When it comes to building long-term wealth, few strategies are as powerful as owning high-quality ASX dividend shares and holding them through thick and thin.

The best shares don’t just pay income today. They adapt, grow, and keep rewarding shareholders across economic cycles, commodity booms, recessions, and everything in between.

Here are three ASX dividend shares that I think stand out as businesses you could buy, hold, and rely on for decades.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

It is hard to talk about long-term dividend investing on the ASX without mentioning BHP Group. As one of the world’s largest diversified miners, the Big Australian sits at the heart of global demand for iron ore, copper, and other critical commodities.

What makes BHP especially attractive for long-term income investors is its scale and cost position. Its assets are among the lowest-cost producers globally, which allows it to remain profitable even when commodity prices fall. During stronger cycles, excess cash is returned to shareholders through generous dividends (including special dividends).

While BHP’s payouts can fluctuate with commodity prices, its balance sheet strength and disciplined capital management have made it one of the ASX’s most reliable long-term dividend payers. I expect this to remain the case over the next decade and beyond.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

Macquarie Group has quietly built one of the strongest dividend records on the ASX.

It operates a globally diversified financial services business, spanning asset management, infrastructure investing, commodities trading, and specialist banking. This diversity helps smooth earnings across market cycles and provides multiple growth engines.

Over time, the company has steadily increased its payout as earnings expanded, rewarding long-term shareholders who stayed the course. And while there have been many ups and downs, the overall trajectory is up.

Combined with a conservative capital approach, this arguably makes Macquarie a compelling option for income investors.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Finally, Wesfarmers could be a great buy and hold option. It is one of Australia’s highest-quality conglomerates with a portfolio including Bunnings, Kmart, Priceline, Officeworks, and a growing industrial and chemicals division.

What sets Wesfarmers apart from rivals is the quality and experience of its management. The company has repeatedly shown an ability to allocate capital intelligently, exit underperforming businesses, and reinvest in higher-return opportunities. That discipline has underpinned steady earnings growth and dependable dividends over many years.

And while Wesfarmers may not always offer the highest yield, its strong cash generation and defensive retail exposure make it well suited to long-term income investors.

The post 3 ASX dividend shares worth holding forever appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The “Magnificent Seven” stocks have produced the lion’s share of the S&P 500‘s long-term gains. This group of stocks represents 35% of the S&P 500, and if these seven stocks continue to outperform the index, their presence in the S&P 500 will grow.

Although each of these stocks has been a long-term winner, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) may be the most promising pick of the bunch.

It looks like a promising buy in 2026 due to strong financials and long-term artificial intelligence (AI) tailwinds. Alphabet has been a cloud computing and search leader for many years, but it might just become a physical AI leader as well.

These are some of the reasons investors may want to take a closer look at Alphabet in 2026.

High cash flow lets Alphabet invest in more ventures 

Alphabet isn’t the only company that’s investing in physical AI, but few companies can compete with its cash flow and steady profits. Alphabet’s strong financial position gives it the flexibility to endure losses on start-ups for multiple years before turning a profit.

That’s part of the reason why Alphabet has silently emerged as an autonomous vehicle leader through Waymo. Alphabet recently started offering its AI chips to third parties, and it can become a multibillion-dollar segment.

Alphabet has $98.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities on its balance sheet. The tech giant also brought in $35 billion in net profits in Q3, which was up by 33% year over year.

Google Cloud used to be a small part of Alphabet’s overall business. Now, it’s one of the three giant cloud providers. Alphabet can experience similar success with Waymo, AI chips, and other parts of its business.

Alphabet has multiple high-growth business

Alphabet doesn’t just rely on online ads, which is one of the few downsides of fellow Magnificent Seven stock Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META). Google’s parent company has several businesses like search, cloud, and subscriptions, and they’re all growing.

“Alphabet had a terrific quarter, with double-digit growth across every major part of our business,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in the company’s Q3 earnings release.

It was also the first quarter that Alphabet earned $100 billion in revenue. Google Cloud was a major highlight, with revenue up by 34% year over year. That part of the business also has a $155 billion backlog.

