Two of the Best Stocks to Buy Right Now for Long-Term Portfolio Growth

When constructing a portfolio positioned for sustained returns through 2026 and beyond, investors should consider a dual-strategy approach: pairing a growth-focused technology leader with a defensively-positioned value play that carries substantial financial flexibility. Apple and Berkshire Hathaway represent precisely this balance, offering complementary strengths that collectively address both market uncertainty and long-term wealth creation.

Apple’s Accelerating Growth Trajectory

The technology sector continues to reward disciplined investors, and Apple stands at the forefront of this momentum. During its fiscal 2025, the company demonstrated meaningful business acceleration that extends far beyond its marquee iPhone franchise. Specifically, Apple’s fiscal Q4 results (three-month period ending September 27, 2025) showed 8% year-over-year sales growth—an improvement that signals renewed customer demand and product relevance after a previous year of modest 2% top-line expansion.

What makes this growth narrative particularly compelling is the compositional shift within Apple’s revenue base. The company’s services segment—its highest-margin business line—expanded 15% year-over-year during the same quarter, outpacing the full-year services growth rate of 13.5%. This acceleration suggests that Apple’s recurring revenue streams are building momentum independent of hardware cycles, a critical indicator for long-term investor confidence.

The financial results reinforce this growth story. Apple generated $416 billion in total revenue during fiscal 2025, supported by robust cash generation. The company returned $90.7 billion to shareholders through buybacks alone during the year, underscoring both the strength of underlying cash flows and management’s confidence in valuation levels. Apple CFO Kevan Parekh highlighted that the company achieved record fiscal-year performance with “double-digit EPS growth,” while simultaneously reaching “all-time high” levels of active installed devices globally.

Looking ahead, management guidance anticipates 10% to 12% revenue growth during the strategically important holiday quarter, driven by a robust iPhone cycle and sustained services momentum. While Apple trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 33—a premium valuation by historical standards—the acceleration in both revenue and services growth provides a foundation for investors to justify this multiple.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Strategic Cash Position

For investors seeking portfolio ballast and optionality, Berkshire Hathaway fulfills a fundamentally different role than growth-oriented technology holdings. The conglomerate trades at approximately 1.6 times book value, a conservative valuation that reflects its value-oriented positioning within the investment landscape.

The defining characteristic of Berkshire’s investment appeal centers on its unmatched financial fortress. With more than $350 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term Treasury instruments, the company maintains unprecedented liquidity to deploy capital when market dislocations create attractive buying opportunities. This “dry powder” provides strategic optionality that few other corporations can match—essentially functioning as an insurance policy within a diversified portfolio during volatile market periods.

Beyond its cash position, Berkshire’s underlying business operations deliver genuine economic substance. The company operates a sprawling insurance operation with substantial underwriting excellence, controls a major railroad asset, oversees a significant energy business, and maintains numerous other operating subsidiaries. This diversified earning base contrasts sharply with Apple’s concentrated revenue dependency on iPhone sales, which represent more than half of total company revenue. Berkshire’s multi-faceted operational structure provides earnings stability during sector-specific downturns.

Why These Stocks Complement Each Other

The strategic pairing of Apple and Berkshire creates a portfolio architecture that addresses multiple investor concerns simultaneously. Apple provides growth exposure, benefiting from technology sector tailwinds and secular trends favoring digital services adoption. Berkshire supplies stability and deployment capacity—should market dislocations occur, the company’s substantial cash reserves position it to acquire assets at depressed valuations, potentially creating recovery opportunities for shareholders.

Furthermore, this combination balances valuation extremes. Apple’s 33x forward earnings reflects anticipated growth, while Berkshire’s 1.6x book value reflects conservative valuation discipline. An investor holding both stocks benefits from exposure to growth optionality without maintaining a portfolio concentrated entirely in high-valuation-multiple equities.

Evaluating the Risks Before You Invest

Both holdings carry meaningful risks that warrant careful consideration. Apple’s concentrated revenue dependency on iPhone sales represents its primary vulnerability—should smartphone market saturation accelerate or consumer demand deteriorate, Apple’s growth narrative faces considerable headwinds. Additionally, the company’s global operational footprint exposes it to geopolitical risks spanning multiple continents and regulatory jurisdictions.

Berkshire faces its own set of challenges heading into 2026. Warren Buffett’s transition from active CEO management marks a generational shift in company leadership. Successor Greg Abel now assumes operational control of an institution built through decades of Buffett and Charlie Munger’s decision-making. The stakes are particularly high given Berkshire’s massive cash position—deploying $350+ billion productively will determine whether Abel can replicate the capital allocation discipline that defined Buffett’s tenure.

Positioning Your Portfolio for 2026 and Beyond

For investors seeking the best stocks to buy right now, this Apple-Berkshire combination offers a thoughtfully constructed approach to portfolio building. The pairing delivers technology-driven growth potential paired with value-based stability and financial flexibility—a framework particularly valuable during periods of macroeconomic uncertainty.

Historical context reinforces the merit of disciplined stock selection. The Motley Fool’s analytical framework has historically identified companies with exceptional return potential; Netflix recommendations from December 2004 produced returns exceeding 50,000% for early investors, while Nvidia recommendations from April 2005 generated roughly 1,100% returns through 2025. The underlying principle remains consistent: identifying quality businesses trading at reasonable valuations creates meaningful wealth-building potential across market cycles.

As you construct your portfolio positioning for the year ahead and beyond, consider how growth and value exposure can work together to balance risk and opportunity. Apple and Berkshire Hathaway represent thoughtful expressions of this balanced investment philosophy, offering distinct but complementary benefits within a diversified long-term strategy.