Nasdaq Market Whiplash: 3 Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist and Hold for Decades

"May you live in interesting times."

That probably isn't an ancient Chinese curse as some think. However, many investors might wish that the times we live in weren't quite as interesting -- especially when it comes to the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC).

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Only a few days ago, the Nasdaq was in a bear market (down 20%-plus from recent all-time highs). After a sudden pause of steep "reciprocal" tariffs by the Trump administration (but not a pause on all tariffs instituted) on Wednesday, the index rebounded strongly. As of Thursday afternoon, it had lost some of that rebound and was trading down about 18% from recent highs.

What should investors who are experiencing Nasdaq market whiplash do now? I think buying three Nasdaq stocks hand over fist and holding them for decades is a smart move.

1. Alphabet

Google parent Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) share price remains down about 25% from its all-time high set earlier this year. But that presents a fantastic buying opportunity for long-term investors.

Alphabet is now quite reasonably valued with a price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.04, based on data from LSEG. This PEG multiple factors in five-year earnings growth projections from Wall Street analysts. However, I suspect Alphabet's growth could be better than expected.

Google Cloud is already the fastest-growing major cloud services provider. Some thought Google would be left in the dust by OpenAI's ChatGPT, but that hasn't happened thanks to the company's rollout of its Gemini large language model (LLM). Vellum's LLM Leaderboard even ranks Gemini 2.5 Pro as the best overall LLM right now.

Others predicted that generative AI would render Google Search obsolete. That hasn't happened, either. In fact, Google's integration of genAI-powered AI Overviews into its search engine has driven higher search usage and user satisfaction.

I expect Google Cloud and Google Search will continue to fuel Alphabet's robust growth for years to come. I also think the company's Waymo self-driving car technology unit will be a significant source of revenue in the not-too-distant future.

2. Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical's (NASDAQ: ISRG) share price is down about 6% from where it started the year after all of the Nasdaq topsy-turvy. I think this medtech stock remains a great long-term pick for several reasons.

First, Intuitive Surgical is still in a league of its own in the robotic surgical systems market. Over 10,670 of the company's systems are installed worldwide. Nearly 2.7 million procedures were performed last year using Intuitive's da Vinci surgical robots. No rival can boast the install base and safety record that Intuitve Surgical has.

Second, Intuitive can count on solid and predictable cash flow. A whopping 84% of total revenue in 2024 stemmed from recurring sources. In 2017, this number stood at 71%. As more of the company's systems are installed and more procedures are performed, Intuitive's recurring revenue will grow even higher.

Third (and most important, in my view), Intuitive Surgical's growth prospects are bright. The company estimates that 8 million procedures are performed each year for which it already has products and clearances. That's nearly 3 times more than Intuitive's current number of procedures. There are roughly 22 million procedures that could be targeted by products and clearances under development. I fully expect Intuitive Surgical will make solid progress in expanding its market over the next decade and beyond.

3. Vertex Pharmaceuticals

I probably sing the praises of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) as much as I do for any stock. And for good reason. Vertex is an outlier among Nasdaq stocks in that it has delivered an impressive 17.5% gain so far in 2025. I expect the momentum will continue.

Vertex enjoys a virtual monopoly in treating the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF). Its market leadership should be strengthened by the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Alyftrek. This new CF offers a more convenient dosing than Vertex's top-selling Kaftrio/Trikafta. It also should be more profitable for the company because of lower royalties.

I'm especially bullish about another new drug in Vertex's lineup -- Journavx. In January, this drug became the first new class of pain medication approved by the FDA in over 20 years. Journavx doesn't have the addictive qualities and side effects of opioids. I predict it will be a smashing commercial success.

That's not all, though. Vertex continues to ramp up the rollout of Casgevy. This gene-editing therapy is a one-and-done treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia. The big biotech company also has an especially promising pipeline featuring four late-stage programs. One of them holds the potential to cure severe type 1 diabetes.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Keith Speights has positions in Alphabet, Intuitive Surgical, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Intuitive Surgical, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.