Best Long-Term Stocks to Buy Now: BABA, AAPL, BA

One of the key parts of a successful wealth-building strategy is finding the best long-term stocks and holding them for years.

Solid long-term stocks let you collect gains steadily for five, 10, or 20 years while you focus on finding other investments and opportunities. You can check in with them every quarter and see if anything has changed or adjust your holdings if your investment priorities are different. But for the most part, they are low maintenance, low risk, and high reward.

Take Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) stock for example. The company was already the toast of the retail world in 2005, but it has still been a profit machine over the past 10 years. Investors who bought WMT shares 10 years ago and held them through today have seen a 61% gain. That doesn't count what they've earned from Wal-Mart's dividend - currently yielding 2.4%.

Now, we've picked three of the best long-term stocks on the market today. Each of these three stocks are leaders in their respective industries. They also have solid balance sheets and growth projections.

One just saw its revenue jump 40% in the most recent quarter. Another has annual revenue of $226 billion with gross profit margins near 40%. The third expects its industry to fill $5.2 trillion worth of orders in the next two decades.

But those aren't the only reasons we're recommending them. Here's why these three stocks will be profit machines for years to come...

Best Long-Term Stocks to Buy No. 1: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA)

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) has dipped nearly 20% in 2015, but it's still one of the best long-term stocks to buy now.

"Most investors are right now looking at the steep skid in Alibaba as a major cause for concern. But I only see opportunity," Money Morning Executive Editor Bill Patalon told his Private Briefing investment service readers. "I see an opportunity for you to create the kind of wealth that you'll be able to pass along to future generations."

In its last earnings report, Alibaba reported revenue of $4.2 billion. That was a yearly increase of 40%. But Wall Street panicked because it missed analyst expectations of $4.45 billion. The stock dipped 11%.

Alibaba has also faced concerns about counterfeit merchandise on its sites, and regulatory issues in Taiwan. But these are not backbreaking issues.

You see, the company's growth numbers are rock-solid. Earnings increased 80% last quarter. Gross merchandise volume (GMV) was up 49%. Total mobile users were up 95%.

The company's mobile base is growing too. It hit 265 million monthly active users last quarter. That's a yearly increase of 95%, and a quarterly increase of 22%.

GMV from mobile users hit $327 million. That's up 213% from 2013 and 64% from Q2. Now mobile users account for 42% of Alibaba's total GMV. It was only 35.8% in last quarter's report.

Alibaba's shift to mobile e-commerce is extremely important. Right now, the global mobile market is growing at a staggering rate.

According to the research firm Gartner, mobile payment transactions will grow by 35% annually through 2017. The global market for mobile payments will reach $721 billion by the end of 2017.

 

Alibaba stock is such a good long-term buy, especially at this price, that Patalon suggests adding to your position every time the stock comes down.

"Alibaba is a stock that you have to be willing to hold for a long time," Patalon said. "You don't just load up the truck with Alibaba stock and pray. You buy in and add to your position when there are pullbacks. This is a stock you want to hold for 10 to 15 years."

Continue reading to see why AAPL stock and BA stock belong on your long-term stocks to buy list...

Best Long-Term Stocks to Buy No. 2: Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) stock has climbed 65% in the last year, and 300% in the last five.  And while some investors may worry the streak could come to an end, Money Morning experts know it's not over.

"I wouldn't be selling Apple stock right now," Money Morning's Defense and Tech Specialist Michael Robinson said on FOX Business this month. "I think we still have a lot of momentum left on this stock. I have a $142.85 target on this for Labor Day 2016."

And one of the biggest reasons for our bullish outlook is the Apple Watch.

"I think the Apple Watch is going to be an important catalyst that gets Apple to $1 trillion," Robinson said.

The lowest-level version of the Watch will retail near $349, and the mid-level Watch at $549. Margins on those products are expected to fall between 40% and 50%. But Apple is also working on a gold luxury version that will retail between $10,000 and $17,000. The margins on that one should push 80%.

Apple already has some of the highest margins in the industry, with gross profit margins of 39.9% in the last quarter. That was up from 37.9% the previous year.

The rest of its financial figures have us bullish too...

In the upcoming quarter, AAPL is expected to post earnings per share of $2.12. That's 27.7% growth from last year. Revenue is expected to climb 21.4% to a whopping $55.4 billion this quarter alone. For the full year 2015, revenue should reach $226 billion.

Apple's market cap is now $736 billion. If it were a country, Apple would rank 20th in gross domestic product (GDP). It would fall just behind Saudi Arabia ($778 billion) and just ahead of Switzerland ($679 billion).

"It's inexpensive on a price/earnings basis relative to the market, it's inexpensive to a lot of other companies on an enterprise value basis relative to its cash flow yield. It's a cash flow generating machine," said Money Morning Capital Wave Strategist Shah Gilani said.

"They are such a juggernaut," added Money Morning's Technical Trading Strategist D.R. Barton said in February. "If you're a money manager and you don't have Apple in your portfolio it's basically financial suicide.

Best Long-Term Stocks to Buy No. 3: Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA)

Money Morning's Patalon first recommended Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) stock to his readers in September 2011 at $61.92 per share. On March 25, BA opened at $151.40. That's a gain of 145%.

Numerous Wall Street experts have been bearish on Boeing stock since oil prices started falling in July 2014. But that's not a reason to sell the stock.

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"Oil prices will rebound, and air carriers will buy new jets based on a multi-decade lifespan," Patalon said. "Airlines also have to keep replacing aging fleet jets to match the projected growth in global travel."

The fact that Boeing estimates global air traffic will increase by an average annual rate of 5% for the next 20 years is a major bullish sign.

"That means the worldwide airliner fleet will have to double from today's 21,000 airplanes to 42,000 by 2033," Patalon said. "The demand story is even better than that, however. The 21,000 airplanes cited in that statistic are for fleet expansion."

And that doesn't account for the number of jetliners that need to be replaced either.

"Boeing forecasts total demand of 36,800 new jetliners between now and 2033," Patalon continued. "The reason: Carrier fleets will need an additional 15,500 airplanes (42% of all new deliveries) to take the place of older, less-fuel-efficient jets."

"All told, Boeing expects the aircraft manufacturing industry to see $5.2 trillion in new orders over the next two decades."

BA has beaten earnings estimates by an average of 12.8% in each of the last four quarters. This quarter, the company is expecting earnings growth near 7% year-over-year. Revenue should climb 9.8% this quarter to $22.5 billion.

BA stock is already up 16.4% in 2015.

The Bottom Line: The best way to grow your wealth is by finding long-term stocks to buy with high growth projections, strong financial bases, and excellent products or services. Our top three long-term buys now are Alibaba stock, Apple stock, and Boeing stock.

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