2 Tech Stocks You Can Buy and Hold for the Next Decade

Last year was not the best year for tech stocks, with many seeing declines in double-digit percentages. Fortunately, 2023 has been much better. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite — which tracks nearly all stocks on the Nasdaq stock market — is up more than 21% year to date.

If you​​​​​​are a long-term investor interested in tech stocks that you can comfortably hold in your portfolio for decades to come, look no further.

1. AT&T

It is a well-documented regrettable past decade AT&T (T -1.45%), with the stock down over 40%. After spending more than $100 billion to enter the media and entertainment industry, AT&T finally threw in the towel last year, spinning off its WarnerMedia business in a $43 billion deal.

Much of what has plagued AT&T recently is the large amount of debt it took on with its media and entertainment ambitions. AT&T has had more than $100 billion in debt since 2015, which, of course, has cost the company a lot in interest. It paid more than $6 billion in interest last year alone.

DATA BY YCharts

The company is trimming its business and refocusing on its core telecom business, which should relieve investors. After a cash infusion from its WarnerMedia spinoff, AT&T paid down a good amount of debt, but it has a ways to go. Still, AT&T management’s recent moves to actively address debt issues make the stock attractive if you’re in it for the long haul.

AT&T’s bread and butter is undoubtedly its telecom business, and it looks like the company is treating it as such again, although I’m sure investors would have preferred if it didn’t take so long to realize it. This refocus comes at a great time as the industry moves towards 5G.

In Q1 2023, AT&T added 424,000 postpaid phone customers (11 straight quarters with at least 400,000 added) and 272,000 AT&T Fiber customers (13 straight quarters with at least 200,000 added).

With a price-to-earnings ratio of around 6.8 (the S&P 500′s is over 23) and a 6.5% dividend yield, the potential upside for long-term investors far outweighs the potential downside, in my opinion.

2. Apple

As the most valuable public company in the world, it’s hard to believe how much more Apple (AAPL 0.06%) can grow, but it has been shown time and time again that it will find a way. After losing more than a quarter of its value in 2022, it has since reversed course, up more than 35% so far.

The iPhone is still Apple’s moneymaker, accounting for more than half of its revenue, but its growth will likely depend on how well it can continue to develop and build out its services ecosystem. The $20.9 billion in services revenue (up more than 5.4% year over year) was an all-time high for the company.

What excites me most about Apple’s future is its venture into the financial services industry. The signs were always there, starting with the company Apple Pay and later with Apple Card. Apple Card was a big step, but Apple used Goldman Sachs to underwrite and finance loans and lines of credit.

Apple Pay Later was the first time the company decided to underwrite and finance loans and credit lines itself – a pivotal step in creating its presence in the financial industry. An even bigger step is the high-yield savings account the company launched this year (in partnership with Goldman Sachs), which received nearly $1 billion in deposits in its first four days, as reported by Forbes.

Apple’s savings account comes at a time when the banking industry – especially smaller and regional banks – is going through some public distrust, giving the company an opportunity to capitalize on its brand and unmatched brand loyalty.

With arguably as good technical resources available as any company, the rest of the fintech world should be on alert about Apple. Finance is rapidly changing and becoming digital, and who is better equipped to usher in that change than Apple? It is definitely a buy-and-hold stock in the coming decade.