Feb 9, 2024
Investor optimism was on full display this week as the S&P 500 hit yet another milestone. The benchmark index briefly surpassed the 5,000 level during intraday trading on Thursday.
Widely considered a proxy of the U.S. stock market, the S&P 500 is up over 5% so far this year after gaining 24% in 2023. Of course, this followed a nearly 20% plunge in 2022, its worst annual performance since 2008.
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Those who stayed invested despite the screaming headlines, economic uncertainty and volatility have been rewarded with big returns.
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Adopting a long-term mindset is something legendary value investor Warren Buffett advocates as well.The 93-year-old, who bought his first stock at 11 and is now worth over $130 billion, espouses the buy-and-hold approach. He recommends investing in good companies, having patience and avoiding panic selling when the market is choppy.
In the 1985 shareholder letter for his company, Berkshire Hathaway, he wrote, "No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: you can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant."
This good — and extremely colorful — statement was made in reference to Capital Cities' $3.5 billion purchase of the much larger ABC in 1985, which Berkshire helped to finance in exchange for a stake. Buffett wrote, "For Cap Cities, ABC is a major undertaking whose economics are likely to be unexciting over the next few years. This bothers us not an iota; we can be very patient."
Ten years later, the combined company was sold to Walt Disney for $19 billion.
With that in mind, here are three stocks you might want to consider adding to your watch list.
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Kraft Heinz
The Kraft Heinz corporation is only eight years old, but the two brands that constitute it have each been around for more than a century. Kraft Foods Inc. was founded in 1909 while the H. J. Heinz Co. was established in 1869. Both brands have steadily grown their footprints across the world over the intervening decades.
In some parts of the world, these brands are synonymous with cheese, ketchup and macaroni. Brand recognition like this takes forever to build, which is why the combined business has so much underlying value.
Today, the company is worth more than $44 billion, and the stock trades at about 15 times earnings — reasonable for a low-growth consumer brand.
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Berkshire first acquired a stake in Heinz in 2013. Two years later, the firm put up $5 billion as part of the mega-merger that brought the two household brands together. The combined company is currently the seventh largest Berkshire holding.
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Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is another iconic brand dating to the 19th century. The company was launched in 1892 and has been on Buffett’s portfolio for several decades. He first initiated a position in the beverage giant in 1988. The stock is up more than 2,300% since then.
The company is now worth in excess of $250 billion, while the stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of around 24. KO — the company’s ticker symbol — also offers a 3% dividend yield, which makes it an ideal target for income-seeking investors like Buffett.
Buffett currently owns 400 million shares of KO worth more than $23 billion. It’s the fourth-largest position in his portfolio, which is a testament to his long-term commitment to this brand. Retail investors should certainly take a closer look at this blue chip.
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American Express
American Express is nearly 174 years old, which makes it the oldest company on this list. The firm was launched in 1850 as an express mail business in Buffalo, New York.
Now, of course, it’s one of the largest payment networks in the world, with more than $214.5 billion passing through the network in 2022. Amex gets a tiny slice of each transaction.
Meanwhile, Buffett owns a large slice of the company, whose shares have surged above $210 since an April 2020 pandemic low of $73. Buffett's stake in Amex is worth over $31 billion, making it his third-largest holding.
The stock currently trades at around 19 times earnings and should certainly be on your list.
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
