It is possible to become a millionaire by investing in stocks. However, to do this you need to generate high returns over many years. And to achieve this, you should invest in companies with strong competitive advantages and attractive long-term growth opportunities.
To make your search for these wealth brokers easier, here are three exceptional companies you should invest in today.
1. Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) is one of the best performing stocks of all time. From 1964 to 2023, the traditional investment group generated astonishing returns of 4,384,748% for its shareholders. And the share price is up another 11% so far in 2024.
Berkshire is a financial fortress with reliable revenue streams and more than $160 billion in cash reserves as of the end of 2023. With more than 60 operating companies in industries ranging from insurance to transportation to energy to retail, Buffett’s $867 billion behemoth is perhaps the largest diversified company in the market today.
Berkshire’s subsidiaries were chosen by Buffett for their strong competitive positions and attractive expansion prospects. Together, they generate annual operating profits of over $37 billion.
Buffett likes to invest this money in new value-adding opportunities, whether it’s taking over companies outright or buying their shares on the stock market. Berkshire’s portfolio includes large positions in blue chip companies such as Apple, CokeAnd Occidental Petroleum.
Notably, Berkshire has a well-developed succession plan in place should the legendary investor eventually retire. Buffett’s trusted deputies, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, will manage the company’s investment portfolio after he steps down, and longtime Berkshire executive Greg Abel will succeed Buffett as CEO. With the next generation of its leadership team in place, Berkshire is well-positioned to reward its shareholders with wealth-building growth for many years to come.
2. CrowdStrike
As companies move more and more processes to the cloud, effective cybersecurity solutions are becoming increasingly important. In this increasingly dangerous area CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) stands between its customers and the cyber threats that would harm them.
CrowdStrike excels at protecting devices called endpoints. Think laptops, tablets, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The trend toward a distributed workforce is making effective endpoint security essential for more organizations – and driving demand for Cyber Sentinel’s industry-leading services.
CrowdStrike’s expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) gives the company a competitive advantage. Its Falcon platform is constantly getting smarter as it analyzes more than 2 trillion cyber events every day. When this AI-powered guard detects a new threat, it immediately updates its network to protect its customers from harm.
CrowdStrike’s business, in turn, is booming. Revenue and free cash flow increased 36% and 39% to $3.1 billion and $938 million, respectively, in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31.
Chief Financial Officer Burt Podbere sees a path to $10 billion in annual recurring revenue in the coming years. But CrowdStrike seems poised for even greater ambitions. The cybersecurity leader expects its total addressable market to grow to a staggering $225 billion by 2028.
3. Nvidia
The rapid adoption of AI across industries promises to be one of the most lucrative opportunities for investors. Nvidia‘S (NASDAQ:NVDA) Cutting-edge technology powers the most advanced AI applications – and demand for its industry-leading chips is growing rapidly.
Tech giants Microsoft, alphabetAnd Tesla rely on Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) to power their cloud computing platforms and AI operations. Demand for the semiconductor giant’s chips is so great that it is difficult to meet. Nvidia’s revenue rose 265% year-over-year to $22.1 billion in the quarter ended Jan. 28. Operating income rose by an impressive 983% to $13.6 billion.
Sales of AI chips are expected to remain robust for the foreseeable future. The cloud giants are expected to spend heavily to modernize their data centers as they move to accelerated computing systems that can run AI workloads more efficiently. All told, the AI chip market could grow to a whopping $400 billion by 2027, up from around $45 billion in 2024, according to the chipmaker modern micro devices.
For these large chip buyers, Nvidia is the supplier of choice. Its new Blackwell processors are said to offer significant performance gains and cost savings compared to previous generation chips. Blackwell’s key benefits include the potential to reduce the energy consumption of AI applications by up to 25x.
Additionally, Nvidia is investing heavily in software that can make it easier for its customers to train and run AI models. A few days ago, Nvidia closed a deal to acquire Run:ai, which provides tools to help companies optimize their computing infrastructure for AI workloads. Nvidia’s efforts to strengthen its software offering are expected to further strengthen its competitive position in the fast-growing AI industry.
Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia now?
Before you buy Nvidia stock, consider the following:
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, CrowdStrike, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Occidental Petroleum and recommends the following options: long $395 January 2026 calls on Microsoft and short $405 January 2026 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
“3 Top Stocks to Buy Now That Could Help You Retire a Millionaire” was originally published by The Motley Fool