Cloud computing makes up roughly 15% of the company’s total revenue. As this segment grows, it will make up a larger percentage of total revenue, which can boost Alphabet’s total revenue growth rate.

The Gemini app was another key business segment. Alphabet’s AI model now has 650 million monthly active users. Alphabet has multiple growth drivers that work well with each other and have delivered excellent results over several years.

Most Magnificent Seven stocks are less diversified

Alphabet is one of the Magnificent Seven stocks driving the S&P 500 to new highs, and it’s one of the most diversified companies among the group.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) heavily relies on automobile sales, with humanoid robots offering significant potential. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) heavily relies on iPhone sales, while Meta Platforms generates almost all of its cash flow from online ads. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) relies on AI chips and software that revolves around its chips.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are the other two well-diversified members of the Magnificent Seven. Both tech giants have competing cloud computing providers and multiple revenue streams.

However, Alphabet is experiencing double-digit growth rates across all of its key businesses. Amazon’s online store sales were only up by 8% year over year, excluding foreign exchange rates. That part of Amazon’s business accounts for more than one-third of total sales.

Meanwhile, Microsoft only delivered 4% year-over-year revenue growth for its more personal computing segment in Q1 FY26, which made up almost 30% of total revenue.

Alphabet’s key businesses are still gaining market share, and AI should accelerate growth rates while resulting in new high-growth segments making a meaningful difference in future earnings results.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Should you buy this “Magnificent Seven” stock before 2026? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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• These 2 magnificent seven AI stocks might be offering investors a once-in-a-decade buying opportunity before the New Year.

Marc Guberti has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

ASX growth shares have the potential to deliver attractive returns over time, given their earnings’ ability to compound at a strong rate.

The two businesses I’m about to cover are expected to deliver an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of profit between now and the end of the decade.

Based on the bullish price targets, both of the following stocks could see double-digit returns within the next 12 months.

Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC)

UBS describes Superloop as a business that provides telecommunications infrastructure, cloud and broadband services in the Asia Pacific region.

It has a wholesale division that services large-scale telco, data and telco customers, as well as retail internet service providers (ISPs) that do not have access to their own connectivity.

The business segment services small, medium and large corporate customers that purchase connectivity services to facilitate their core businesses. Finally, the consumer segment provides basic internet and mobile phone products for domestic residential use.

UBS notes that the company is expecting FY26 operating profit (EBITDA) to be between $109 million to $117 million, which would represent growth of between 18% to 27%.

Following UBS’ analysis of the ASX growth share’s AGM update, the broker noted the key area of subscription growth weakness was in the wholesale segment, meaning Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG), which only saw 1,000 additions. This was likely because its NBN plans were around 30% higher than the median (competitor) NBN reseller price.

But, since 1 November, Origin is now offering nearly the cheapest NBN plans in the market, which has reportedly driven an increase in wholesale subscription growth for the ASX growth share to an implied 4,000 per month net add rate. UBS expects wholesale subscription growth of 5,000 per month for the rest of FY26.

UBS also expects the consumer segment to add around 70,000 over the financial year, with around 5,800 per month.

The broker concluded:

We still remain very supportive of the growth opportunity that exists for Superloop given its position as the key enabler of challenger broadband market share gains. We believe challengers can lift their mkt share to c.35% from current levels of c.20% creating a still to be won A$3.1bn revenue opportunity. This underpins our forecasted 3yr cash EPS CAGR of 26%.

…We also like the upside opportunity being created in the high multiple Smart Communities earnings stream.

UBS predicts the company could grow its net profit from $42 million in FY26 to $97 million in FY30. It’s currently valued at 31x FY26’s estimated earnings. The broker has a price target of $3.40, implying a possible rise of 36% within a year.

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)

UBS describes this ASX tech share as an enterprise software provider which offers a suite of solutions for local, state and federal governments, financial services, education, utilities, health and community services.

The broker is optimistic on the ASX growth share because of its ongoing net revenue retention (NRR) of 115%. That figure describes how much revenue the business has made from customers that it had last year, implying 15% revenue growth year-over-year from existing customers.

