There’s a saying that I think every investor should heed: “Time in the market beats timing the market.” I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. My biggest investing mistakes have been selling too soon and waiting too long for the “perfect” time to buy a stock.
Buy-and-hold investing isn’t always as exciting as trading in and out of stocks frequently. However, it’s usually far more profitable, at least in my experience.
Of course, selecting the right stocks is crucial, regardless of the investment style. With that in mind, here are two tech stocks I think you can buy and hold for the next decade.
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Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL) raked in $112 billion in profits in its fiscal year ending Sept. 27, 2025. That amount is greater than the market caps of 80% of the companies in the S&P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC). Apple has demonstrated in the past that it can effectively allocate its capital to benefit shareholders. I expect it will continue to do so.
Warren Buffett once called Apple “probably the best business I know in the world.” I think he was, and is, right. The company has built a massive and loyal customer base. Apple has created a sticky ecosystem of products and services surrounding the wildly popular iPhone that gives it a formidable moat.
I predict that Apple will emerge as one of the biggest winners, if not the biggest winner, in the fast-growing smart glasses market. The company already has impressive spatial computing software with its visionOS. More importantly, it has a built-in market of millions of iPhone users to market user-friendly AI-powered glasses to.
There’s also another tremendous opportunity to watch with Apple over the next few years. 6G networks should begin to roll out by 2030 or so. This wireless technology could be 1,000 times faster than 5G. It’s expected to pave the way for exciting new applications such as holographic communications and drive explosive growth for Internet of Things devices. Apple seems well-positioned to be a key beneficiary of the adoption of 6G.
Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT) didn’t lag too far behind Apple, generating earnings of $101.8 billion in its fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. The technology giant is on pace to eclipse that level in fiscal 2026, reporting first-quarter net income of $27.7 billion based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
While Apple was widely perceived as getting a late start in rolling out generative AI functionality, Microsoft was among the early adopters. The company’s partnership with (and investment in) ChatGPT creator OpenAI has proven to be a shrewd business move, in retrospect.
Microsoft has integrated generative AI throughout its product suite. I think the financial results the company has seen speak for themselves about how successful this effort has been. Intelligence Cloud revenue jumped 28% year-over-year in fiscal Q1 to $30.9 billion. The Productivity and Business Processes segment’s revenue, which includes Microsoft 365 productivity apps and LinkedIn, increased 17% year-over-year to $33 billion.
Can this growth continue? Wall Street seems to think so. Of the 57 analysts surveyed in January by S&P Global(NYSE: SPGI) who cover Microsoft, all but two rated the stock as a “buy” or “strong buy.” The consensus 12-month price target for Microsoft reflects a potential upside of around 30%.
Analysts are focused primarily on the near term. What about Microsoft’s long-term prospects? I think they’re solid. The company has secured an enviable position for its products and services with businesses and software developers. I don’t expect Microsoft will lose its competitive advantages anytime soon.
I view agentic AI as a significant growth driver for the company over the next decade. Microsoft also has a lottery ticket of sorts with its investments in quantum computing. I’m impressed by the company’s topoconductors, a new type of material that holds the potential to enable building large-scale quantum supercomputers. Microsoft’s future looks as bright as ever.
Before you buy stock in Microsoft, consider this:
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Keith Speights has positions in Apple and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Microsoft, and S&P Global. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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