nobrainer

“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” star Jesse Eisenberg may soon one-up the film franchise’s Robin Hood-esque Four Horsemen in the giving-back department.

This December, the Academy Award nominee and longtime blood donor will give one of his kidneys to a complete stranger, he said Thursday on the “Today” show. He slipped the news into a conversation with host Craig Melvin about a recent show-sponsored blood drive.

As Melvin and his co-hosts reacted in disbelief, Eisenberg said, “I really am [donating].”

“I don’t know why. I got bitten by the blood donation bug,” he said, adding that he was “so excited” to make the nondirected (a.k.a. “altruistic”) donation, wherein a living donor is not related to or known by the recipient.

According to the National Kidney Registry, approximately 90,000 people in the U.S. are currently in need of a kidney transplant, while roughly 6,000 people donate kidneys each year. Less than 5% of those already slim donations are nondirected.

Eisenberg said he suspected that if people knew how safe the process was, those numbers would go up.

“It’s essentially risk-free and so needed,” Eisenberg said in a separate interview with Today.com. “I think people will realize that it’s a no-brainer, if you have the time and the inclination.”

“The Social Network” alum added that prospective donors need not worry about forking over a kidney and later facing a situation wherein a family member urgently needs one.

“The way it works now is you can put a list of whoever you would like to be the first [relative] to be at the top of the list,” he said, referring to the National Kidney Registry’s family voucher program. The program launched in 2019, preceded by an earlier “standard” iteration that required the voucher donor to name a voucher holder who had some form of kidney impairment. (The standard voucher option is still available to donors as well.)

“Not only does this remove an important disincentive to living kidney donation, but it is the right thing to do for the generous people who are donating a kidney to a stranger. Donors can now donate a kidney and still provide security for their loved ones should they need a kidney transplant in the future,” Dr. Jeff Veale, who helped pioneer the voucher system, said in a statement at the time of the program update.

Recovery is also a non-issue for most kidney donors, who on average return to daily activities within a few weeks of the surgery, per the Mayo Clinic.

“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” hits theaters Nov. 14, nearly a decade after the previous installment in the franchise premiered. Eisenberg stars alongside returning cast members Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco and newcomers Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt and Rosamund Pike.

It’s hard to believe that Warren Buffett’s time as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is coming to an end. The legendary investor took the holding company from a textile manufacturer in 1965 to become one of the largest companies on the planet today, owning more than 100 businesses and with an equity portfolio worth more than $300 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway stock has wildly outperformed the market over these past few decades, delivering a total gain of 5,502,284% in per-share market value vs. 39,054% for the S&P 500. Today, Berkshire Hathaway has joined the ranks of the $1 trillion market cap club, and investors everywhere follow Buffett’s trades and guidance to become more successful investors.

Most Buffett holdings are the antithesis of the hot growth stock. Buffett is known for his value approach to investing, and he steers clear of high-risk stocks or technology that he’s not familiar with. But at least one stock that the broader investing community and Warren Buffett can agree upon is Amazon (AMZN 0.82%).

The classic moat

There are several features Buffett loves in a great stock, and one of them is a moat. An economic moat ensures that the business has a product or service that stands out and a leg up on the competition. Amazon’s size and name give it a competitive edge, so even though it’s not the classic Buffett stock, it has some clear features that fit the mold.

Its core business is of course e-commerce, and it has almost 40% of the market share in the U.S. That’s a massive amount of market share for any business, and Amazon can do so much to keep its share because it’s so large and has so many resources. It hasn’t reported the number of Prime members it has in a while, but it’s estimated at 220 million to 240 million. These members rely on it for their everyday essentials and more, and the membership model generates loyalty and repeat purchases.

It also drives growth in its advertising business, since advertisers get access to Amazon’s hundreds of millions of Prime members where they’re already shopping and ready to make a purchase. More recently, Amazon has developed a robust video ad business for its Prime streaming platform, and it’s also expanding the business outside of the Amazon platform.

Amazon’s market share lead isn’t quite as big in cloud computing, but it’s still hefty at 30% of the global market, well ahead of Microsoft Azure’s 20%.

Opportunities in AI

Amazon is in constant growth mode to stay on top of its game in all of its categories. Its greatest opportunities today lie in generative artificial intelligence (AI) through its cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon is investing hundreds of billions of dollars in developing the most competitive generative AI capabilities to meet every kind of demand, from the small business through its large enterprise clients.

Its signature AI service is called Bedrock, which provides access to a plethora of large-language models (LLM) for clients to customize, but it also has tools for developers to build their own LLMs and for small businesses to use ready-made solutions.

The AI business already has a $123 billion run rate, and CEO Andy Jassy pointed out, “How often do you have an opportunity that’s $123 billion of annual revenue run rate where you say it’s still early?”

Indeed, independent sources point to a massive long-term opportunity. According to Grand View Research, the AI market is expected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2033, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31.5%. What we see today continues to grow at a pace that’s hard to keep up with as generative AI moves from wonky results to near-human content creation.

Amazon and its peers are using enormous loads of data to access new levels of training, inference, and reasoning, reaching new capabilities that could further revolutionize daily life. The way it’s going, AI could eventually take over as Amazon’s larger business and launch its stock into new territory.

A great time to buy

Despite its immense size, Amazon’s revenue is still growing by double digits — 12% in the second quarter. That’s quite a feat, and with the potential for the AI business, it could keep that up for a while. However, there’s some uncertainty in the business due to tariffs and lawsuits, and the market has soured on Amazon stock recently; it’s roughly flat this year, despite the ongoing opportunities.

At the current price, Amazon stock trades at 29 times forward, 1-year earnings, which is an attractive entry point for new investors. If you’ve been on the fence, now could be a fantastic time to take a position in this no-brainer stock.

Centrus Energy (LEU -2.19%) has been one of several nuclear energy stocks that have crushed the market in 2025. Compared to the S&P 500‘s impressive 13% gain so far this year, Centrus’ stock is up about 295%  in 2025 at the time of writing — and over 450% year over year.

At that yearly gain, you’d be forgiven if you thought Centrus was training large language models (LLMs) instead of enriching uranium. And yet its growth potential does have an indirect connection with artificial intelligence (AI) in that its fuel could help power the data centers behind the boom.

With the first American-owned enrichment plant to start production in decades, Centrus finds itself at the center of an industry that hasn’t seen this much interest since the 1970s. But does that make this growth stock a no-brainer buy today?

Ground floor side view of the HALEU cascade. Image source: Centrus Energy.

A unique position in nuclear fuel

Centrus operates two main businesses. The first is supplying low-enriched uranium (LEU) for today’s reactors. And the second is providing technical services, including a Department of Defense (DOE) contract, to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for advanced reactors.

Of the two, the HALEU production likely offers more growth opportunity long-term. That’s because many next-generation reactors — like small modular reactors (SMR) — are increasingly being designed to run on this fuel.

In Piketon, Ohio, it runs the only U.S.-owned enrichment facility licensed to make HALEU. Emphasis there on only: Centrus currently holds the only license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enrich uranium above 5%. If HALEU does end up becoming the preferred fuel for future reactors, Centrus could have a first-mover advantage in the U.S. for producing it.

