Everyone seems to love Bitcoin. The go-to cryptocurrency had a phenomenal run up to the end of 2018 and then crashed spectacularly from nearly US$20,000 right down to around US$7,000.
Since then, though, Bitcoin has rebounded and skyrocketed once more as it has become more mainstream. It was recently trading at over US$60,000.
That’s great for investors but the cryptocurrency of choice still has issues which I think could derail it over the longer term, including the big one of regulation.
Instead, long-term investors might want to consider solid businesses operating in high-growth sectors. Here are two such stocks I think investors can buy and hold for the long term.
1. Datadog
Data monitoring and observability is big business. In that sense, Datadog Inc (NASDAQ: DDOG) rules the roost.
The cloud monitoring-as-a-service provider allows clients to optimise their tech infrastructure through real-time insights and a SaaS-based data analytics platform.
It’s a fast-growing space. In the most recent quarter, Datadog posted revenue growth of 56% year-on-year to US$178 million.
Even better, it had strong growth in its larger customers with 97 customers contributing US$1 million or more in annual recurring revenue (ARR), up from 50 a year ago.
Datadog also announced two acquisitions – that of Sqreen (a SaaS-based security platform) and Timber Technologies (the developers of a popular vendor-agnostic and high performance observability data pipeline).
The two should complement Datadog’s offerings as it continues to be one of the leaders in the fast-growing data observability and cloud-scale application monitoring space.
2. Match Group
If anyone has ever used Tinder then you’ve used a product owned by Match Group Inc (NASDAQ: MTCH).
The online dating behemoth offers its multiple dating products in over 40 languages and has over 10.9 million paying subscribers as at the end of December 2020.
Match Group’s latest quarter saw strong growth in revenue of 19% year-on-year to US$651 million. Its average revenue per user (ARPU) also increased 5% year-on-year to US$0.62 during the quarter.
That’s an impressive feat amid a global pandemic that has hindered face-to-face meetups. Even better for investors, Match Group is operating cash flow and free cash flow positive.
With revenue from both the US and international markets pretty much evenly split 50/50, the scope for further growth in international markets still remains huge for Match Group.
As recently as February, Match Group announced an acquisition of Hyperconnect – a Korean social discovery and video technology company – which should allow the dating firm to leverage its technology.
Hyperconnect operates two hit apps in Korea; one of which is Azar, the highest grossing 1-on-1 live video and audio chat globally. It allows instant translation of voice and text.
The deal shows Match Group’s ambitions are global in nature and that it’s willing to leverage all sorts of technology to bring its users closer together.
Buying growth
The problem with the hype around Bitcoin is that valuing it is extremely hard. There’s no doubt that there is value in the cryptocurrency.
But for investors who want to own a piece of real, and growing, businesses then Datadog and Match Group look like great stocks to hold for the long term.
Disclaimer: ProsperUs Head of Content Tim Phillips owns shares of Datadog Inc.
