Warren Buffett once said, “You’ve got to be prepared when you buy a stock to have it go down 50% or more and be comfortable with it, as long as you’re comfortable with the holding.”
That philosophy applies directly to growth stocks operating in nascent markets with the potential to expand dramatically over the coming decades.
Three companies stand out as compelling long-term holdings despite current volatility: Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY), AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS), and QuantumScape (NASDAQ: QS).
Joby Aviation develops electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, commonly referred to as flying taxis, positioning itself at the forefront of a potential revolution in urban air mobility.
Analysts expect Joby’s revenue to surge from $53 million in 2025 to $458 million by 2028 as the company begins launching commercial flight operations.
The stock trades at roughly 20 times its projected 2028 sales, making it far from cheap, but the long-term opportunity grows if eVTOLs succeed in displacing conventional helicopters at scale.
AST SpaceMobile builds large low Earth orbit satellites designed to help telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon extend wireless coverage into rural areas that terrestrial towers cannot reach.
The company has also secured a role in the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s “Golden Dome” project, adding a significant government contracts dimension to its commercial satellite ambitions.
AST has launched seven satellites so far and plans to expand its constellation to between 45 and 60 satellites by the end of 2026, with a longer-term target of 248 satellites, following FCC authorization granted in April.
Revenue is expected to climb from $71 million in 2025 to $1.88 billion by 2028, with analysts projecting profitability arriving in both 2027 and 2028, even as the stock already trades at 14 times forward 2028 sales.
QuantumScape is developing solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, with its QSE-5 design offering better thermal resistance, faster charging, and greater capacity compared to conventional lithium-ion cells.
The company spent roughly a decade co-developing its battery technology alongside Volkswagen, before pivoting away from capital-intensive manufacturing in 2024 toward a licensing model targeting Volkswagen’s battery subsidiary, PowerCo, and other automakers.
That shift is designed to generate recurring, higher-margin royalty revenues rather than requiring QuantumScape to build and operate its own production facilities.
Analysts project QuantumScape’s revenue will reach $51 million in 2027 and $99 million in 2028, though the stock trades at 43 times those 2028 estimates and is expected to remain unprofitable for the foreseeable future.
The core investment thesis for QuantumScape rests on its early mover advantage in solid-state batteries, which could deliver substantial long-term returns if it commercializes its technology ahead of industry rivals.
All three companies operate in high-risk, high-reward sectors where patience and tolerance for volatility are prerequisites for investors hoping to capture the full scope of potential gains over a lifetime holding period.
