A business can dominate today’s headlines and still lose its edge before the next decade ends. Finding the best stocks to buy for the next 20 years means examining which companies can adapt, protect their profits, and keep serving customers as industries change. Artificial intelligence and cloud computing offer substantial opportunities, but healthcare, financial services, consumer spending, and energy infrastructure also belong in the conversation about long-term stocks.
The Digital Economy Still Needs Physical Infrastructure
Behind every AI application sits a network of chips, servers, cooling systems, and electricity connections. The International Energy Agency’s 2025 outlook projected that global data center electricity consumption would more than double to around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, roughly matching Japan’s electricity use at the time. For investors researching stocks for long-term growth, that links the technology boom to opportunities in power generation and supporting infrastructure. www.iea.org
Healthcare follows another powerful trend. The World Health Organization projects that one in six people worldwide will be at least 60 years old by 2030, suggesting greater needs for treatment, diagnostics, and care. Meanwhile, businesses providing everyday goods, waste collection, and financial services serve recurring needs that can endure through successive technology cycles. The investment challenge is identifying which providers can turn that demand into sustainable earnings. www.who.int
Twenty Years Gives Compounding Room to Work
The mathematics explains the appeal of buy-and-hold stocks. At a hypothetical annual return of 8%, an investment would grow to approximately 4.7 times its starting value over 20 years, before taxes and fees. Real markets follow a bumpier path, and holding an investment longer cannot rescue a deteriorating business.
Strong long-term candidates need competitive advantages, sound finances, and opportunities to reinvest cash profitably. The purchase price also matters because even impressive growth can disappoint investors when expectations are already stretched. A decades-long horizon rewards patience most effectively when it comes with careful valuation and regular checks that the business still deserves its place in the portfolio.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) ranks 4th in our list of 10 Best Stocks to Buy for the Next 20 Years. Click HERE to find out other stocks on the list.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 152 | Market Capitalization: $1.18 trillion
Strong Treatment Demand Meets the Challenge of Sustaining Growth
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) brings a healthcare growth story supported by substantial demand for diabetes and obesity treatments. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue increased 48% year over year to approximately $23.0 billion, driven primarily by higher volumes of Mounjaro and Zepbound.
The results show why investors continue to study the company among long-term healthcare stocks. Volume increased 60%, although a 13% reduction in realized prices partly offset that expansion. The distinction matters: treating more patients can support growth even as pricing becomes less favorable, but sustaining profitability requires careful management of production and commercial costs.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) also raised its 2026 revenue guidance to between $85 billion and $87 billion in its August earnings release. That was a management forecast, with future performance dependent on demand, supply, pricing, and execution.
A 20-year thesis must extend beyond the success of current medicines. Manufacturing capacity, new indications, and future research could broaden the business, while competition, reimbursement restrictions, clinical setbacks, and patent expirations remain material risks. The investment case depends on converting scientific progress into a succession of commercially successful treatments.
Ranking Rationale
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) takes fourth place with 152 hedge fund holders. Demand for diabetes and obesity treatments, manufacturing expansion, and pharmaceutical research support its inclusion, while pricing pressure, competition, and clinical outcomes could influence future returns.
YOU MUST READ THIS: Top 10 Energy Stocks to Watch as Oil Prices Surge
Disclosure: No material interests to disclose. This article was originally published on Global Market Bulletin.
