2 Smart Buys for a Scary Market: Growth Stocks Worth Holding for Decades

Key Points

Amazon has continued to innovate and evolve behind the scenes, making it a stock to own for years.

Apple is one of the great compounding businesses of our time.

• These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires ›

The market has been on a bit of a scary ride to start the year. It started to trend down in early February amid fears about the sustainability of spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and the impact AI would have on various industries and jobs. The start of the war with Iran later in the month only added to the uncertainty.

However, the market rebounded nicely in April ahead of first-quarter earnings, on the hope that the war may soon end and signals that the economy still looks strong despite high gasoline prices. That said, investors should really look past all the near-term noise, both good and bad, and focus on great growth stocks that they can hold for decades.

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Let's look at two stocks that can be core holdings over the long term.

Amazon: The e-commerce and cloud giant

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is a well-known leader in e-commerce and cloud computing; however, its strengths and opportunities actually expand beyond these areas. What the company is doing behind the scenes and how it is constantly evolving are the biggest reasons you want to own the stock over the long run.

Amazon's e-commerce operations were built on what is now a vast logistics network. However, it doesn't stop there. The company is also a leader in artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics, all of which are driving huge efficiencies in its retail business. It is even now looking to take this to physical automated superstores that would compete with Walmart. The company is also using its platform to become one of the world's largest digital advertising platforms.

Meanwhile, the company's cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is both its most profitable and fastest-growing segment. The company created the industry and remains the market share leader. What is often overlooked is that Amazon has also developed custom AI accelerators and custom central processing units (CPUs). It recently said that if its chips were just sold to third parties, this would be a $50 billion business, but right now, it's helping reduce capital expenditures (capex) and save on inference costs.

Amazon doesn't always get the credit it deserves, but this is a business built for the long haul. It's constantly looking to innovate, and is also making bets in the areas of satellite internet and drones. With the stock trading at a big discount to slower-growing brick-and-mortar peers like Walmart and Costco, it's a must-buy here for long-term investors.

Apple: The great compounder

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is one of the great compounding businesses of our time. That is why famed investor Warren Buffett made it his top position when he ran Berkshire Hathaway's investment portfolio.

The company owns the high end of the smartphone market with the iPhone, and Apple today is much more about being a stylish, luxury brand than a company at the forefront of product innovation. However, this has drawn a very affluent customer base into a walled-garden ecosystem. This walled garden not only gives Apple customers a seamless, high-end experience but also helps lock them into its ecosystem. Every photo taken and stored on its devices or cloud network, and every subscription and app bought through its app store, just makes it harder for people to switch.

As such, Apple's high-end devices become a huge flywheel for its high-margin subscription and services segment. The more people who buy an iPhone or other Apple device, the more money is spent within its ecosystem. This also plays right into the Apple Pay digital wallet, which charges a 0.15% fee on every transaction on what is now trillions of dollars' worth of transactions. Apple also gets billions of dollars in pure profit from a revenue-sharing deal with Alphabet for Google to be the default search engine on its devices.

It is this great compounding business model that makes Apple a long-term buy, no matter what is going on in the world at the moment.

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Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet and Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Costco Wholesale, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.