What’s the ideal time period to hold a stock? Warren Buffett would tell you the answer is “forever.”

The problem is that many stocks simply don’t have what it takes to achieve that goal. However, there are some that do. Here are four growth stocks to buy and hold forever.

1. Alphabet
Some might think that Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) business faces a clear and present danger. TikTok is a serious challenger to YouTube’s dominance in the video app market. OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI tool could threaten Alphabet’s most important business — Google Search.

So why would Alphabet be a stock to buy and hold forever? The rumors of the company’s demise are greatly exaggerated. More than 1.5 billion people watch YouTube Shorts, Alphabet’s answer to TikTok, on a monthly basis. The company also has its own unreleased artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that could be superior to ChatGPT.

The reality is that Alphabet remains a money machine with commanding positions in multiple markets. It won’t be easy to dethrone the company. Talk about Alphabet’s business being disrupted by a newcomer makes for interesting speculation. However, it’s more likely than not that the tech giant will continue to make investors richer for decades to come.

2. Brookfield Renewable
You don’t have to believe that fossil fuels are going away overnight to understand that the use of renewable energy will increase dramatically in the future. This trend bodes well for Brookfield Renewable (BEP) (BEPC).

Brookfield Renewable operates hydroelectric, wind, solar, and distributed energy facilities that have a combined capacity of 24 gigawatts. The company’s development pipeline could more than quadruple that total.

Granted, it will take time for Brookfield Renewable to generate that much renewable power. However, investors should be able to count on steady total returns of between 12% and 15% per year over the long term. That’s enough to make this stock a no-brainer choice to buy and hold.

3. MercadoLibre
E-commerce and digital payments are two trends that should continue to make investors a lot of money for decades to come. MercadoLibre (MELI) stands out as a great stock that allows you to profit from both trends.

The company has dominated the e-commerce market in Latin America for years. MercadoLibre has also expanded into digital payments with its Mercado Pago platform.

Both areas present tremendous growth opportunities for MercadoLibre. The e-commerce penetration rate in Latin America could increase by 45% in the next three years, according to Morgan Stanley. The region also ranks as the hottest fintech market in the world.

4. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
You might be surprised to see a biotech stock on a list of stocks to buy and hold forever. However, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) is no ordinary biotech stock.

The company commands a monopoly in treating the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF). Its four approved CF drugs currently treat around 65% of the estimated 88,000 CF patients worldwide. Additional reimbursement deals and approvals for younger age groups should allow Vertex to boost that total to nearly 95%. The drugmaker is also advancing a messenger RNA therapy into clinical testing this year that holds the potential to treat the remaining CF patients.

But the reason why Vertex is a stock to own for years to come is its pipeline. The company expects to launch five new products over the next five years, each of which has tremendous market potential. They include a cure for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia and an acute pain therapy that could replace opioid drugs. Don’t be surprised if Vertex ranks among the biggest drugmakers in the world in the not-too-distant future.

— Keith Speights

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Source: The Motley Fool