The first U.S. supplier of HALEU — but with a Russian connection

But don’t overlook the last part of that sentence. Although no other U.S. company is licensed to produce HALEU, there are several companies producing it worldwide, some at a much larger scale than Centrus.

One is a Russian company, Tenex, a subsidiary of the state-owned Rosatom. The funny thing about Tenex: It has a supply contract with Centrus, meaning that some of Centrus’ LEU — which it sells to reactors in the U.S. — comes from Russian supplies. Any geopolitical risk — or a refusal on the part of Tenex to continue supplying Centrus — could hurt the company’s ability to meet obligations.

That hasn’t happened yet, however, and Centrus is likely aware of this dependence. But until it can achieve self-sufficiency in production, the Russian link to LEU remains an uncomfortable fact, especially since Tenex is also the world’s go-to for HALEU.

The balance sheet and the market’s bet

Usually, when I write about advanced nuclear stocks, the phrase “pre-revenue” always finds a place near “balance sheet.” In this way, Centrus is ahead of the pack in that it’s not only selling something (fuel) but it’s actually profitable.

In the second quarter of 2025, it reported net income of $28.9 million, a slight decrease from $30.6 million a year ago. What stood out, however, was its gross profit of about $54 million — an increase of 48% from last year — which shows a stronger margin even as revenue declined.

LEU Net Income (Quarterly) data by YCharts

The company also ended the quarter with a hefty consolidated cash balance of $833 million and a backlog of $3.6 billion that extends to 2040.

Is now the best time to buy Centrus?

Centrus offers a rare, U.S.-based play on nuclear fuel independence at a time when governments are rethinking energy. And yet it’s not an obvious buy, at least for those who want to stay away from volatility.

Bulls will point to a few major tailwinds at Centrus’ back.

The first is policy. In May 2025, President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders aimed at boosting the country’s nuclear energy capacity, including calls for a stronger domestic supply chain of nuclear fuel. That puts Centrus in a strong position to benefit from government funding.

Meanwhile, international interest, like Centrus’ recent memorandum of understanding with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, could be stirring, especially as concerns rise over Russia’s dominance of the global nuclear fuel market.

But even the bulls have to acknowledge that Centrus, though it has support, doesn’t have the industrial capacity to produce enriched uranium at scale. Until expansion efforts at its Piketon plant are complete, or new capacity is turned online, Centrus will remain pretty supply-constrained for now.

Investors interested in Centrus’ stock should also take note of its rich valuation. At today’s price, the stock trades at 76 times forward earnings, which is several times higher than the energy sector writ large (about 16).

Clearly, investors are expecting growth. Whether or not they get it will depend on Centrus’ ability to scale enrichment capacity.

Some companies seem like obvious slam-dunk investments. They have a combination of durable business models, visible growth profiles, and strong financials. Because of that, you don’t have to think twice when considering whether to buy these stocks.

Enbridge (ENB 0.04%), Brookfield Infrastructure (BIPC 2.58%) (BIP 4.92%), and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM 0.15%) stand out to a few Fool.com contributing analysts as no-brainer buys for 2025 and beyond. Here’s why they think these stocks will be great long-term investments.

Image source: Getty Images.

Enbridge has dividend investors covered today and tomorrow

Reuben Gregg Brewer (Enbridge): It is easy to get caught up in the fact that Enbridge has increased its dividend, in Canadian dollars, for 30 years and currently has a lofty 5.5% dividend yield. Those two facts do, indeed, make it a very attractive dividend stock.

But what about the business that backs the dividend? That’s where the real magic is here. Enbridge started out largely transporting oil through its fee-based energy infrastructure system. Looking at the direction the world was going, it started to add more and more natural gas transportation assets to its system, including regulated natural gas utilities. And, along the way, it dipped its toe into clean energy investments, with some sizable stakes in offshore wind farm assets in Europe. The trend is what’s important to note.

Essentially, Enbridge is a reliable dividend-paying energy stock that is changing its business along with the changing energy needs of the world. That is, in fact, the goal that management is pursuing. And it means that you, as a dividend investor, can comfortably own Enbridge even through the ongoing, likely decades-long, shift from dirtier fuels to cleaner ones.

The only drawback here is actually tied to the lofty dividend yield. Enbridge isn’t likely to be a fast-growing business, so the yield is going to make up a huge portion of your total return. But if you are focused on generating a large income stream from your investments, that probably won’t bother you much, if at all.

Strong earnings and dividend growth ahead

Neha Chamaria (Brookfield Asset Management): Brookfield Asset Management is among the largest alternative asset managers in the world, with over $1 trillion of assets under management (AUM). It’s a global powerhouse, operating in over 50 countries across five verticals: infrastructure, renewable power and energy transition, real estate, private equity, and credit. Here’s why the stock has caught my attention: The company has just announced bold growth plans through 2030.

Of its $1 trillion AUM, roughly $560 billion is fee-bearing capital. That’s the portion of its assets on which Brookfield Asset Management charges management fees, also its primary source of revenue. As of Dec. 31, 2024, 87% of that fee-bearing capital was perpetual (fees coming from its permanent capital vehicles and funds) or long-term (fees locked in for at least 10 years). That makes Brookfield Asset Management’s revenue and cash flows incredibly stable and predictable and also supports dividend growth. Brookfield Asset Management last increased its dividend by 15% earlier this year.

Brookfield Asset Management expects to more than double its fee-bearing capital base to $1.2 trillion by 2030, driven by growth in existing businesses and new verticals like insurance and wealth management. The company is off to a strong start in 2025, with its fee-based earnings rising 16% year over year in the second quarter. Notable recent announcements include an agreement with tech giant Google to deliver up to 3,000 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity in the U.S. during the quarter and a $10 billion investment in Sweden to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure.

With its earnings stability and massive growth targets, Brookfield Asset Management is a rock-solid stock to buy for 2025 and beyond.

Focused on capitalizing on these megatrends

Matt DiLallo (Brookfield Infrastructure): Brookfield Infrastructure is a leading global infrastructure investor. Part of the Brookfield Corporation family, along with Brookfield Asset Management, this entity owns and operates a diversified portfolio of crucial infrastructure assets across the utility, energy midstream, transportation, and data sectors.

The company focuses on deploying capital into infrastructure that capitalizes on three major global investment megatrends: digitalization, decarbonization, and deglobalization. The company sees a multitrillion-dollar investment opportunity ahead across these themes, particularly in infrastructure to support AI, such as data centers, semiconductor fabrication facilities, and natural gas power plants. Brookfield has already committed to investing significant capital to capitalize on this opportunity, including building a backlog of $5.9 billion of data infrastructure capital projects that it expects to complete over the next two to three years.

Brookfield has also secured several acquisitions this year. It’s investing $1.3 billion to buy interests in a U.S. refined products pipeline system, a U.S. bulk fiber network provider, and a North American railcar leasing portfolio. These new investments will boost its cash flow as the deals close in the coming quarters.

Brookfield’s powerful combination of organic growth drivers and acquisitions-driven expansion positions it to deliver more than 10% annual funds from operations (FFO) per share growth in 2025 and beyond. That will drive Brookfield’s ability to increase its more than 4%-yielding dividend by 5% to 9% annually. This compelling mix of income and growth makes Brookfield a no-brainer stock to buy and hold for the long term.

