In it for the long haul
would route their computing work through the data centers of major public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, making colocation centers like Equinix’s obsolete. Equinix adapted, partnering with the major cloud players so that Equinix centers could function as clearinghouses where clients access numerous public cloud services.
Marriott International (MAR): Home-sharing websites are a growing problem for hotels. But amid the hotel doldrums, Marriott is well positioned, says Becky Baker, portfolio manager at Fidelity Select Leisure.
Helping matters is that Marriott owns practically none of its industry-leading 1.3 million rooms; 97% of them are either managed by the company or operated as a franchise.
Such agreements allow Marriott to collect recurring fees from the hotels’ owners and franchisees. The model requires practically no capital from Marriott to open a new hotel, Baker says.
O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY): When Amazon entered the car-parts business in 2017, shares of auto-parts seller O’Reilly dropped precipitously. But O’Reilly’s stock bounced back as the company showed that it has one of the rare business models that is insulated from the ubiquitous threat of e-commerce.
O’Reilly sells after-market parts and tools to professional mechanics and do-it-yourselfers. With about 5,300 stores, almost all located within 300 miles of a distribution center, O’Reilly can ship quickly to mechanics who need specific parts on short notice.
O’Reilly will likely outpace its competitors in growth of store space, sales and earnings over the next few years, and it should benefit from the increasing age of vehicles on the road, which should create demand for more repairs, says CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson.
Visa (V): Essentially the world’s largest toll collector on electronic payments, Visa has benefited from a decades-long shift away from cash. But the firm is first to admit that innovations in mobile commerce and peer-to-peer payments, along with advancing technology, will continue to drastically expand and change the way people and businesses exchange money.
Analysts at financial services firm William Blair say Visa has remained ahead of the curve, investing in and partnering with financial technology firms to ensure that the electronic payments of the future “occur over Visa’s rails.”