite the minor adjustment, Visa Inc.’s (NYSE:V) long-term fundamentals remain intact.

Coad’s positive view came after similar calls from Macquarie and Barclays analysts, who reiterated Buy-equivalent ratings and raised price targets on July 30–31. Since those updates, the stock is up only marginally (+1.32%).

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a payments technology company that enables digital transactions and electronic funds transfers across more than 200 countries and territories.

3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 31.7%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 187

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. The company’s massive investments over decades in capex and R&D led it to create a business with enormous barriers to entry. These investments and R&D leadership also helped it become the only foundry capable of producing leading-edge chips (3nm, moving to 2nm).

However, geopolitical issues have been a frequent topic of discussion for the company. According to a Reuters report on August 21, the Trump administration is considering taking equity stakes in semiconductor firms receiving CHIPS Act funds. But the administration clarified that it does not intend to pursue such arrangements with large companies like TSMC and Micron, which are already expanding U.S. investments.

The comments followed statements from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who suggested Washington may still take equity in Intel as part of its support package. TSMC, which has committed over $100 billion for U.S. facilities, and Micron, which recently expanded its U.S. investment plans, are not currently in scope. Reports also suggest TSMC has discussed potentially returning subsidies if equity stakes were required.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) continues to attract strong analyst support even as the stock trades close to its 52-week high. Consensus estimates point to more than 18% upside from current levels, with the most bullish price targets suggesting potential gains of around 30%.

On August 15, Bernstein reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) with a $249 price target. The firm underlined TSMC’s scale in the semiconductor equipment market, where it holds an estimated 15–25% share, compared with China’s 30–40%.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) is the largest dedicated semiconductor foundry in the world, producing advanced integrated circuits for global industries including technology, communications, and automotive.

2. Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 79.2%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 235

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. NVIDIA dominates accelerated computing with its high-performance GPUs and the CUDA software platform that has become the industry standard. The integration of its chips, software, and developer community creates substantial switching costs and gives it an edge over the competition.

Confirming its positive investment case, on August 20, KeyBanc analyst John Vinh raised his price target on Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) from $190 to $215 and reiterated an Overweight rating.

The analyst expects strong Q2 results and views Q3 guidance as likely conservative, as it may exclude China revenues due to pending license approvals. Key drivers include the ramp of Blackwell chips, the upcoming launch of Blackwell Ultra in Q3, and improving GB200 rack yields.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) is scheduled to release its Q3 FY 2026 results on August 27.

NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) designs and manufactures graphics processing units (GPUs), system-on-a-chip units (SoCs), and AI hardware and software.

1. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Returns CAGR 10 Years: 29.7%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 294

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the top stocks to buy and hold forever. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has an unmatched market position through its dominance in operating systems, productivity software, and cloud services. Its products are deeply embedded in enterprise workflows, creating high switching costs and long-lasting customer reliance.

On August 20, a UBS analyst reaffirmed his Buy rating on Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) with a price target of $650. The call followed upcoming pricing and licensing changes that take effect on November 1, which will standardize enterprise agreements and lift costs by roughly 3% to 14%, depending on customer tier.

The analyst estimates the changes will impact products that account for about 55% of revenue, including Azure, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365, while government and education contracts are excluded.

He also believes the pricing actions were already reflected in guidance, but still adds confidence to forecasts of 14% revenue growth in FY 2026. Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) positioning in AI remains a key driver, with UBS describing the stock as reasonably valued given its leverage to the trend.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a technology company that develops and sells software, devices, and cloud-based services for individuals and enterprises worldwide.

While we acknowledge the potential of MSFT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MSFT and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None.