Warren Buffett is a legend in the investing world, known for taking a disciplined approach to allocating capital, favoring durable businesses with strong competitive moats and management teams with high integrity. His success stems from embracing simplicity and resisting market noise, compounding returns over the course of decades.

Buffett’s investing style has yielded extraordinary long-term results, turning Berkshire Hathaway into a trillion-dollar business, and reinforcing the importance of taking a long-term approach to investing. If you’re looking for stocks to add to your diversified portfolio, here are three no-brainer Buffett stocks to buy now.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Visa

As a global leader in digital payments, Visa (V -0.01%) has had decades to establish a robust payment network worldwide. It benefits from network effects, as each new customer or merchant added strengthens its ecosystem and reinforces Visa’s dominance. In 2023, Visa processed a total of $6.3 trillion in purchase volume, giving it a 32% global market share and a 52% share in the U.S.

The Visa brand is trusted worldwide, and its infrastructure is deeply embedded in commerce. Visa’s growth is tied to secular trends, such as digitalization, e-commerce, and global financial expansion, which are structural tailwinds that should continue to support it in the long term.

Not only that, but Visa doesn’t issue credit or assume consumer risk. Instead, it earns fees from transactions, making its revenue model resilient across economic cycles. As a result, it has a capital-light business structure that enables high margins and robust free cash flow.

Some investors have expressed concern about the potential threat to Visa’s business from stablecoins. Visa’s management sees it differently, believing stablecoins are an opportunity to solve payment problems, particularly in emerging markets and cross-border money movement. The payments company looks to leverage its strengths and integrate stablecoins into its broader payments ecosystem.

Visa’s sound business and strong network provide it with durable competitive advantages, allowing it to grow alongside an expanding economy, making it an excellent Buffett stock to buy today.

Amazon

Amazon (AMZN -0.28%) has been a visionary in the e-commerce market, building up an incredibly strong position during the past few decades. However, Berkshire didn’t invest in the e-commerce giant until 2019, and it was one of Buffett’s investment managers, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, who initiated the position.

Amazon’s core retail business operates on razor-thin margins as it strives to maintain its position as the lowest-cost retailer in the U.S. Its dominance is rooted in logistical mastery and data-driven innovation. However, it’s Amazon’s smart reinvestment of profits back into the business that has driven its growth.

The company is laser-focused on optimizing its logistics networks to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Key to this was transforming fulfillment into regional hubs, which stock items closer to customers, resulting in faster delivery, fewer packages, and lower costs. The company continues to invest in its fulfillment network, utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. It has deployed Deep Fleet, an AI system that serves as a traffic management system to coordinate robots and improve travel efficiency by 10%.

In addition, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the market leader in cloud computing, transformed the company into a cash-generating powerhouse. Last year, Amazon raked in nearly $40 billion in operating income from this business alone. AWS’s high-margin, recurring revenue model provides stability and fuels reinvestment across Amazon’s ecosystem.

Amazon’s consistent growth in free cash flow, combined with its strong position in multiple sectors with solid growth potential, makes it an excellent long-term investment.

Chubb

Chubb (CB 0.85%) operates as one of the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurers and is recognized as the largest commercial lines insurer in the U.S. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb truly has a global reach.

What makes it stand out is its breadth of knowledge combined with its disciplined underwriting and conservative risk management. This broad-based approach diversifies Chubb’s insured risk to various geographies, customers, and product areas, helping support long-term, sustainable growth.

Disciplined underwriting is vital to Chubb’s success across various market cycles. The company stresses disciplined underwriting and will not take any business below what it deems an adequate price. For example, Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg noted that the insurer has “begun walking away where necessary” in specific markets where insurers have become more aggressive in their pricing. While this may limit growth, it also shows Chubb’s commitment to steady, profitable growth over time.

Chubb’s ability to price risk accurately and maintain underwriting discipline across market cycles has resulted in industry-leading combined ratios. This translates to steady underwriting profits, even in volatile environments, and is also a big reason Chubb has raised its dividend payout for 32 consecutive years. For investors seeking steady growth over time, Chubb is another excellent Buffett stock to consider today.

When Home Depot (HD -0.68%) talks, the stock market listens. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average component is a bellwether for consumer spending and the housing market.

In recent years, Home Depot’s results have disappointed. Earnings have been falling, and fiscal 2025 same-store sales are expected to grow by just 1%. But that sluggish growth could quickly fade into the rearview mirror.

In an effort to maximize employment and reduce inflation to 2% over the long run, Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve are cutting interest rates by 0.25% — citing a weak labor market and “somewhat elevated” inflation. More cuts could be in the cards to boost consumer spending and avoid a recession. Although artificial intelligence (AI) has been driving the stock market to record highs, U.S. gross domestic product growth is projected to be just 1.6% in 2025 and under 2% every year through 2028 — illustrating weakness in the broader economy.

Here’s why an interest rate cut is great news for Home Depot, and whether the dividend stock is a buy now.

Image source: Getty Images.

A much-needed jolt

Higher interest rates have a significant impact on consumer spending, particularly on discretionary goods, services, and travel. When money is more readily available for borrowing, consumers may opt for a car loan or a mortgage because the monthly payment is lower. Or they may finance a home improvement project. In this vein, lower interest rates can lead to an increase in renovation projects, which benefits Home Depot.

There’s a big difference between going to Home Depot for a few spare parts to fix an appliance and redoing an entire room or section of a house. And Home Depot’s poor results suggest that a lot of customers are putting off big projects until conditions improve.

On its August earnings call (second quarter 2025), Home Depot said that lower interest rates would help boost demand and provide relief for mortgages. Home Depot CEO Ted Decker said the following:

When we talk generally though to our customers, each of our sets of consumers and pros, the number one reason for deferring the large project is general economic uncertainty, that is larger than prices of projects, of labor availability, all the various things we’ve talked about in the past. By a wide margin, economic uncertainty is number one.

The prospect of good-paying jobs and lower interest rates could certainly give Home Depot’s residential business a lift. However, the company has also been investing heavily in its professional and commercial contractor business. In June 2024, Home Depot completed its $18.25 billion acquisition of SRS Distribution, expanding its home improvement and construction business. SRS specializes in selling roofing products to contractors — which provides cross-selling opportunities with Home Depot’s retail outlets.

Home Depot made the SRS acquisition in the middle of an industrywide downturn — a sign that it is investing for the long term. SRS essentially makes Home Depot even more of a coiled spring for the next cyclical expansion period, potentially amplifying the benefits the company will feel from lower interest rates.

Taking a home improvement rebound for granted

The market is forward-looking and cares more about where businesses are headed than where they have been. And unfortunately for investors considering Home Depot, the stock is already priced as if interest rates will continue to fall.

As you can see in the following chart, Home Depot’s earnings were on the rise leading up to the pandemic, then entered a new phase during the pandemic as consumers accelerated spending on do-it-yourself home improvement projects, driven by low interest rates.

HD data by YCharts

But Home Depot’s earnings have been ticking down in recent years even though its stock price is around an all-time high — suggesting that investors are looking past the company’s near-term struggles in anticipation of a recovery.

In February, Home Depot raised its dividend by the lowest amount in 15 years and issued a dire warning to investors about a prolonged downturn in the home improvement industry. So it could take several interest rate cuts to really move the needle on consumer spending at Home Depot.

