Is Visa Inc. (V) the Best Stock to Buy and Hold for 20 Years?

We recently published a list of 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 20 Years. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) stands against other best stocks to buy and hold for 20 years.

As per Ameriprise Financials, the initial months of 2025 were tough for investors. This is because leading US stock indexes ended the first quarter meaningfully lower, countering the investor projections that stocks will continue to move northwards after the 2 strong years of returns. Notably, the tariff uncertainty has impacted the markets this year, while recession odds are increasing, and global trade frictions continue to increase.  Since major market areas have corrected from the recent highs, and the outlook has become guarded, the investment firm believes that maintaining a balanced perspective of current conditions remains important during periods of market stress.

What Lies Ahead in Q2 2025?

Ameriprise Financial opines that Q2 2025 is expected to bring as much uncertainty and volatility for investors as Q1 2025. That being said, the investment firm believes that the bullish case for stocks is expected to prevail long term, considering the current firm US economic and profit conditions. However, the threat of Trump’s tariff policies and the possible retaliatory tariffs can change the broader market dynamics.

Nevertheless, the investors should not deviate from the well-diversified portfolio. As per Ameriprise Financial, the investors are required to focus on holding high-quality assets throughout their portfolio, make sure that their allocations are in line with their risk tolerance, and that they take a longer-term view of the current market stress, which, historically, can result in opportunities to dollar-cost average in the high-quality assets.

READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.

What Could Support Equities?

As per Ameriprise Financial, if a recession is avoided, considering the recent tariff dynamics, the current stock levels can provide attractive entry points for investors who plan to dollar-cost average in the volatility. Furthermore, the US economy and S&P 500 Index corporate profits are projected to grow, says the firm. While it remains difficult to project where the economy and corporate profits can move over the near-to-intermediate term as a result of current tariff policies, the US economy and corporate earnings are expected to remain positive in H1 2025, says Ameriprise Financial.

The corporate profit margins are at strong levels relative to history, which can support companies in navigating tariff worries and stabilize demand and profits, especially if these tariff impacts are temporary. On average, when the sentiment is significantly weak and there is increased uncertainty about policy, some clarity emerges. And with this, the stock performance tends to improve over the upcoming 6 to 12 months, says the investment management firm.

Our Methodology

To list the 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 20 Years, we sifted through several financial media reports to choose well-established and stable companies. After getting an extended list of the stocks, we shortlisted the ones that were the most popular among hedge funds, as of Q4 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 181

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) operates as a payment technology company. Bryan Bergin, a TD Cowen analyst, is optimistic about the company’s growth prospects. The analyst has lauded the company’s leadership in the consumer payments sector, hinting at the opportunities for further market penetration as well as higher engagement with the help of digital payments. Furthermore, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s expansion into new business flows, as well as its strategic approach to M&As, bolsters the potential for sustainable growth. Over the upcoming 2 decades, the company’s growth is expected to stem from its scale, brand recognition, technology, and network effects. William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey is also optimistic about the company’s outlook.

As per the analyst, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s transition from a consumer-payments company to a diversified platform with emphasis on value-added services and new payment flows is regarded as a critical growth enabler for its revenues. This growth is expected to stem from strong internal execution and investments in technology, which can improve its financial performance, mainly in terms of its adjusted EPS growth. Furthermore, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s core payments business tends to benefit from the ongoing shift to electronic payments and technological advancements such as tokens and contactless payments, says the analyst.

Wedgewood Partners, an investment management company, released Q1 2025 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) was a top contributor to portfolio performance during the quarter. The Company reported +10% revenue growth and +14% adjusted earnings per share growth, driven by strong cross-border payment volume growth of +16%. The absolute payment transactions and volumes that Visa handles across the globe are staggering: $13.4 trillion in volume on 240 billion transactions during 2024. Despite this massive size, there continues to be large, untapped addressable markets persist, particularly in cash and checks still in use to the tune of, believe it or not, of $11 trillion. At the heart of this activity are traditional banks that issue Visa-branded cards. However, increasingly popular forms of payments such as peer-to-peer, business-to-consumer, and even business-to-business are driving Visa’s volumes beyond traditional consumer payments. There continues to be ample room for Visa to expands its network value proposition and grow at attractive rate years to come.”

Overall, V ranks 4th on our list of best stocks to buy and hold for 20 years. While we acknowledge the potential of V as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than V but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.