We recently published a list of 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold For 2 Years. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) stands against other best stocks to buy and hold for 2 years.
Will The Tech Stocks Continue to Rally?
On March 27, CNBC reported that the stocks dipped on Wednesday, led by the technology sector. The S&P 500 dipped around 1.12%, followed by the Dow Jones, which fell by 132.71 points. More notably, the technology-dominated NASDAQ dropped by 2.40% closing at 17,899.01 points. The drop in the stock market was further aggravated by the White House’s announcement of new tariffs on auto imports.
To talk about the future of technology and artificial intelligence Doug Clinton, Intelligent Alpha founder, joined CNBC for an interview on March 29. He mentioned that it has been more than a month now that the big technology names, especially artificial intelligence companies, are not performing so well. However, despite the recent dip, Clinton maintained his bullish sentiment for the sector. He pointed out that if we zoom out of the current situation and look at the sector from two to three years from today, we will still see AI stocks rally and large capital expenditure bills. Clinton pointed out that if you are a believer in AI trade it is important to remember that the market has had more than two years of absolutely no turbulence. This period of stability started from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2025. Clinton categorized the current dip as the first real challenge for the AI trade. Referencing history, he pointed to the Dot Com era, when the Dot Com trade faced its first real challenge. The turbulence took 200 days to reach a new NASDAQ high back then. He clarified that this does not mean that the current turbulence will last 6 months, however, if someone believes in the AI trade then they need to be patient through the dip.
READ ALSO: 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold For 3 Years and 12 High Growth Non-Tech Stocks That Are Profitable in 2025.
While talking about the valuations, Clinton highlighted that the question is about the kind of risks an investor wants to take during the trade. He noted that investors can choose to trade during the turbulence by exiting the market at high times, however, the risk is that the AI stocks can rise 20% to 30% in no time, making it difficult for investors to get back in. Clinton pointed out that he is looking at this trade from a two to three years lens. He believes that this will give him enough exposure and will also reduce the risk of missing out on the bigger picture.
Our Methodology
To compile the list of 10 best stocks to buy and hold for 2 years we sifted through financial media reports. From these sources, we shortlisted stocks with more than 20% sales growth over the past 3 years. Next, we ranked these stocks in ascending order of the number of hedge fund holders, sourced from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database.
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).
A cutting-edge computer lab full of IT experts monitoring the security of multiple systems.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)
3-Years Sales Growth: 20.84%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 83
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is an international cybersecurity company that provides solutions for enterprises, networks, and clouds. The company uses artificial intelligence to automate the cybersecurity process by automating threat detection, prevention, and resolution.
On March 26, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) announced a multi-year strategic partnership with the National Hockey League. The partnership is aimed at ensuring high-level cybersecurity for the National Hockey League. The league has already adopted the network security with the company’s net generation firewalls. Whereas the league officials are browsing safely using the Prisma Access Browser. During the fiscal second quarter of 2025, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) generated $2.3 billion in revenue, up 14% year-over-year. This growth was driven by the annual recurring revenue the company generates through its Next Generation Security, as the ARR grew 37% during the same time to reach $4.8 billion. It is one of the best stocks to buy and hold for 2 years.
Overall, PANW ranks 8th on our list of best stocks to buy and hold for 2 years. While we acknowledge the potential of PANW as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PANW but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
