In the age of agentic AI, it’s tough to think about stocks that can withstand the next four or five years of disruption, let alone the next few decades. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s time to abandon that extreme long-term mindset. In fact, an argument could be made that playing the long game continues to be the way to win in a market climate where the punishment for panicking, even for just a moment, is heightened. Just look at how quickly broad stock markets recovered from that first-quarter scare.
The April rally was explosive, and if you chose to before the start of May, you may have missed more of the same: heated gains. Of course, the market rally will eventually overshoot (or maybe not), but instead of trying to time markets, I’d focus more on the next 10-20 years.
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The long-term mindset is still wise, even in a fast-moving market
Think about the names that you’d be willing to hang onto forever, or the names you’d pick up if you weren’t allowed to sell for the next couple of years. Indeed, given that the portfolios that are forgotten about or not touched tend to do better than more actively traded ones, I’d say the sit-and-hold way of investing still has what it takes to help investors get on the compounding fast lane.
The only major difference these days is that investors should pay more attention to the AI strategy and whether or not agents and other technologies act as a net plus or negative. Indeed, not every firm will pivot effectively and win amid the AI race. For the firms with wide moats that have less to do with technological disruption (think physical moats and hard assets), I think such plays are more secure from the AI disruption wave.
Though I would stay informed, given how fast things are changing with AI in any given month. In any case, with your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), it pays to keep it long-term, and in this piece, we’ll look at one name that I think can help grow one’s wealth while ensuring a great night’s sleep, something that’s becoming a bit rarer these days!
Restaurant Brands
Enter shares of Restaurant Brands International (TSX: QSR), which are coming in more than 5% after reporting some results that clearly failed to impress. The fast-food icon behind Tim Hortons and Burger King actually topped estimates for the first quarter. With big modernization investments and menu innovation that’s getting traffic in its doors, I certainly wouldn’t treat the post-Q1 dip as anything to hit the alarm button over.
If anything, it might be a great buying opportunity that dip-buyers have been waiting for. After all, the stock has been quite hot in the past year, recently eclipsing new all-time highs. After a nice dip, the stock’s dividend yield is that much richer at around 3.3%. Given the proven strategy and longer-term potential (think another acquisition and global expansion across its major chains), I find shares of QSR to be a great dividend pick for the month of May.
Even as AI disrupts new industries, fast food, I think, is in a relatively safe spot, at least until the humanoid robots get cooking. Either way, my guess is that a fast-food juggernaut would be able to unlock more of the benefits from such a physical AI breakthrough than your average consumer. And that makes QSR a long-term AI winner bound to keep on paying growing dividends.