There are two reasons why UBS believes NRR can continue to be at least 115%:

1. Launch of AI products provides a new monetisation opportunity; 2) UK ramp remains very strong.

The broker believes the ASX growth share can grow its profit before tax (PBT) at around 20% per year over the next five years, which is why it rates the company as a buy. If NRR grows faster than 115%, then PBT growth could be faster than 20% per year.

There are two other reasons why UBS has conviction in the growth story and the quality of the business:

3) Cash conversion: typically strong at 129%; 4) Capital management: Result included a 10cps special dividend and increase in future payout ratio range to 65-75% (from 55-65%).

In other words, the business is generating pleasing cash flow compared to its reported profits and the company is rewarding investors with more generous dividends.

UBS predicts that the ASX growth share can grow its net profit from $163 million in FY26 to $340 million in FY30. The UBS price target is now $38.70, implying a possible rise of 42% within the next year.

The post Experts rate these 2 ASX growth shares as buys this month! appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Technology One. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Technology One. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Technology One. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Projecting where a stock will be in five years is no easy task.

Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic was just ramping up, and there were many questions about what the future would hold. Since then, that crisis has been resolved, and an artificial intelligence (AI) arms race has erupted. Few could have predicted the series of events that got us to today, and projecting them five years in advance isn’t going to be any easier.

However, long-term investors are required to do this. Because we’re not investing in stocks for a quarter or two at a time, we have to look at long-term trends to understand where a stock may be heading. With Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) being the largest company in the world, predicting where it’s going over the next five years is an important task for two groups of investors.

First, individual Nvidia investors need to think about whether it’s worth owning by itself. Second, general market investors need to understand where it’s going, because Nvidia makes up over 7% of the S&P 500.

With Nvidia being perhaps the most important stock in the stock market, investors need to know what the future may hold. I think the future is bright, as long as one thing happens. 

Nvidia is supplying the hardware to supply the AI buildout

Nvidia makes graphics processing units (GPUs), which are accelerated computing devices that excel in processing arduous workloads. Originally intended to process gaming graphics (thus the name), they found use cases in engineering simulations, drug discovery, and mining cryptocurrency. Eventually, they found their largest use case yet with artificial intelligence.

GPUs make for fantastic choices in these segments because they can process multiple calculations in parallel. Combine that with the ability to connect multiple units in clusters in data centers, and you have the ultimate computing resource available.

The market for AI computing power has exploded over the past few years, but it doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. AI hyperscalers have all announced record-setting data center capital expenditure plans for 2026. That comes after setting records in 2025.

While some of this spending goes to data center infrastructure (think land and building costs), anywhere from a third to half goes to buying computing power. Nvidia is the most popular option for computing resources, which is why its results have been so good over the past few years.

In Q3 fiscal year 2026 (ending Oct. 26), Nvidia’s revenue rose 62% year over year to $57 billion. That’s an incredible growth rate for a company of Nvidia’s size, and marks a reacceleration from Q2’s 56% growth rate.

CEO Jensen Huang noted that they are “sold out” of cloud GPUs, showcasing the incredible demand for its products. This means many clients are likely placing orders years in advance to secure capacity for chips that haven’t even been released yet. This bodes well for Nvidia, but also gives it a decent picture of what the future holds.

Nvidia hopes to capture a huge market in the next five years

By 2030, Nvidia expects global data center capital expenditures to reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion. That’s up from the $600 billion they expect in 2025. With Nvidia expecting data center capital expenditures to rise at least 5x over the next five years, that bodes well for its business.

While the $3 trillion mark may seem like a long way away, investors must remember that Nvidia has more information than we do. As a result, I think investors need to trust the direction of this guidance.

Should that level come about, Nvidia’s revenue could 5x if it maintains its market share. For FY 2026 (ending January 2026), Wall Street analysts expect $213 billion in revenue. That would indicate Nvidia’s revenue could breach the $1 trillion threshold in the next five years, which would lead to incredible returns.

This requires the AI hyperscalers to continue spending like they are. If they do, Nvidia will be a must-own stock over the next five years. If they don’t, Nvidia may fail to live up to expectations. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Where will Nvidia stock be in 5 years? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Keithen Drury has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.