There’s no perfect investment method. If there were, we’d all be millionaires, and you probably wouldn’t be reading this letter. But there is a way to build your portfolio intelligently so that you set yourself up for the best chance at success.
There are multiple facets to this strategy, but the one I want to focus on today is stocks to buy and hold forever.
You should think of these investments as your core holdings – your “Forever Stocks.” These are the stocks you hold through thick and thin (unless the rationale for owning them changes significantly).
Obviously, Forever Stocks will suffer during a severe bear market, just like ordinary stocks. So, any investor who holds onto stocks like these during a sell-off is likely to suffer losses on paper.
But these losses are a small price to pay for big, long-term gains…
Today, I’ll share a company that I consider to be one of the best Forever Stocks out there. Then, I’ll share where you can find more of them.
The Ultimate Essential Business
Water is the ultimate, most essential resource that is continually recycled and put back to use. Mother Nature does most of the heavy lifting through a complex process of evaporation, precipitation, and decades-long subterranean filtration cycles water through planet Earth to sustain both flora and fauna.
The bottled water industry is a small drop in that planetary bucket, but it too operates within Mother Nature’s hydration cycle. This trait gives it a circular economy identity. Its core product is naturally replenished. And it can source and distribute that product without relying on a foreign supply chain. In other words, the bottled water industry can thrive as a purely domestic business.
Enter Primo Brands Corp. (PRMB), one of the largest branded water companies in North America.
In a market obsessed with AI-everything, Primo Brands seems defiantly analog. It manages springs, bottles water, delivers water, restocks coolers, and operates a vast logistics network. The company delivers drinking water through three primary sales channels.
First, it sells branded bottled water at retail.
This division, which accounts for about 60% of total company sales, includes national powerhouses like Poland Spring and Pure Life; regional spring-water labels like Arrowhead, Deer Park, and Ice Mountain; and premium brands like Saratoga and The Mountain Valley. The company distributes these brands into more than 200,000 retail outlets across the United States and Canada. That footprint helps Primo secure better shelf space, more frequent promotions, prominent placement in refrigerated cases, and eye-catching displays throughout stores.
Second, Primo operates a large direct-delivery network that supplies five-gallon water bottles directly to homes and businesses.
This segment, which accounts for about 35% of company sales, resembles a subscription utility. Customers place recurring orders, Primo loads routes from local branches, and trucks deliver water on a scheduled cadence. That recurring model produces predictable revenue and valuable, long-lasting customer relationships when service runs smoothly.
Third, Primo runs exchange and refill businesses, which account for about 5% of total sales.
Consumers can exchange empty multi-use bottles at approximately 26,500 retail locations or refill bottles at over 23,500 self-service stations. That reusable packaging system reduces plastic waste while creating recurring, traffic-driving transactions.
Behind these customer-facing activities sits a company-controlled network of more than 80 springs, bottling plants, distribution centers, warehouses, and delivery fleets. Primo employs more than 12,000 people and manages logistics coast-to-coast. This is not a marketing shell over outsourced production. It is an industrial hydration platform.
Both an AI Survivor and Applier
Importantly, Primo is one of those rare enterprises that operates a relatively future-proof business. That quality puts it squarely into the AI Survivors framework. Artificial intelligence cannot replace hydration. It cannot digitize a spring. It cannot virtualize a truck route. The demand for clean water persists, regardless of technological shifts.
At the same time, Primo also fits in the AI Appliers category. The company already invests in warehouse management systems, forecasting tools, and digital customer interfaces. AI-driven route optimization can reduce miles driven. Predictive analytics can cut inventory imbalances. Call-center automation can shorten resolution time and increase retention. Revenue management systems can help Primo determine the best prices, package sizes, and assortment of products to offer.
AI will not eliminate Primo’s network. It will make the entire operation more profitable.
This water company does not promise moonshot growth. It offers something rarer: a durable, essential business with recurring revenue, tangible assets, and the potential to benefit from AI without depending on it. That combination can reward patient investors far more reliably than the next AI wannabe.
Technology will change. Markets will rise and fall. Investment fads will come and go. But people will still need water – and Primo will still be there to deliver it.
That’s the kind of staying power you want from a Forever Stock. You can learn more about these kinds of stocks here.
Regards,
Eric Fry
P.S. Of course, AI remains the investment story of the moment. But my colleague Luke Lango believes investors may be looking in the wrong place. Tesla and SpaceX grab the headlines. Luke is more interested in the companies supplying technology that Elon Musk’s businesses can’t operate without. Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, Luke will explain Musk’s emerging “Vertical AI Masterplan” and identify several stocks he believes could benefit from it. Reserve your spot here.
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