At its core, investing is about the future. In typical approaches that attempt to value a company’s stock, potential investors begin by estimating how much money the company will generate for its owners over time.
This future cash generation capacity – discounted by the fact that a potential dollar in your pocket next year is worth less than a dollar of some cash in your pocket today – forms the basis of this valuation estimate. With that in mind, these three stocks seem likely to generate money over the next ten years (and beyond) to help you build a solid foundation for your financial future. If they work as expected by then, they could help you get richer by 2034.
No. 1: A semiconductor titan that is investing heavily in its future
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has seen its shares struggle in recent years as it tried to extract value from its existing microchip manufacturing facilities. Its underinvestment in next-generation capabilities has allowed its more agile competitors to overtake it in terms of technological superiority.
Still, it’s clear that Intel recognizes the risks to its future if it falls behind in an industry where product performance matters as much as semiconductor performance. From artificial intelligence to smartphones, laptops and chips embedded in many everyday products, smaller, faster and more energy-efficient chips are clearly in demand.
After what might be considered far too long a wait, Intel is aggressively investing in the capacity it needs to deliver competitive next-generation computing power. With help from federal funding from the CHIPS Act, Intel will invest more than $100 billion over the next several years to build the precision manufacturing capacity needed to thrive.
Today’s investments should translate into tomorrow’s cash flow. With the first wave of this new capacity expected to come online later this year, investors could very well begin to see the expected returns on this investment in the not too distant future. This gives good reason to believe that it will still be able to prosper in a decade.
No. 2: An energy infrastructure giant that continues to invest for growth
Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) is an oil and gas pipeline giant based in Calgary, Canada. Although many are concerned about the future of this industry, Enbridge is actively investing in its future. It acquires “last mile” natural gas utilities, positioning itself to become the largest natural gas utility in North America.
This is a wonderful synergy with its long-haul pipeline business, and demonstrates Enbridge’s belief that natural gas will remain a vitally important fuel for decades to come. Fortunately, the company is not the only one making this assessment. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that demand for natural gas will remain stable or even increase slightly through 2050.
If these projections hold true, it’s likely that demand for natural gas will remain strong even after 2050. After all, it’s not like you can instantly replace all of that energy at once, and natural gas has The advantage of operating even in bad weather conditions. does not cooperate.
For shareholders, this means Enbridge will likely be able to continue its decades-long trend of increasing its dividend. Coupled with a yield above 7%, Enbridge looks poised to continue thriving in 2034 and beyond.
No. 3: A tech titan already leading the way in AI integration
Thanks in large part to its $10 billion investment in OpenAI (the business behind ChatGPT), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has an incredible presence in the rapidly growing sector Artificial Intelligence (AI) space. Microsoft is certainly using this position, with AI-based add-ons for many of its well-known product suites.
On top of that, Microsoft’s new Copilot acts as a sort of coordination service, integrating multiple AI systems into a single framework. In a world where AI still tends to be best at specialized, well-defined tasks, the Copilot integration hints at a way to streamline interfaces for the humans who need to use these tools.
Even if the current hype about AI turns out to be something of a bubble, much like what happened with the Internet in the late 1990s, it is likely that AI will eventually be integrated into our everyday life. As a well-capitalized pioneer with access not only to cutting-edge AI technology, but also to key use cases for its integration, Microsoft is likely well-positioned to thrive when AI becomes integrated into our lives. This makes it a compelling candidate for a portfolio focused a decade or more from today.
Start now
The market is always trying to assess future potential. As a result, by the time today’s future is already known, the market will try to determine the next big thing. By making your investments based on what you think could be realized in ten or more years, you may be able to find profit opportunities as that potential is realized.
However, the thing to remember about the future is that it is getting ever closer to today. Therefore, make today the day you decide if the future of any of these three companies looks strong enough to warrant an investment of your hard-earned money. If they meet those long-term expectations, you might very well be glad you did.
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Chuck Saletta holds positions in Enbridge, Intel and Microsoft and has the following options: long December 2026 calls on Intel at $30, long January 2025 calls at $37.50 on Enbridge, short positions in December 2024 with $25 calls on Intel, short December 2024 $35 calls on Intel, short December 2026 calls $30 calls on Intel, short $30 calls on Enbridge in January 2025, short $37.50 calls on Enbridge in January 2025 and short $40 calls on Enbridge in January 2025. The Motley Fool holds positions and recommends Enbridge and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Intel and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $45 calls on Intel, long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft, and short $47 calls in May 2024 on Intel. The Mad Motley has a disclosure policy.
3 actions that can help you become richer in 2034 was originally published by The Motley Fool
