The current up-and-down market is likely testing some investors’ patience, but those looking for the best stocks for long-term growth and the best cryptos for long-term growth must be able to tune out some of the short-term noise.
A period of economic weakness may be on the horizon. If the United States enters a recession and inflation drops precipitously, the market will likely once again be flooded with liquidity. Talk of inflation will be replaced by concerns about deflation, which could be more catastrophic. But we’re not anywhere close to such a reality yet.
If the market does hold up, the names below are among the best long-term growth stocks and cryptos to buy now.
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)
After a painful 2022, shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL) are on the rebound, up nearly 20% so far this year. Yet, they still look attractive from a valuation perspective, especially compared to other mega-cap tech stocks, trading at just 23 times earnings. Even with the recent strength, the stock sits 30% below its highs.
That said, the company’s latest earnings report, released in February, was one to forget. Revenue and earnings fell short of estimates, due primarily to weak YouTube advertising revenue of $7.96 billion, down 8% from a year ago and below the $8.25 billion analysts were expecting.
There’s no doubt Alphabet will continue to face significant challenges with regard to ad revenue as companies look to cut costs. Yet, it remains one of the best long-term growth stocks in the tech sector.
Management is aggressively cutting costs, including reducing its workforce by 6% and halting the development of its next-generation Pixelbook laptop computer. These moves should boost profitability and earnings growth over time. Unfortunately, the launch of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot in February was also met with negative feedback, further compounding the company’s difficulties.
However, the stock has recovered since its earnings whiff and flubbed chatbot launch. More importantly, over the long term, Alphabet remains a key player in search and the cloud, with significant upside potential tied to AI. For those who believe the AI story is for real, this stock is one to load up on during periods of weakness.
Nvidia (NVDA)
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has been one of the market’s best performers recently, up 86% year to date and 122% over the past six months. Much of the enthusiasm surrounding NVDA stock is tied to AI buzz.
Nvidia and its $10,000 chip are at the heart of the AI movement. As CNBC reports:
Companies like Microsoft and Google are fighting to integrate cutting-edge AI into their search engines, as billion-dollar competitors such as OpenAI and Stable Diffusion race ahead and release their software to the public.
Powering many of these applications is a roughly $10,000 chip that’s become one of the most critical tools in the artificial intelligence industry: The Nvidia A100.
Nvidia’s chips are being used worldwide to support a broad range of AI applications. What’s more, with its powerful graphics processing units (GPUs), Nvidia can perform various parallel computations, making the company well-suited for training and running AI models with exceptional efficiency.
According to Nvidia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang, upcoming software has the potential to extract significantly more performance from existing hardware, emphasizing the crucial role of AI in computing. As my InvestorPlace colleague Faizan Farooque notes, Nvidia’s comprehensive end-to-end computing services, such as the Drive platform, designed for autonomous vehicles, could be valued at $2.1 trillion by the end of the decade.
Due to the company’s strong presence in various high-growth sectors, investors in NVDA stock can expect consistent growth and sustained outperformance in the long run.
Ethereum (ETH-USD)
Ethereum (ETH-USD) is one of today’s most widely used and substantial cryptocurrencies. The blockchain network allows engineers to quickly develop and integrate decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contract-based functionality. The Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) is an execution engine for these transactions, facilitating seamless implementation.
In September, Ethereum accomplished its most significant upgrade, known as the Merge, with much success. This was followed this month by the Shanghai hard fork, or “Shapella” upgrade. These upgrades seem to be generating interest in ETH, with the crypto up nearly 7% so far this month and 55% over the past seven months.
Ethereum is among the best blockchain networks out there when it comes to consistent innovation and improvement. And the recent rally is likely only the beginning of what could be the next bull run. For those bullish on crypto, Ethereum is hands-down one of the best options to consider at current levels.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald has a position in ETH. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.