3 Monster Stocks to Hold for the Next 10 Years

Most investors probably step into a stock with the intent of holding on to it indefinitely (as long as nothing significant changes, and it continues to perform well). Sometimes, though, new technologies put a company and its stock in a position to shine brilliantly for only a few years. It's not that they're doomed in the long run. It's just that the immediate opportunity is so clear and compelling, while the future beyond that is still fuzzy.

To this end, if you can stomach the above-average risk each one also brings to the table, here's a closer look at three stocks that could dish out monster-sized returns over the course of the coming 10 years.

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1. CRISPR Therapeutics

The idea of "repairing" broken DNA has been around for almost as long as scientists have realized it was the cause of several illnesses and conditions. The only problem? It's far easier envisioned than done.

CRISPR Therapeutics' (NASDAQ: CRSP) cofounder, Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier, figured out how to make the idea work reliably back in 2012, though, using the CRISPR/Cas9 approach.

Specifically, an engineered protein called Cas9 uses human DNA's "clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats" -- or CRISPR -- to cut into a strand of genetic code, remove the damaged snippet, and then allow DNA's own natural repair process to make the fix that's not otherwise happening as it normally would. The technique is so game-changing that Charpentier and partner Dr. Jennifer Doudna won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.

The biotechnology isn't merely being left in the realm of academia, though. CRISPR Therapeutics was founded back in 2013 to specifically turn the idea into marketable medicine.

And it's doing just that. In 2023, CRISPR Therapeutics' Casgevy became the world's first-ever gene-editing therapy. Although it's only currently approved as a treatment for sickle cell disease or transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, the company's pipeline includes trials of the same underlying science as a treatment for cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Any ailment that's genetic in nature, however, is a potential target. That's why the next 10 years could be tremendous for this company and its stock. Precedence Research is calling for annualized growth of 13% from the overall CRISPR-based gene editing market through 2034 ... now that the science has been perfected enough to use as the basis for a wide range of therapies.

2. BYD Company

If you've been keeping tabs on BYD Company (OTC: BYDDY) at all of late, then you likely already know that shares of China's top electric vehicle maker have struggled since late August, when the company reported a 30% year-over-year dip in its second-quarter profits Not only is China's economy on a less-than-rock-solid footing right now, but competition is creeping in.

For perspective, although China's overall EV market grew again in August, BYD's top-selling electric vehicle -- the Qin Plus -- saw a 16% year-over-year drop in registrations, while registrations of its also-popular Seal dipped 17%, according to numbers from CleanTechnica. Then we learned late last month that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway recently dumped its entire long-held stake in the electric vehicle outfit, prompting questions about the company's long-term ownability.

Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture, and where BYD fits into it. For instance, while BYD's sales in China may have slumped a couple of months back, the critical detail being left out of the discussion is the fact that the comparison is being made to a massive swell in BYD's sales in August of last year, despite a contraction of China's overall EV market.

Also, don't look past the fact that BYD is increasingly gaining market share outside of China. While its home country is still its single-biggest market, it sold 11,271 electric vehicles in the United Kingdom alone in September, and has now outsold Tesla across the entirety of Europe for the second month in a row.

More than anything, however, look five years down the road rather than five weeks, or even five months. The International Energy Administration expects EVs' share of China's automobile industry to grow from roughly half of that market's annual unit sales of around 30 million cars now to 80% by 2030.

And that's just China. While they're still not wildly popular here in the United States, everywhere else, they increasingly are. BloombergNEF believes electric vehicles' share of the global automobile market is set to grow from roughly one-fourth now to 56% by 2035, en route to 70% market share by 2040. Even with margin-pinching competition now in place, already-profitable BYD is well-positioned to capture at least its fair share of this industrywide growth.

3. Joby Aviation

Finally, add Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) to your list of stocks that could deliver a monster-sized gain over the course of the coming decade, even though its risk is commensurate with its potential reward.

Just a few years ago, the premise of flying taxis was laughable. Now it's not only feasible, but it's actually happening. Joby's battery-powered four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is capable of taking off and landing like a helicopter, but is also able to fly up to 200 miles per hour like a conventional airplane. This, of course, makes it possible to ferry passengers to and from one relatively small spot within a crowded city center, turning a one-hour car trip into a 10-minute flight by flying over vehicle traffic.

As of the latest look, Joby's aircraft design is in the latter stages of its FAA certification process, setting the stage for FAA flight testing later this year or early next year. Just for the record, though, to date its prototype aircraft have flown more than 40,000 miles with only one notable incident. That's 2022's crash resulting from the loss of a propeller blade during an unmanned/remote-controlled flight that was deliberately pushing the aircraft to its performance limits.

In other words, its eVTOL technology is proving to be comparably safe to passenger jets and automobiles. It's not crazy that the company is already preparing for commercial operations in New York, Los Angeles, and Dubai -- with more sure to follow once those operations are proven -- even without a final FAA approval of the aircraft in question.

The kicker: In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order paving the way for the proliferation of the nation's nascent air taxi industry. Joby is participating in the order's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, or eIPP, helping to shape the development and oversight of the nascent industry it's a part of.

There's still great risk here, to be sure. See, this isn't just an unproven business. It's potentially dangerous enough to outright ban, should one or two aircraft fall out of the sky into the heart of an urban area. Joby is still operating in the red, and it is likely to remain in the red for a while even if it's allowed to begin commercial operations, as well as start selling its aircraft to other operators and even noncommercial customers like the U.S. Air Force.

The near-term prospect of actual flying taxis, however, is just too enticing. You can limit your risk just by limiting the size of your trade.

James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, CRISPR Therapeutics, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends BYD Company. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.