In the meantime, the stock is on the expensive side, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.2 and a forward P/E of 27.7 compared to a 10-year median P/E of just 23. Meaning that Home Depot’s earnings would need to grow 20% faster than its stock price just for the valuation to come back down to historical averages over the last decade.

A quality company at a premium valuation

Home Depot is an excellent company, but it is already priced for a recovery. So the stock isn’t a screaming buy now.

The good news is that Home Depot could still be a good buy for long-term investors who believe in the company’s potential for store expansions, same-store sales growth, and that the SRS acquisition will pay off. If Home Depot enters a multiyear period of double-digit earnings growth, its valuation could quickly come down, making the stock more attractive.

Home Depot could also reaccelerate its dividend growth rate, building on its 16-year track record of consecutive annual dividend raises. Home Depot yields 2.2% — which is better than the 1.2% yield of the S&P 500.

All told, Home Depot isn’t a no-brainer buy now because the stock price has run up ahead of anticipated rate cuts. But it’s still a decent buy for long-term investors.

If you have $5,000 you can afford to invest in the stock market, a good option is to put that money into an investment that can generate recurring dividend income, while also having the potential to rise in value in the long run. That can put your money to work in multiple ways, potentially accumulating gains over time while also generating some good cash flow for your portfolio.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be excellent options to consider because they can give you a balanced investment into many stocks, possibly even hundreds or thousands of them. That means you don’t have to worry about how individual stocks are doing.

From a dividend investor’s point of view, that also means you don’t have to worry about the dreaded risk that a company will announce a dividend cut or suspension. I’ve been there, and even investing in seemingly safe dividend stocks can still end up with disappointment later on. The best way to protect yourself against that is with a well-diversified dividend ETF.

A great option is the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD -0.44%).

Image source: Getty Images.

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF offers a terrific yield

One of the most appealing features of this Schwab fund is undoubtedly its high dividend yield. At 3.7%, that’s a far higher payout than what you’d collect if you simply tracked the S&P 500, as its average yield is just 1.2%.

To put that into perspective, if you invested $5,000 into the ETF today, you could expect to collect approximately $185 in dividends over the course of an entire year. In comparison, however, a $5,000 investment in an ETF tracking the S&P 500 would only generate $60 per year, given the index’s low yield.

What’s great is that, because the fund invests in around 100 stocks, your eggs aren’t all in one basket and dependent on one or even a couple of high-yielding stocks.

The fund focuses on safe dividend stocks and keeps its fees minimal

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100, an index that prioritizes quality and sustainability when it comes to dividends. It isn’t simply adding high-yielding stocks into its portfolio. Some of the big names in the Schwab portfolio include Verizon Communications, PepsiCo, and Chevron. These are blue chip dividend stocks that are known for not only regularly paying dividends, but also for growing their payouts over time. Not every stock will have the same robust background, but it’s a good indication of the quality of the dividend stocks the fund is invested in.

Another solid feature of the fund is that its expense ratio is just 0.06%. That means if you invested $5,000, your annual fees from holding the ETF would be just $3. That’s less than the price of a cup of coffee in most places, and in exchange, you get an investment with a diversified position in some of the best dividend stocks in the world.

A great ETF to buy and forget about

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF isn’t a high-powered growth investment, but it can be a dependable investment to hold in your portfolio for many years. When the market was in turmoil in 2022 and the S&P 500 crashed, this Schwab fund’s total returns (which include reinvested dividends) were a negative 3%. That’s a far cry from the performance of the broad index, which lost 18% in value.

This year it’s been a different story, with the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF’s total returns coming in at just 2% versus nearly 14% for the S&P 500. That’s the trade-off that you often need to take when opting for safety and security. You’ll sacrifice some gains when times are good, but in return, you can minimize your losses when times are tough.

Along the way, you can still collect an above-average dividend from this ETF without incurring significant fees. That’s why the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity fund can be a suitable option to hang on to for the long haul.

Some decisions are tough to make. Others are so easy that they don’t require much thought and are practically no-brainers.

Three Motley Fool contributors believe they’ve identified dividend stocks to buy in September that fall into the latter category. Here’s why they picked Abbott Laboratories (ABT 0.81%), AbbVie (ABBV -0.85%), and Eli Lilly (LLY -0.20%).

Image source: Getty Images.

A tremendous track record of stability and dividend growth

David Jagielski (Abbott Laboratories): A top blue chip dividend stock to hold for the long term is that of Abbott Laboratories. It may not be the flashiest stock or have the highest dividend yield, but the long-term stability and consistency it offers investors makes it a no-brainer option for not only years but potentially decades.

Currently, the stock pays 1.8%, which is a bit higher than the S&P 500 average of 1.2%. It’s not a huge yield by any means, but the big payoff for investors is from simply hanging on to the stock. That’s because Abbott Laboratories is a Dividend King — it has been raising its dividend for decades. Last December, it announced a 7.3% increase to its payout, and with the significant bump up, Abbott extended its streak to 53 consecutive years of increases. And the healthcare company has been generous with its increases; the stock’s dividend has risen by over 60% since 2020.

The company’s fundamentals also look solid, which is key when selecting a quality dividend stock. This year, excluding COVID-19 testing sales, its revenue will grow at an organic rate between 7.5% and 8%. Its broad business encompasses pharmaceuticals, nutrition, diagnostics, and medical devices. As a leading company in the healthcare industry with many ways to grow in the long run, Abbott makes for a great income-generating investment to buy and hold.

Checking all the boxes — income, growth, and value

Keith Speights (AbbVie): AbbVie was spun off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013, and inherited its impressive track record of dividend increases. Its current forward dividend yield of roughly 3% is well above its parent company’s, though, making AbbVie a great choice for income investors.

Growth investors have something to like about this stock, too. AbbVie quickly shook off any effects from the patent cliff it faced in 2023 with its former top-selling drug, Humira. Its shares have outperformed the S&P 500 so far in 2025, and over the last five years.

Even better, AbbVie expects to deliver solid earnings growth through the rest of the decade. Soaring sales for Skyrizi and Rinvoq, its two successors to Humira, should help the company meet its goals. The company also has other big winners, including cancer drug Elahere and migraine therapies Qulipta and Ubrelvy. Vyalev, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October 2024 for treating Parkinson’s disease, has built strong sales momentum as well in its first year on the market.

Is AbbVie an attractive stock for value investors, too? Yep. The big drugmaker’s shares trade at only 15 times forward earnings. Its price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio, which reflects analysts’ five-year projections for earnings growth, is a super-low 0.4.

Few stocks offer something for income, growth, and value investors. But AbbVie checks all the boxes.

Much more than just a weight loss stock

Prosper Junior Bakiny (Eli Lilly): Over the past few years, Eli Lilly has dominated the headlines in the pharmaceutical industry, and with good reason: The drugmaker has established itself as the leader in the rapidly expanding weight loss market. Both Lilly’s lineup, with brands like Mounjaro and Zepbound, and its pipeline in this field look incredibly exciting.

The company has generated strong revenue and earnings growth in recent quarters, and is likely to continue doing so. However, it would be a mistake to think that Eli Lilly is just a weight loss stock. The company has a lot more to offer. Its lineup features blockbusters outside of its area of expertise, including cancer treatment Verzenio. Recent approvals, such as Ebglyss for eczema, could also achieve over $1 billion in annual sales at their peak.

