2 Brilliant Growth Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for the Long Term

For much of the past decade, the market has been powered largely by growth stocks, and that pattern shows no sign of shifting. With that in mind, these two growth stocks look like brilliant buys right now to hold for the long haul.

Alphabet

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) has one of the strongest collections of businesses tied to artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies. It all starts with its Google search business, where it has an over 90% market share. Its dominance stems from a few factors.

First and foremost is its huge distribution advantage. Its Chrome browser and Android operating system both have market shares of more than 70%, and combined, they make Google the gateway to the internet for the majority of people on the planet outside of China. Meanwhile, its search revenue-sharing deal with Apple also covers much of the rest of the world's population outside of China. Alphabet also has decades of search data and one of the world's top digital advertising networks, where it's able to service both local and global merchants.

Not long ago, the fear was that people's rising use of AI chatbots to answer their questions might reduce demand for Google searches. Instead, Alphabet is integrating AI across its products to maintain its relevance. New features like Circle to Search, Lens, and AI Overviews are increasing user engagement and driving more queries, many of which have shopping intent that feeds directly into its ad network.

But Alphabet's story is now much bigger than search. Its cloud computing business, Google Cloud, has been a huge growth driver, with revenue up 32% last quarter to $13.6 billion and operating income more than doubling year over year to $2.8 billion. What differentiates Alphabet's cloud computing business from those of its rivals is its vertical integration. It has developed its own solutions across the business, including its Gemini large language model (LLM), its own AI-accelerator chips (tensor processing units), data centers, software stack, and even a fiber network. That gives it a cost advantage and a level of control over performance that its peers can't easily replicate. Demand for Google Cloud services is currently outstripping capacity, and the company recently raised its 2025 capital expenditure budget by $10 billion -- bringing it to $85 billion -- to try to keep up.

Alphabet is also taking AI deeper into the enterprise with Gemini for Business, letting companies deploy their own AI agents without having to write a line of code. That makes it a direct challenger to Microsoft in the race to support corporate AI adoption. Meanwhile, nascent business segments like its Waymo robotaxi operation and its quantum computing unit could eventually grow into entirely new and meaningful revenue streams.

Despite the company's strong growth, the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of under 23, based on analysts' consensus estimate for 2026. That's a discount to most of its large-cap AI peers. Between search, cloud computing, AI, and its other emerging bets, Alphabet looks like a company that will only get stronger over the next decade.

Image source: Getty Images.

Dutch Bros

The technology sector isn't the only area to find compelling growth stocks. In the consumer discretionary space, Dutch Bros (NYSE: BROS) has a huge opportunity in front of it. In the restaurant industry, investors want to pick companies that can deliver consistent same-store sales growth and have large runways for expansion. Dutch Bros checks both those boxes.

The coffee shop operator just recently passed 1,000 locations, but it only operates in 20 U.S. states, which means it has plenty of untapped markets to expand into. Management is planning to have more than 2,000 shops in operation by 2029 and aims to hit 7,000 in the long term. That would make it one of the biggest players in the U.S. coffee market.

What makes that growth sustainable is its store model. Dutch Bros keeps its store footprints small, typically around 800 square feet to 1,000 square feet, with no indoor seating and most items delivered via drive-thru. As such, its stores are inexpensive to build, but they generate impressive average unit volumes of over $2 million. The company opened 151 shops last year and plans at least 160 more this year, funding most of them through operating cash flow while staying free cash flow positive.

Same-store sales are also growing strongly. Last quarter, systemwide comparable-restaurant sales climbed by 6.1%, with transaction growth driving most of the gains. Its company-owned shops did even better, showing that demand remains strong for its offerings even as it scales and in-fills within some geographic areas.

Dutch Bros is also just scratching the surface on food, which currently represents less than 2% of its sales. Starbucks, in comparison, gets close to 20% of its revenue from food sales. So this is a big opportunity, and the company has admitted that it has likely missed out on some beverage sales by not having better food options. Early tests of hot food items have boosted both tickets and transactions, especially during the breakfast hours, so these menu expansions could be a meaningful growth driver in the coming years.

Between its opportunities in food and through store expansion, Dutch Bros has a huge runway of growth in front of it.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet and Dutch Bros. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, and Starbucks. The Motley Fool recommends Dutch Bros and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.