If you’re investing a large sum of money, like $50,000, you’re going to want to be more selective about what you invest in. Your focus should be on market-leading companies with a strong, durable edge that have continued strong growth in front of them.

Let’s look at two stocks that match this description that might be worth a $50,000 long-term investment.

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Alphabet

Alphabet (GOOGL 2.94%) (GOOG 2.89%) is positioning itself to be one of the biggest winners of artificial intelligence (AI) over the long term. The company’s biggest growth driver on this front is its cloud computing unit, Google Cloud. Last quarter, the segment saw its revenue jump 34%, with operating income soaring 89% as customers flocked to use its AI services.

The company’s big advantage is that it has the most complete tech stack of any company in the space. Not only does it offer top AI software tools, but it also has one of the world’s leading large language models (LLMs) in Gemini, and its custom tensor processing units (TPUs) are helping drive performance while lowering costs. As the world starts to move more toward inference, this becomes even more important.

Meanwhile, Alphabet’s Google search engine has long been the dominant market leader, and as AI and search meld together more into discovery, Alphabet also finds itself in a hugely advantageous position. The company owns both the leading web browser in Chrome and smartphone operating system in Android, while it also has a search revenue-sharing deal with Apple. That makes it the default gateway to the internet for much of the world.

Alphabet

Today’s Change

(-2.94%) $-8.44

Current Price

$278.27

At the same time, it’s incorporating AI features into search with its AI Overviews and AI modes, which are driving queries. Its Gemini stand-alone app has also been gaining traction, and Apple has chosen Gemini to power its Siri AI assistant. Alphabet also has one of the world’s most powerful ad networks on the planet, which gives it an advantage in monetizing AI content.

On top of that, Alphabet also owns one of the world’s most popular streaming services in YouTube, and its Waymo robotaxi business is starting to expand rapidly. It’s even making headway in quantum computing with its Willow chip.

Taken altogether, this is a market leader to own over the long haul.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

In a world where AI infrastructure spending is soaring and a battle between graphics processing units (GPUs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) is brewing, the best way to play this trend is by investing in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 3.01%). The reason is that it wins no matter which chip technology becomes the preferred way to power the AI boom. It’s also set to benefit as more technologies emerge, like robotaxis and robotics, as they will also need a lot of advanced chips.

TSMC is the clear market leader in making advanced chips, and its technological expertise and scale have created a wide moat. As node sizes (a measurement of a transistor’s density, with smaller nodes meaning denser chips) have shrunk, the manufacturing process has gotten more complex, and no other chip manufacturer has been able to produce high yields (the percentage of defect-free products) at scale like TSMC.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Today’s Change

(-3.01%) $-8.74

Current Price

$281.88

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently highlighted TSMC’s advantage after Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked about his company building its own advanced super fab because it doesn’t see getting enough capacity from its suppliers. Huang said that replicating what TSMC does is “virtually impossible,” adding: “It’s not just about putting up a factory. It’s about mastering the engineering, the science, and the craftsmanship that TSMC has refined over decades.”

TSMC’s position in the semiconductor value chain has made it one of the most important companies on the planet. It’s an integral partner to chip designers, which gives it both strong visibility and pricing power. With the company projecting a more than 40% compound average growth rate (CAGR) in advanced chips over the next several years, this is a stock to own.