Then there’s the pipeline, which boasts promising programs beyond diabetes and obesity. Lilly’s investigational drug lepodisiran completed phase 2 studies in reducing lipoprotein(a), a substance in the body that, in high concentrations, is strongly linked to various cardiovascular problems. So along with excellent financial results, investors can expect robust clinical and regulatory progress in the foreseeable future.

Lastly, the stock is an excellent pick for income seekers. It’s true that Lilly’s forward yield is a modest 0.8% — but the company has increased its dividend by an impressive 200% in the past decade. Eli Lilly’s excellent business and remarkable dividend track record make it a no-brainer stock to buy.

Artificial intelligence (AI) investing is what’s keeping the market propped up right now. A significant amount of money is being spent on building AI computing infrastructure, and numerous businesses are benefiting from this spending trend.

By picking up shares of companies that are benefiting from the spending now, investors can ensure they’re not buying into hype.

I’ve got five stocks that meet this criteria, and each looks like a great investment now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Chip companies are making a ton of money from the AI buildout

Since the beginning of the AI arms race, a handful of companies have been assumed winners based on their products. The market turned out to be right about this, as Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO -2.69%), and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM -0.68%) have all delivered spectacular returns. However, they’re not finished yet.

Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) have powered nearly all of the AI workloads that investors know today. Demand for GPUs outpaces supply, so many of Nvidia’s largest clients are working closely with the company to inform it of their future demand years in advance. So, when Nvidia’s management speaks about industry growth, investors should listen.

Nvidia expects global data center capital expenditures to reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030. That’s monstrous growth from today’s amount (Nvidia estimates the big four hyperscalers will spend around $600 billion in 2025), and shows that the AI computing infrastructure buildout is far from over.

This clearly makes Nvidia a buy, but it also bodes well for Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor.

Broadcom manufactures connectivity switches for these computing data centers, enabling users to stitch together information being computed across multiple computing units. However, another area where Broadcom is experiencing significant growth is its custom AI accelerators, which it designs in collaboration with end users. This is a direct challenge to Nvidia’s GPU superiority, although both products will continue to be used in the future. With many companies looking to cut Nvidia out to reduce the costs of building a data center, Broadcom is one to watch over the next few years.

Lastly, neither company can produce the actual chip that goes into these products. So, they outsource the work to the world’s leading chip foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor. TSMC doesn’t care which company has the most computing units in data centers around the globe; it just cares that the chips they use are sourced from its factories, making it a neutral player in the AI arms race. While Taiwan Semiconductor may not have the upside of Nvidia or Broadcom, it also doesn’t have the downside. This makes it a safe bet to capitalize on all the AI spending, and it’s one of my top picks for stocks to buy now.

Demand for cloud computing is rising

Two of the largest purchasers of computing equipment are Amazon (AMZN -0.11%) and Alphabet (GOOG 0.56%) (GOOGL 0.57%). While some of this is being used for internal workloads, most of it is being rented back to customers through cloud computing. At its core, cloud computing involves renting excess computing power from one provider and utilizing it themselves. Buying computing equipment from Broadcom or Nvidia isn’t cheap, so this is often the most cost-effective way to access vast computing resources.

Additionally, traditional on-premises computing workloads are migrating to the cloud as existing equipment reaches the end of its life, providing cloud computing providers, such as Alphabet and Amazon, with growth tailwinds to capitalize on. Grand View Research estimates that the global cloud computing market opportunity was about $750 billion in 2024. However, that figure is expected to rise to $2.39 trillion by 2030, making this an excellent industry to invest in.

Alphabet and Amazon are two of the largest cloud computing providers, and I believe each stock is worth owning due to the massive potential in the cloud computing businesses of these two tech giants.

Investors can’t go wrong sticking with big tech giants. These companies have billions of users, billions in cash, and billions to invest in artificial intelligence (AI). This points to excellent return prospects for shareholders.

Here are two tech stocks that are no-brainer buys right now.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms‘ (META -1.74%) dominance with more than 3.4 billion people using Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other services every day makes it a low-risk investment. This large base of users drives substantial advertising revenue that funds investment in technology infrastructure, such as AI, to power new features and products for long-term growth.

The stock is up 30% year to date, outperforming the Nasdaq Composite‘s roughly 13% return, supported by strong revenue and profit growth. Revenue grew 22% year over year in the second quarter, with adjusted earnings per share surging 38%. Meta’s AI is making it easier to show people content that grabs their interest, and therefore, generate more ad revenue.

Meta’s profitable ad business provides plenty of resources to advance its technology advantage. The company plans to spend between $66 billion and $72 billion this year on infrastructure. This includes investments to expand its AI capacity, including its multigigawatt Prometheus and Hyperion data centers.

“Meta has all of the ingredients that are required to build leading models and deliver them to billions of people,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the company’s Q2 earnings call.

The opportunities are so significant that Meta has no plans to pull back the reins on capital spending. In fact, Zuckerberg recently revealed at a White House meeting with President Donald Trump and other tech CEOs that Meta may spend $600 billion in the U.S. alone through 2028.

Analysts expect Meta’s earnings to grow 17% on an annualized basis over the next several years. Assuming the stock is still trading at its current forward price-to-earnings multiple of 27, the stock should continue to follow future earnings.

2. Alphabet (Google)

Alphabet‘s (GOOGL -0.15%) (GOOG -0.12%) Google is one of the most valuable online brands. Billions of people use Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Search, and other Google services every day. These platforms provide growing ad revenue and profits that are fueling investments in data centers and AI that bolster the company’s long-term growth prospects.

Alphabet’s Gemini AI has been fundamental to growth this year. Gemini powers AI features across its services, including AI Mode and AI Overviews in Search. These features are leading to increases in user engagement, which is contributing to higher ad revenue. Google’s ad revenue grew 10% year over year last quarter to $71 billion, making up 76% of the company’s total.

Gemini is also fueling innovative tools for enterprises in Google Cloud, where it uses proprietary AI chips to deliver optimized performance for AI workloads. Google Cloud’s revenue grew 32% year over year last quarter, with a growing backlog of $106 billion. It signed the same number of $1 billion-plus deals in the first half of 2025 as all of 2024, indicating strong momentum.

The AI gold rush is causing Alphabet to raise its full-year guidance for capital spending. It now expects capital expenditures to reach approximately $85 billion in 2025, up from the previous estimate of $75 billion. It also plans to increase capital spending in 2026 due to strong customer demand and growth opportunities across the business.

Despite a sharp rise in recent months, the stock still looks reasonably valued trading at 24 times 2025 earnings estimates. With analysts expecting earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 15% in the coming years, investors should expect the stock to potentially double in value over the next five years.

Large-cap tech offers no shortage of options, but a few names clearly stand apart. Their businesses are durable, their cash flow is steady, and their growth prospects look especially bright over the next decade.

After fresh midyear updates, Microsoft (MSFT 0.75%), Alphabet (GOOGL 0.14%), and Amazon (AMZN 1.83%) remain no-brainer additions for a growth-focused portfolio. Each has just posted healthy results and is spending aggressively where it matters most: cloud and artificial intelligence (AI). Best of all, all three companies benefit from diversified business models and have enduring characteristics thanks to their market-leading competitive advantages, making them great long-term investments.

