Three Game-Changing Companies Worth Holding for the Long Haul

The Case for a Decade-Long Investment Horizon

When it comes to picking stocks to buy and hold, most investors get caught up in quarterly earnings and daily market swings. But if you’re serious about outpacing the market, sometimes you need to step back and think bigger—really bigger. The companies generating the most excitement in growth-focused portfolios aren’t the safe bets; they’re the ones still proving themselves, navigating regulatory hurdles, and racing to build markets that barely exist today.

Three emerging players stand out as particularly intriguing for investors willing to tolerate volatility in exchange for potentially outsized returns. None of them are household names yet, but each is positioning itself at the intersection of massive secular trends—whether that’s the AI energy crunch, urban mobility transformation, or supply chain resilience.

1. Oklo: Powering the AI Revolution with Compact Nuclear

Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) is designing a different kind of power plant for a different kind of world. Rather than massive traditional reactors, the company is building small, modular fast neutron reactors purpose-built for data centers and remote industrial sites. Think of them as plug-and-play nuclear generators that can be deployed with minimal disruption.

The investment thesis boils down to two converging trends. First, data centers powering artificial intelligence are becoming electricity hogs—and that demand is only accelerating. Second, there’s an equally powerful push toward decarbonization. Oklo’s Aurora reactor design attempts to solve both: it runs for extended periods between refuelings and produces zero-carbon electricity on demand.

The company has already secured partnerships with major data center operators like Equinix and Vertiv, signaling serious market interest. But here’s the catch: Oklo is pre-revenue and still working through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval process. Until it clears licensing hurdles and starts generating commercial sales, it faces capital constraints. For aggressive investors, that risk-reward calculus might seem attractive over a decade-long timeframe.

2. Joby Aviation: Reimagining Urban Transportation from Above

Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) is pursuing a vision straight out of sci-fi: electric flying taxis operating over city streets. More formally, the company is developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft designed to bypass ground traffic entirely by taking passengers on short-distance aerial routes.

Morgan Stanley’s research suggests the urban air mobility market could reach $1 trillion by 2040—a genuinely massive opportunity if Joby can capture even a fraction of it. The company’s ultimate ambition is to become the Uber of the skies, operating a network of vertiports and charging infrastructure across major metropolitan areas.

The path forward, however, remains littered with obstacles. Like Oklo, Joby is pre-revenue and racing against time. More pressingly, it’s designing aircraft for a market that doesn’t yet exist in any meaningful commercial form. The Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t yet certified eVTOL aircraft for passenger service at scale, and the supporting infrastructure—landing pads, charging networks, traffic management systems—remains largely theoretical. Joby must essentially create the entire ecosystem before it can achieve real scale. It’s an audacious bet, which is precisely why it appeals to investors with a decade-long horizon and high risk tolerance.

3. MP Materials: Controlling the Supply Chain for a Tech-Dependent World

MP Materials (NYSE: MP) operates from a position of relative advantage compared to its peers: it’s already generating revenue. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass rare-earth metals mine in California—essentially the only large-scale U.S. source for these critical materials. From ore to refined magnet, MP Materials controls the production pipeline.

This matters because rare-earth metals are foundational to modern technology. Every smartphone, advanced defense system, and industrial motor relies on high-performance magnets derived from these elements. Currently, China dominates global rare-earth supply, creating strategic vulnerability for U.S. companies and policymakers alike. Both Apple and the U.S. government have recognized this and partnered with MP Materials as a strategic investor, effectively de-risking part of its business model.

The company is also building a joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s mining sector to establish refining capacity outside of China’s orbit. This geographic diversification effort could reshape the global rare-earth supply landscape.

Still, challenges persist. Despite generating revenue, MP Materials is unprofitable and burning capital to expand production capacity, particularly its planned 10X magnet facility. These capital needs will likely depress near-term profitability, and any delays in facility construction could trigger short-term market volatility. But for patient investors, the long-term competitive moat looks compelling.

The Verdict: High Risk, High Potential

All three companies share a common profile: none are suited for conservative portfolios. They lack the dividend safety of mature companies and face genuine execution risk. But each has crossed enough milestones—securing major partnerships, clearing regulatory hurdles, or reaching commercial scale—to suggest they’re not purely speculative bets.

If you’re building a portfolio designed to buy and hold over the next decade and can weather volatility without panic-selling, these three represent different flavors of a similar opportunity: companies betting on transformative shifts in energy, mobility, and supply chain independence.