3 Stocks You Could Hold Forever

Stocks have long been a winning proposition for anyone interested in building wealth. It takes time, but historically, equities have rewarded the patient.

You could technically say the same for any number of assets. According to NYU Stock investors who plunked $1,000 in real estate investments at the start of 1976, and didn't contribute another cent, would've seen their money appreciate to $2,126 by the end of 2026 (not accounting for any rental income collected along the way). What if you invested that $1,000 elsewhere? Ten-year Treasuries would've turned it into $3,354, it would've become $5,295 in gold, and a grand invested in corporate bonds would've turned into $9,325.

But if you'd taken that same $1,000 and put it in the S&P 500, in 50 years, you'd be sitting on $47,778.

Past performance doesn't guarantee future returns, but stocks' very nature gives them the potential for higher returns than many other assets. And typically, the longer your holding period, the more those exaggerated returns can become.

Today, we're going to look at some of the best stocks to own if you're in it for the really, really long haul. Specifically, we'll look at a few stocks with a holding period of literally forever—companies you could hang on to for decades and even pass down to your children.

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute individualized investment advice. Securities, funds, and/or other investments appear for your consideration and not as personalized investment recommendations. Act at your own discretion.

The Best Stocks for Buy-and-Hold-Foreverers

What makes a stock a buy for the super long term?

A little bit of that will be up to your own discretion, insofar as what one person thinks will be a dependable business for decades might differ from your own opinion.

But generally speaking, we're looking for large, entrenched business leaders that can generate gobs of cash (and ideally are sitting on a large pile of it for a rain day), and operate in industries where there are significant barriers to entry. Dividends are nice to help that compounding along, but they're not a requirement.

Without further ado, let's look at a few picks from my longer list of 15 stocks you can buy and hold forever.

Constellation Energy

• Sector: Utilities
• Market cap: $97.1 billion
• Dividend yield: 0.6%

When it comes to the best long-term stocks, the utility sector stands out as a natural place to look.

For starters, utility companies always have "wide moats," which is a way of saying they have significant, established advantages that make it difficult to compete. Utilities are exceedingly capital-intensive businesses that are highly regulated, and thus competition is very difficult to come by—in fact, in many cases, U.S. utilities are de facto regional monopolies. Furthermore, electricity is a necessity for businesses and consumers that sees strong baseline demand even in a rough economic environment. That creates a measure of certainty for the sector, regardless of broader uncertainty or economic cycles.

Related: The 13 Best Mutual Funds You Can Buy

If you're looking for long-term investments, then, utilities are a natural choice. And in this sector, Constellation Energy (CEG) stands out as one of the larger and better-performing options in the sector.

Constellation is among the largest utility stocks on Wall Street. Based out of Baltimore, it sells natural gas and electricity service, with about 55 gigawatts of generating capacity—enough to power the equivalent of 27 million homes. It also produces a variety of carbon-free energy, including wind, solar, hydroelectric, and nuclear.

One doesn't typically associate utilities with growth. The sector has delivered a total return of just more than 50% since early 2022, when Constellation was spun off of Exelon (EXC). CEG shares have returned 500%, and that's even after factoring in its recent regression into bear-market territory.

Related: 16 Best Stock Research + Analysis Apps, Tools and Software

Among Wall Street's reasons to remain optimistic is, of all things, the tech sector. In 2024, for instance, Constellation signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft that will involve the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1, as well as the launch of the Crane Clean Energy Center. And in summer 2025, it made a similarly long agreement with Meta Platforms (META) to support the Facebook parent's energy needs.

CEG also boasts the largest fleet of nuclear plants in the U.S., which puts it in a great position amid President Donald Trump's executive orders aiming to jump-start the nuclear industry.

At whatever point the dust settles and CEG isn't quite as "growthy," you can expect the company to be able to foot a healthy dividend. The current yield isn't nearly so generous as other utility stocks out there, but distributions are already triple what they were post-spinoff.

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Microsoft

• Sector: Information technology
• Market cap: $3.4 trillion
• Dividend yield: 0.8%

When it comes to stocks with scale and staying power, Microsoft (MSFT) is another tech giant that immediately springs to mind. The technology firm is synonymous with workplace productivity, with its Windows and Office 365 software products—now bolstered by Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot—the gold standard for businesses around the world.

Microsoft isn't without growth plans despite its already impressive scale, however. Its Azure cloud computing business continues to expand at a rapid clip, its remote workplace tools like Teams have now become hardwired into enterprise operations in the wake of the pandemic, demand for its AI services continues to outstrip supply, and its Xbox video game arm is a juggernaut in its own right.

So, a growth stock? Yes. But a defensive stock? Also yes.

Related: Buy 'The Future': 5 Tech ETFs You Should Own

"Although not immune to macroeconomic challenges (such as declines in the PC original equipment manufacturers (OEM) market and in digital advertising), Microsoft has about as diversified and strong a set of assets as any company in the technology industry—and may even be seen as a safe haven by investors in uncertain times," says Argus Research analyst Joseph Bonner. "The company is one of a few names with a complete, integrated commercial product set aimed at enterprise efficiency, cloud transformation, collaboration, and business intelligence. It also has a large and loyal customer base, a substantial cash cushion, and a rock-solid balance sheet."

With long-term investing, it's all about trying to find certainty in an uncertain world. And the dominance of Microsoft seems incredibly likely regardless of geopolitics, economic cycles, or anything else. Microsoft is one of the 25 largest corporations in the world as measured by revenue, and it has been among the three largest in market capitalization for years. And despite being tech company with a lot more growth left in the tank, it also offers a modest but rising dividend.

If you want stability and scale in a long-term stock investment, Microsoft is it.

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BlackRock

• Sector: Financials
• Market cap: $159.0 billion
• Dividend yield: 2.2%

BlackRock (BLK) is one of the world's largest asset management firms, boasting more than $14 trillion in assets across its many lines of business. Individual investors know it well for both its BlackRock mutual funds and closed-end funds (CEFs), as well as its iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs). But it also manages money for institutional clients, including pension plans, foundations, charities, and insurance companies, among others.

With the exception of a few understandable hiccups (COVID, for instance), BlackRock has been in a broader consistent uptrend since the depths of the Great Recession. That has come alongside similar progression in both the company's top and bottom lines.

Related: 10 Monthly Dividend Stocks for Frequent, Regular Income

It's difficult to find any Wall Street pros with something negative to say about BLK. Shares currently enjoy 13 Buy calls versus four Holds and no Sells, and the analysts' consensus for long-term earnings growth sits at a brisk 17% annually.

"We believe that BLK remains well positioned to deliver above-peer organic growth given its unmatched product breadth and distribution footprint (helped by its iShares franchise)," say Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts Aidan Hall and Kyle Voigt, who rate BlackRock's stock at Outperform (equivalent of Buy). "Also, its scale and demonstrated ability to generate operating leverage bodes well for future earnings growth and operating leverage. The firm's increasing alternatives presence and growing technology revenue stream add further breadth to what is already a diverse product/solutions offering."

BlackRock has been a fount of dividend growth since the Great Recession, too. In the past decade alone, BLK has managed to average 10% annual dividend growth. While that pace had been slowing in recent years, BlackRock stepped on the pedal in early 2026, announcing a 10% hike to $5.73 per share. And a payout ratio around 40% should keep investors plenty confident in the dividend's health and its ability to keep growing.

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Disclaimer: This article does not constitute individualized investment advice. Individual securities, funds, and/or other investments appear for your consideration and not as personalized investment recommendations. Act at your own discretion.

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