Image source: Getty Images.

Strong quarters across the board

Microsoft‘s summer update was exceptionally robust. Azure’s (the tech giant’s cloud computing business) growth paced the quarter, and the company continued returning cash to shareholders even as it scales AI across its products. For its fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 (a period ending on June 30), Microsoft’s total revenue rose 18% while Azure and other cloud services grew 39%. And highlighting its appreciation for shareholders, the company returned $9.4 billion via dividends and buybacks.

Alphabet — the owner of Google Cloud and Google properties like Gmail, Google search, and YouTube — similarly posted broad-based strength. Search and YouTube saw double-digit gains, and the company’s cloud computing arm, Google Cloud, was the star again. In Q2, Alphabet’s total revenue rose 14% to $96.4 billion, while Google Cloud revenue jumped 32% to $13.6 billion as demand for AI infrastructure and new generative tools widened the customer base. Management also highlighted a larger capital expenditure plan to meet that demand.

Meanwhile, Amazon‘s update echoed the same theme: Exceptional growth in cloud computing accompanied by robust growth elsewhere. The e-commerce and cloud-computing giant’s second-quarter net sales increased 13% year over year to $167.7 billion, and Amazon Web Services (Amazon’s cloud-computing operation) saw sales grow 17.5% to $30.9 billion. This well-rounded growth boosted operating income 31% year over year to $19.2 billion.

Catalysts and risks

For all three companies, the common thread behind some of their biggest opportunities is AI. However, this is also one of their biggest risks, as building out AI capabilities is expensive.

For Microsoft, its near-term catalysts are Copilot monetization, AI consumption on Azure, and a steady cadence of continued enterprise seat expansion. But the company is also clear about the trade-off that comes with moving fast in AI — cloud gross margin has dipped as it builds out infrastructure, a reasonable price to pay for durable share gains. Of course, it’s worth noting that Azure’s gross margin is greater than the company’s overall gross margin, so if there’s a trade-off of improving this high-margin business in exchange for the segment’s margin coming down a bit, it’s still a net win for the overall company.

Alphabet’s second quarter demonstrated broad momentum. The tech company’s “Search and other” revenue rose 12%, and YouTube ad sales climbed 13%. But the big catalyst right now is in Google Cloud, with 32% revenue growth and a 20.7% operating margin (up from 11.3% in the year-ago quarter), showing that it’s now pulling in meaningful profits. But its capital expenditures, as the company pursues AI integrations across its products, are steep. Alphabet expects to spend about $85 billion this year on capital expenditures, driven largely by its efforts to expand AI capacity. For long-term investors, that spend should extend the company’s advantages in Search, YouTube, subscriptions, and cloud computing. But it also raises the bar for execution.

At Amazon, two engines matter most over the next few years. First, AWS is broadening from core compute and storage to a richer AI stack — foundation models, managed services, and agentic tools — which should deepen customer spend. Second, North America retail continues to optimize fulfillment and last-mile density, supporting higher operating margins even without upbeat macro assumptions. But Amazon is similarly spending a fortune on capital expenditures to support its AI ambitions, so much so that its trailing-12-month free cash flow (operating cash less capital expenditures) is $18.2 billion — far below the $53 billion it earned in the year-ago trailing-12-month period.

These stocks aren’t cheap. Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon’s price-to-earnings ratios are about 36, 25, and 35, respectively, at the time of this writing. Adding to the risk, all three are investing heavily right now. But that’s precisely the point. The spending is tied to products customers are already using more of every quarter. Therefore, for investors seeking quality assets with strong long-term growth potential, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon are good choices and look poised to live up to their valuations as they invest heavily in their future growth, increasing the odds of more years of robust growth ahead.

The last three years have been nothing short of spectacular for stock investors. The S&P 500 has produced a cumulative total return of 87% since hitting its bear market low in October 2022. If you invested in growth stocks, your returns have been even better, with the S&P 500 Growth index more than doubling in that same period.

Growth stocks have been the driving force behind the gains in the index. But as growth stocks have climbed in price, it’s left fewer options for investors looking for good value. And if you’re just getting started or trying to invest your next $100, a good growth opportunity is hard to come by in this market.

But looking past the biggest companies can still reveal many great opportunities to buy stocks in businesses with excellent growth prospects ahead of them. Here are three options all trading for prices below $100 per share.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Block

Block (XYZ -1.11%) is the company behind Cash App and Square. The merchant side, Square, was the original growth driver for the company, but the momentum has shifted to its consumer app, Cash App.

That’s not to say Square is struggling. Gross payment volume climbed 10% last quarter, and it’s seeing even stronger demand in its international markets, which still represent a great growth opportunity for the business. It continues to see gross profit margin expand as it moves upmarket to larger merchants.

But Cash App could be an even bigger growth driver for Block going forward. That’s why the stock fell hard after the segment’s profit growth underperformed in the first quarter. But management quickly course corrected, with gross profit growth accelerating in the second quarter, and management’s confident it can continue climbing in the current quarter.

Cash App’s acceleration came as a result of improving monetization of its users by increasing the number of services used. That includes a slight bump in its Cash App Card monthly users and its newly released Cash App Borrow service.

But management sees a long-term opportunity to grow Cash App’s user base by focusing on younger consumers. To that end, it’s seen strong engagement among younger users, with users under the age of 25 exhibiting higher rates of paycheck deposits and Cash App Card usage. As those younger users increase their earning and spending power, Cash App could see strong gross profit growth.

With the stock trading around $75 per share at the time of this writing, investors are paying about 29 times forward earnings estimates. With accelerating profit growth, and long-term potential for user growth, that’s a fair price to pay for the fintech company.

2. DraftKings

DraftKings (DKNG -1.96%) is one of the biggest sports betting companies in North America. The company has used its scale and technology platform to remain ahead of the competition in offering new products and scaling them. For example, it was one of the first U.S. sportsbooks offering live betting and in-game parlays.

As a result, DraftKings continues to grow despite a step up in competition. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) accelerated in the second quarter, climbing 37% year over year. That was helped by sportsbook-friendly outcomes, a reversion from the first quarter (when all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four in the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament).

That success comes in the face of stepped up competition. ESPN launched its own sports betting brand in late 2023, not only adding a huge brand name to the competition, but removing a potential marketing partner at the same time. More recently, prediction markets using CFTC-authorized futures contracts have gained popularity as legal alternatives in states where sports betting is still illegal.

The latter represents a big threat to DraftKings, especially as the new tax code goes into effect next year. The new tax law limits gamblers to deducting just 90% of their losses against their winnings. Prediction markets, using financial vehicles, face no such limitations. DraftKings is exploring opportunities in the space, which could expand its product offerings.

In the meantime, the new tax code could reduce the number of professional gamblers on the platform, which could ultimately increase margins at the expense of a lower sportsbook handle. And if it continues to push its live-betting platform, it could offer betting opportunities unavailable on prediction markets.

With the stock trading around $48 per share, it sports an enterprise value to EBITDA ratio of about 29, based on the midpoint of management’s 2025 outlook. For a company that’s growing its EBITDA at a mid-30% rate, that’s an excellent price for the stock, and you could pick up a couple of shares with your $100.

