As 2024 begins, investors are celebrating S&P 500 index record highs. Whether you're new to investing or have been trading for years, you've probably seen that highs and lows are common. Response to what you observe will alter your investing path. Remember that the stock market often reverses gloomy times and rises again.
Now that a new bull market is underway, you may be looking to invest. If you can acquire and hold a company for at least five years and have cash on hand, consider these two unstoppable stocks for your portfolio.
1. Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is a pharmaceutical giant that makes money. J&J's 2023 net sales of $85 billion up 7% from 2022. This is a typical annual business growth rate.
Recent structural adjustments at J&J aim to boost growth in the future. One major change was the spinoff of its consumer health business, which manages Tylenol, Listerine, and Band-Aid, into Kenvue, a publicly traded company. The split helped Johnson & Johnson remove a slower-growing business area, among other goals. Kenvue's public debut and debt offering raised $13.2 billion.
Johnson & Johnson will use the financial infusion to strengthen its pharmaceutical and medical device businesses. Pharmaceutical net sales rose 5% to $55 billion in 2023. Medical device net sales rose 12% from 2022 to $30 billion, driven by its Abiomed division. Johnson & Johnson bought heart pump specialist Abiomed in 2022.
The company has a promising blockbuster pipeline. The company's once-daily single-combination tablet Opsynvi was approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension on March 22. On March 26, rival Merck got PAH medication approval. Winrevair, Merck's medication, is injected subcutaneously every three weeks. Half of the $7 billion PAH medication market is controlled by Johnson & Johnson. It could gain market share with daily tablet treatment.
Also a reliable dividend payer. This healthcare company provides passive income for long-term investors with almost 60 years of yearly dividend growth. Investor concerns about major liability claims have hampered the stock's performance in recent years. Everyone believes J&J will continue business after resolving the disputes. Meanwhile, the stock drop increased yield. The yield is 3%, twice the S&P 500 average. Investors seeking a reputable healthcare investment with dividend income may consider this firm.
2. Amazon Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has survived several market conditions since its 1997 IPO. Amazon, like other corporations, struggled in the turbulent economy of recent years. It has adjusted and grown despite strong obstacles. To be competitive in a fast-changing working environment, it prioritized operational efficiency.
The expansion of its core businesses like e-commerce and cloud computing, which have benefited from AI investments, has helped it manage. Amazon invested $2.7 billion in AI start-up Anthropic last year, bringing its total investment to $4 billion, to acquire insider access to generative AI developments. The contract requires the AI startup to train its models on Amazon's Inferentia and Trainium chips. AWS will be Anthropic's principal cloud provider for mission-critical applications.
Amazon is using its cloud division to add AI to products and services. Generative AI lets doctors write notes from patient appointments with AWS HealthScribe. Amazon Bedrock lets clients build generative AI apps utilizing Anthropic and other AI startups' technology on the main AWS platform.
In 2023, Amazon earned $30 billion on $575 billion in sales. The year before, Amazon lost $2.7 billion. Amazon saw 2023 operating profits of $37 billion, up 200% from 2022. E-commerce generates the most revenue for Amazon, but AWS generates the most profit. In 2023, AWS generated $25 billion, or 70% of Amazon's operational profits.
Investor anticipation for Amazon's future potential has driven its stock up 84% in a year. Given its investments and expanding markets, the company should be able to thrive and reward investors. Buy this business to hold it long-term.
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