If you’ve got $1,000 available to invest for the long term right now, I’d suggest looking at three stocks that are about as close to set-it-and-forget-it as it gets: Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META). In my view, they are highly likely to outperform the market over a two-decade stretch. That’s a bold statement, but given the market positions that my core artificial intelligence (AI) stocks hold, I’m confident in this projection.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a “Double Down” signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same “Total Conviction” signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Microsoft
Microsoft has been a dominant force in the tech industry for decades already, so expecting it to maintain that strength for another 20 years isn’t far-fetched. It’s taking the right steps to stay relevant, including building AI solutions into its business productivity software and investing heavily in cloud computing infrastructure, which will power AI workloads for as long as there are AI workloads to power.
Microsoft is building out its data centers to ensure there is enough capacity to meet demand, and the clients it lands now will likely be customers for a long time. This makes these early days of execution vital, and with Azure’s 40% growth rate, its cloud computing division is doing just fine.
Microsoft is set to have another strong multidecade run, but it just so happens that the stock is also trading near a decade-low valuation level. Because its AI capital expenditures are so high at the moment, the smart way to value the stock is by measuring it against the company’s operating cash flow. From this perspective, Microsoft hasn’t been this cheap since 2018, and I think that makes the stock an excellent bargain that investors should scoop up today.
Amazon
Two decades ago, Amazon was an established and rapidly growing e-commerce business. Now that its e-commerce platform is mostly built out (at least in the U.S.), it’s looking for other areas to grow into. Amazon was the first major cloud computing provider to emerge, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest cloud provider in the world. In 2026, it plans to spend $200 billion on data center capital expenditures, and CEO Andy Jassy has informed investors that there are already customers signed up to lease that new capacity as soon as it’s ready.
I think this will help Amazon establish itself as a great business to buy and hold over the next two decades.