3. Roku

Roku (ROKU -2.03%) is the leading connected-TV platform in North America with a growing presence around the world. The company received a huge boost amid the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, with millions of customers flocking to its platform and using it to find entertainment. However, inflation, macroeconomic uncertainty, and more recently, tariffs, have weighed on its results since.

After the strong growth of its streaming platform in the early part of the decade, Roku became more willing to sell its devices at a loss. Device gross margin fell to negative 29% in the fourth quarter last year amid big holiday sales. Last quarter, Roku managed to sell its devices at cost, on average, but many expect tariffs will weigh on device gross margin going forward.

That’s made up for in the booming growth of its platform. Platform gross margin remains in the low-50% range, even as it scales its advertising business and relies on third-party demand-side platforms to fill inventory. And with the platform business now six times the size of its device sales, the overall business is growing steadily more profitable.

In fact, management is pushing toward GAAP profitability with expectations for it to eke out a small profit for the full year. Profits could soar significantly over the coming years as it scales and manages significant operating leverage. If you look at its reported adjusted EBITDA, management said it grew the metric 79% year over year in the most recent quarter. That earnings growth is supported by continued improvements in platform sales, which is driven by higher viewer engagement and the secular shift of ad budgets from linear TV to streaming video. Those trends aren’t changing, which provides a long runway of revenue growth for Roku’s platform.

With the stock trading just below $100, the company has an enterprise value to EBITDA ratio of about 33, based on managements outlook for 2025. With the company exhibiting a ton of operating leverage and benefiting from secular trends in advertising, it’s worth your $100 to add it to your portfolio.

Who wouldn’t be interested in some Warren Buffett stocks to consider for their portfolio? After all, Buffett’s investing chops have not been exaggerated. He increased the value of his company Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.13%) (BRK.B -0.06%) by 5,500,000% (nearly 20% annually) over 60 years. In contrast, the S&P 500 index of 500 of America’s biggest companies gained about 39,000% (10.4% annually, on average) over the same period.

Here, then, are some stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio that you might want in your own. Do note, though, that the days of Buffett himself making all the investment decisions (often in consultation with his late business partner Charlie Munger) are over. He now has two investing lieutenants, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, so some stocks in the portfolio may be their picks.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

1. Amazon

You might know that Berkshire Hathaway owns multiple insurance and energy operations, along with companies such as Dairy Queen International, See’s Candies, Fruit of the Loom, and the entire BNSF railroad. Buffett has long avoided many high-tech companies, but yes, his company now owns shares of Amazon.com (AMZN 3.12%) — some 10 million shares, in fact, per the latest disclosure.

You might want to consider buying Amazon stock, too, because it still has enormous growth potential. It features a hugely dominant online marketplace, but it’s also home to a major cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS). Its shares are appealingly valued at recent levels, too, with a recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 34, well below the five-year average of 46.

2. Lennar

You may not be very familiar with Lennar (LEN 5.19%), but it’s a major homebuilder in America, and its future is promising because America needs many more homes — especially affordable ones for young first-time home buyers. If interest rates drop in the near future, that could spur home buying, though a recession could thwart that trend.

Near term, it’s hard to know what will happen, but Lennar’s long-term outlook is promising. Patient investors can collect a dividend that recently yielded 1.5% — and that has grown by an annual average rate of 33% over the past five years.

Lennar shares are reasonably priced at recent levels, too, with a price-to-sales ratio of 1, on par with its five-year average, and a forward P/E of 13 above the average of 9. It’s a new holding for Berkshire, and Berkshire already owns 3% of the company.

3. Chevron

Chevron (CVX 1.50%) is Berkshire’s fifth-largest stock holding, and Berkshire now owns close to 7% of the energy giant. It’s another dividend-paying stock, with a recent fat 4.5% yield. It’s also been a big stock repurchaser, with its reduced share count leaving each remaining share more valuable.

Why might you buy Chevron stock? Well, thanks to various investments (such as its purchase of Hess), it stands to collect a lot of free cash flow in the years ahead — which can be used to pay dividends and increase dividends. Chevron is also well positioned to profit from both traditional energy sources as well as alternative energies.

Chevron’s forward P/E was recently 20, a bit above its five-year average of 14, suggesting it’s somewhat overvalued. You might wait for a lower price, or buy into it incrementally, or just buy anyway — as long as you plan to remain invested for many years.

4. UnitedHealth Group

Berkshire was in the news recently, for buying into the beleaguered health insurer UnitedHealth Group (UNH 1.24%). It’s a new holding for Berkshire, and was recently the 18th-largest position in the portfolio

Shares of the insurer were recently down 39% year-to-date, in part due to the fact that it’s being investigated by the Department of Justice for possible Medicare fraud. Also, its CEO has just stepped down. For those who see such issues as temporary and surmountable, this is a good buying opportunity.

You can be sure the company’s management is working to turn things around, and simple demographics paint a promising future, too, as our growing and aging population will continue to need healthcare — and medications. (UnitedHealth includes the pharmaceutical specialist Optum.)

5. Berkshire Hathaway

A last Berkshire Hathaway stock to consider is Berkshire Hathaway itself. It’s built to last, after all, and is likely to keep growing over time, though not at the breakneck speeds of yore, perhaps. Buffett is stepping down at the end of the year, but he’ll still be around, and his successor, Greg Abel, is a promising choice.

Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t pay a dividend, but when it’s under new management, that might change. It has all depended on whether there were more productive ways to deploy the company’s cash. So far there have been, but Abel might decide differently. Investing in Berkshire means you’ll always be a part-owner of any stock in Berkshire’s portfolio.

Give any or all of these companies some consideration for your own portfolio. And know that you can always take the easier (and also effective) path, recommended by Buffett himself, of opting for a simple, low-fee index fund.

In the stock market, $500 might not seem like much, where the top tickers often trade at hundreds or thousands of dollars per share. But with commission-free trades and fractional trading, it’s never been easier to get investing with just a few hundred dollars.

It might be tempting to invest that $500 in high-risk plays like meme stocks and cryptocurrencies to chase bigger and faster gains. However, it would be more prudent to park that cash in some stable blue-chip dividend stocks that can generate big long-term gains through their reinvested dividends.

Let’s take a look at two stable dividend plays that are well-suited for most income investors: Brookfield Asset Management (BAM 3.37%) and Ares Capital (ARCC 0.16%).

Image source: Getty Images.

1. The conservative play: Brookfield Asset Management

Brookfield Asset Management is one of the world’s top alternative asset management firms. Instead of investing in “traditional” assets like stocks, bonds, and T-bills, it invests in “alternative” assets like real estate, infrastructure projects, private equity, and credit markets. As an asset management firm, Brookfield’s growth can be gauged by its fee-bearing capital (FBC), or its total managed capital from its clients; its fee-related earnings (FRE), or its total earnings from its management and advisory fees; and its distributable earnings (DE), which represents its available cash flow for covering its dividends and interest payments.

