2 Unstoppable Growth Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever

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Historically, the stock market has been one of the best tools available to the ordinary person seeking to get rich. But getting rich doesn’t happen overnight, and that’s as true in life in general as it is in the stock market.

Instead, patience is key when investing in stocks. Holding onto shares of big companies for a very long time can help accumulate huge amounts of wealth. If this is your goal, two actions that are worth your hard-earned money are Intuitive surgery ( ISRG -1.22% ) and Shopify ( STORE 1.57% ).

ISRG data by YCharts

1. Intuitive surgery

Medical device giant Intuitive Surgical struggled during the height of the pandemic, as did many of its peers in the industry. With elective surgeries dwindling amid the outbreak, sales of the company’s instruments that come with its da Vinci Surgical System have plummeted, driving down revenue for the healthcare giant.

Fortunately, Intuitive Surgical’s business has mostly rebounded. In the fourth quarter, the company’s revenue increased 17% year over year to $1.55 billion. The company shipped 385 of its da Vinci systems during the quarter, bringing its total installed base to 6,730, up 12% from a year ago.

This metric is important. As Intuitive Surgical continues to grow its installed base, it will lead to an increase in the number of procedures performed with the da Vinci system, a revenue growth engine for the company. In December, Intuitive announced that the number of surgeries performed with its crown jewel had passed the 10 million mark since it was first authorized by regulators in the United States in 2000.

Surgeon in operating room wearing mask and glasses.

Image source: Getty Images.

Additionally, Intuitive Surgical’s competitive advantage is also growing as it ships more of its da Vinci systems. These devices typically cost between $500,000 and $2.5 million and require considerable training to master.

These factors give Intuitive Surgical’s business high switching costs, which is why it is likely to retain the customers it already has. And since it’s the industry leader – Intuitive had nearly 80% market share in 2020 – expect the company to keep growing. The robot-assisted surgery market has considerable room for growth.

According to some estimates, the industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.7% through 2027. It likely won’t stop there considering that these robot-assisted surgeries have superior health outcomes compared to to traditional surgeries. That’s why Intuitive Surgical is a great buy-and-forget healthcare stock.

2.Shopify

Unlike Intuitive Surgical, Shopify’s business was booming during the pandemic as consumers changed their spending habits and relied more on e-commerce. In response, a record number of merchants have turned to companies like Shopify to open online storefronts.

The tech giant’s shares soared in 2020, but it has now been brought back to Earth as its pandemic tailwind has died down. In its fourth quarter earnings release, Shopify said the following: “While we believe the COVID-triggered e-commerce acceleration that has spread through the first half of 2021 in the form of lockdowns and stimulus will be absent from 2022 and there being cautious on inflation and near-term consumer spending, for the full year, we see economic growth supporting continued trade penetration retail through e-commerce.

The market reacted to the first half of this sentence regarding the end of the pandemic-induced acceleration in e-commerce, sending Shopify stock skyrocketing following its earnings release. Indeed, in my opinion, Shopify will have a tough next 12 months.

It will face tough year-over-year comparisons, it’s still not always profitable and even after the recent sell-off, it’s still trading at around 14.5 times forward sales. On the other hand, Wixone of Shopify’s competitors in the marketplace, trades at just 3.5 times forward sales.

PS ratio graph (before)

BUY PS Ratio (forward) data by YCharts

Investors should expect Shopify shares to fall even further in the coming weeks. But although the company’s short-term prospects may be uncertain, I remain confident in the company’s long-term prospects. Indeed, its future is largely tied to the growing adoption of e-commerce, an industry that still has miles of growth to go.

Meanwhile, Shopify’s business benefits from high switching costs. It is not easy to start an online storefront from scratch and attract customers. Having to repeat this process multiple times for the same business would be out of the question for most merchants. A strong moat coupled with long-term tailwinds is a great recipe for success.

That’s why I plan to hold onto my Shopify stocks for a very long time.

This article represents the opinion of the author, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a high-end advice service Motley Fool. We are heterogeneous! Challenging an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and wealthier.

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