Savvy investors understand the beauty of having blue-chip stocks. No wonder financial analysts and market professionals recommend having them in your portfolio. Blue-chip companies offer investors stability and growth with impressive balance sheets and market dominance. Blue-chip stocks may not provide high-flying returns like small caps and growth companies. However, they still offer your portfolio a safe and steady growth source, enough to warrant a look during these turbulent times.
While not all blue-chip stocks can promise to grow your portfolio, some are cut above the rest if you look carefully at emerging trends, market sentiment, and consumer spending shifts.
If you don’t know where to start, here are three blue-chip stocks to buy.
Visa (V)
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a global financial services company that most people immediately consider associated with credit card payments. Visa is a global digital payment giant serving over 200 countries and territories. The company connects consumers, merchants, and businesses through technology by processing transactions, authorization, clearing, and settlement through its VisaNet processing network. Its core business includes credit, debit, prepaid, and cash access programs for different types of account holders like individual consumers, businesses, and government account holders.
The company is a favorite among analysts and is recommended as a “Strong Buy” by many analysts due to its continuously growing revenue and earnings. With the continuous growth in consumers’ shift to digital payments, Visa offers investors a long growth runway for cashless payments. Visa has been a long-established market leader and has maintained its presence despite the ongoing evolution of the payments industry. With emerging markets’ continuous growth, this can spurt growth for Visa even if developed markets grow slowly, making it one of the best blue-chip stocks to own.
Elly Lilly and Co. (LLY)
Eli Lilly and Company (NASDAQ:LLY) is a pharmaceutical company best known for producing Prozac, Cymbalta, and Zyprexa. Eli Lilly has been developing and manufacturing different kinds of pharmaceutical products and revolutionizing medicine with its long history of more than 140 years. The company has produced a variety of drugs that help patients fight depression, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and more.
The approval of its Mounjaro™ (tripeptide), a treatment for adults with type 2 diabetes as an adjunct to exercise and diet, has boosted the growth of LLY. These give LLY further potential for growth in revenue once the number of individuals who seek treatment over time increases.
Eli Lilly is also developing the Alzheimer’s drug “Donanemab.” Recent studies show that the drug can significantly slow the progression of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients when taken during the early stages of the disease. The drug works by targeting the amyloid plaques that are often associated with the progression of Alzheimer’s symptoms. Donanemab could be a massive stride in combatting the disease, which currently has no cure. Further success in the development of the drug can result in substantial potential returns for the company, making LLY one of the best blue-chip stocks worth owning if you are looking for future growth.
Expedia Group (EXPE)
Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) is an online travel company that operates in three main segments: Retail, B2B, and Trivago. Expedia provides its customers with a full range of travel and advertising services worldwide. It has a portfolio of brands like Expedia, Hotels.com., VRBO, etc., for its retail customers. The company also caters to partnerships with businesses like hotels, airlines, travel agents, and more. Expedia generates advertising revenue via its referrals to online travel companies and service providers via its hotel website metasearch.
Expedia is in a solid position to benefit significantly from changing consumer spending habits as they tilt towards experiences like leisure and travel. Analysts have consistently recommended EXPE as a “Moderate Buy” for the entire year to take advantage of the travel boom. Expedia’s dominant network has given consumers a platform advantage over its competition. In addition, the ongoing adoption of remote work flexibility is expected to help Expedia in the long run, as consumers can take advantage of the work setup for extended travel. Its notable position in the market, which also aligns with developing consumer preferences, makes it one of the essential blue-chip stocks in these changing times.
On the date of publication, Rick Orford had a LONG position in V. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.