From 2022 to 2024, Brookfield grew its FBC at a CAGR of 14%, its FRE at a CAGR of 8%, and its DE per share at a CAGR of 6%. Analysts expect its DE per share to rise 11% in 2025 and 17% in 2026. It aims to pay out at least 90% of its DE per share as dividends, and its latest dividend hike this February — which boosted its annual rate to $1.75 (a forward yield of roughly 2.9%) — actually exceeds its projected DE of $1.61 per share for 2025.

That payout ratio exceeds 100%, but it isn’t a red flag because its core business is still growing at a healthy rate. Over the next few years, Brookfield’s growth should be driven by the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) markets, which are generating tailwinds for its investments in the infrastructure and renewable energy markets; and the inflation-driven rotation toward alternative assets. Its stock isn’t cheap at 31 times next year’s DE per share, but its stability justifies that higher valuation.

2. The high-yield play: Ares Capital

Ares Capital is the world’s largest business development corporation (BDC). BDCs provide financing to “middle market” companies that struggle to secure loans from traditional banks because they’re considered higher-risk clients. In exchange for taking on that risk, BDCs charge higher interest rates than traditional banks. They’re also required to distribute at least 90% of their taxable earnings as dividends to maintain a lower tax rate.

Ares spreads out its investments across 566 companies backed by 245 different private equity sponsors in its $27.1 billion portfolio. It allocates 58.6% of its portfolio to first lien secured loans, 5.7% to second lien secured loans, and 5% to senior subordinated debt. That diversification limits its exposure to single companies and protects it from potential bankruptcies. Ares provides floating-rate loans that are pinned to the Fed’s benchmark rates. It needs interest rates to stay in a “Goldilocks” zone to thrive: low interest rates will throttle its profit growth, but high interest rates could choke the fledgling companies in its portfolio.

Analysts expect the Fed’s recent rate cuts to reduce Ares’ EPS 14% to $2.01 in 2025 and another 2% to $1.98 in 2026, but it can still easily cover its forward dividend rate of $1.92 per share — which equals a whopping forward yield of 8.6%. Its earnings growth should rise again as interest rates stabilize, and its stock looks dirt cheap at 11 times next year’s earnings. So for now, it’s a great place to invest a few hundred dollars and earn some big dividends.

Facing unrestricted free agency for the first time in his illustrious career, Khalil Mack could have chosen any team to chase his championship ambitions. Why did the star edge rusher choose to stick with a franchise that has never won the Super Bowl?

“Why not here?” the Chargers edge rusher wondered back.

Praising the leadership under coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz, the players on the roster and his familiarity with the franchise, Mack’s decision to return to the Chargers wasn’t that complicated at all.

“It was a no-brainer,” he said this week during Chargers minicamp in his first comments with local reporters since January.

In his last public comments, Mack was swirling in the disappointment of the Chargers’ wild-card loss to the Houston Texans. The 34-year-old flirted with retirement. For a former two-star recruit who went to Buffalo, Mack has little else to prove at the professional level. Nine Pro Bowl selections. Three All-Pro honors. The 2016 Associated Press defensive player of the year.

But still no playoff wins.

“You’re chasing that feeling of wanting to win important games deep in the season,” said Mack, who has gone one-and-done in the postseason five times. “Being that I haven’t reached that point yet, I couldn’t give up on that dream and that goal for myself and for this franchise.”

Mired in their own postseason drought, the Chargers have not won a playoff game since the 2018 season. Their last two attempts flamed out spectacularly. The 27-point blown lead in Jan. 2023 was the largest in franchise history. Last year, quarterback Justin Herbert threw a career-high four interceptions against Houston.

Despite the jarring end, the Chargers’ surprising 11-6 regular-season record in the first year under Harbaugh positions the franchise well for the long-awaited breakthrough. Wanting to continue the momentum was a key hope for the offseason.

“l was begging and pleading with him to come back,” safety Derwin James Jr. said. “I just knew for him to come back like that, he really loves us and he really wants a shot at it again.”

Mack, who signed a reported one-year, $18 million deal, had six sacks and 39 tackles last season, a stark drop from his resurgent 2023 that featured a career-high 17 sacks and 75 tackles. Nursing a complicated groin injury, he missed a game for the first time in his Chargers tenure.

But entering his 12th season, Mack insists getting in top physical shape is the easy part. On Thursday, Harbaugh was shocked when reminded that Mack was 34 years old. Mack was working with Chargers executive director of player performance Ben Herbert for weeks before the team started their offseason regimen, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said.

The workouts suddenly got so popular that one random weekday, Minter was stunned to see so many players that they could have held a defensive walk-through. Echoing Harbaugh, Minter called it the “Herb Effect.” It has Mack under its spell.

“Herb is a big deal,” Mack said. “He was a big part of that decision coming back here as well. Just knowing the mindset that he has and how he thinks about the body. It’s just the same approach and the same mindset that I have when I train by myself or with anybody else. I want to be a machine. I want to be as solid as possible, as strong as possible. Move people easy. And this program is all of that.”

For the first time in his Chargers tenure, Mack is without running mate Joey Bosa, who was cut in a salary-saving move. After three injury-riddled seasons punctuated his nine-year Chargers career, Bosa signed with the Buffalo Bills.

It’s weird without his former teammate, Mack said. He recently texted Bosa about how different the edge rusher room felt without Bosa breaking the silence with awkward jokes. They will at least reunite at Bosa’s wedding next year.

Bosa’s departure opens the door for third-year edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu to step into a starring role. The USC alumnus started 20 games in the last two seasons as Bosa struggled with injuries and had a career-best 8 1/2 sacks last season.

“Tuli is a special player, man,” Mack said. “I’ve been saying that ever since he stepped foot into the building, what, three years ago now. … It’s not going to be no surprise to me when he’s a 10, 12 sack guy this year.”

The Chargers drafted SEC defensive player of the year Kyle Kennard in the fourth round to bolster the edge room that also includes 32-year-old Bud Dupree.

Mack’s return was one of the first offseason moves the Chargers announced, and while he could have waited longer to entertain options from other teams as an unrestricted free agent, he chose not to linger on the market. Balancing financial decisions with his career and family, Mack kept a single focus.

“It’s just not wanting to give up on that goal and that ambition that I had ever since I had stepped in the league,” Mack said. “I knew I wanted to play in important games and win a Super Bowl at least.”

Rashawn Slater not focused on contract extension talks

After missing organized team activities while waiting for a contract extension, star left tackle Rashawn Slater returned to mandatory minicamp this week with no concerns about the status of his deal approaching the season.

“Realistically speaking, I’ve known for a long time it’s how these things go,” Slater said Thursday on the final day of minicamp of getting an extension done before the season. “It’s not something that’s bothered me. It’s just the business of football, so I have full confidence.”

In 2025, Slater would play on a fifth-year option due to pay him about $19 million. The left tackle coming off his second Pro Bowl selection was rated the second-best tackle last year, according to Pro Football Focus.

Many teammates were at the Chargers practice facility during organized team activities, but Slater continued his routine in Texas, where he works with Duke Manyweather, the top private offensive line coach among the NFL’s best. Despite not working with the Chargers strength staff, Slater was more than prepared upon his return. The offensive lineman passed the conditioning test, and Harbaugh said Slater reported it was “too easy.”

But Slater wanted to correct the record.

“I didn’t say ‘too easy,’” he said Thursday. “I just said it was ‘easy.’ I’m not trying to rub it in anybody’s face.”