One of the biggest advantages individual investors have is time.

Most of Wall Street is focused on the next quarter. Earnings estimates, analyst revisions, short-term price moves. But the biggest returns in the market rarely happen overnight. They happen when you identify great businesses early and give them time to compound.

Instead of asking where a stock might go in the next few months, I prefer asking a different question:

Where could this company realistically be in five years?

When you start looking at companies through that lens, certain businesses begin to stand out. Large markets, strong growth, improving margins, and increasing free cash flow can create powerful long-term compounding.

Here are five companies that I believe have the potential to double by 2030 if they continue executing.

Amazon is already one of the most dominant companies in the world, but the story is far from over.

A lot of people still think of Amazon as just an e-commerce company. In reality, it’s a collection of several powerful businesses operating under one umbrella.

First, there’s AWS, Amazon’s cloud computing platform. AWS remains a leader in global cloud infrastructure and continues benefiting from the massive demand for computing power, especially as artificial intelligence continues expanding.

Then there’s Amazon Advertising, which has quietly become one of the fastest-growing advertising platforms in the world. Because Amazon sits directly at the point of purchase, advertisers are willing to spend heavily to reach customers who are already looking to buy products.

On top of that, Amazon continues improving its logistics network, which helps lower costs and improve delivery speeds.

When you combine e-commerce, cloud computing, advertising, and logistics, you’re looking at a company with multiple engines of growth. If those continue scaling over the next decade, it’s not hard to imagine Amazon becoming significantly larger than it is today.

AMD has been one of the most impressive turnaround stories in the semiconductor industry.

A decade ago, the company was struggling to compete with much larger rivals. Today, AMD is one of the most important players in high-performance computing.

Under CEO Lisa Su, the company has steadily gained market share in CPUs while expanding its presence in data centers and enterprise computing.

Now AMD finds itself positioned right in the middle of one of the biggest technological shifts happening today: artificial intelligence.

AI models require massive amounts of computing power. As more companies begin building and deploying AI systems, the demand for advanced chips continues rising rapidly.

AMD’s AI accelerator products are designed to compete in this space, giving the company exposure to one of the fastest-growing segments in technology.

Between data centers, AI infrastructure, and continued share gains in computing, AMD still has a massive runway ahead if execution remains strong.

SoFi is trying to build something that traditional banks have struggled to create: a true financial ecosystem.

Instead of offering just one or two financial products, SoFi aims to provide a full suite of services including banking, lending, investing, credit cards, and financial planning tools.

The idea is simple. Once a customer enters the ecosystem, the company can offer additional products over time.

This strategy creates strong customer relationships and can significantly lower the cost of acquiring new users.

Another interesting piece of the business is SoFi’s lending platform model, which allows the company to originate loans and distribute them through partners rather than holding everything on its own balance sheet.

That model can create a more capital-efficient business over time.

Meanwhile, SoFi’s technology platform — including Galileo and Technisys — provides infrastructure for other financial institutions and fintech companies.

When you combine financial services, technology infrastructure, and a rapidly growing member base, SoFi starts to look more like a long-term platform than a traditional bank.

Healthcare is one of the largest industries in the United States, yet it’s also one of the most frustrating for consumers.

Oscar Health was built with the goal of modernizing the healthcare insurance experience.

The company focuses heavily on technology, data, and automation to simplify the way members navigate the healthcare system.

Instead of relying on outdated systems and paperwork-heavy processes, Oscar uses digital tools to help members find care, understand coverage, and manage their health plans more easily.

Over the past few years the company has also focused on improving operational efficiency and moving toward profitability.

If Oscar can continue growing membership while improving margins, the long-term opportunity could be substantial given the size of the healthcare market.

PayPal is a good example of how quickly sentiment can change in the market.

Just a few years ago, the company was one of the most loved fintech stocks. Then growth slowed after the pandemic, competition increased, and the stock sold off significantly.

But the underlying business is still incredibly strong.

PayPal continues generating billions of dollars in free cash flow each year, and the company has been using that cash to aggressively buy back shares.

The platform also still has a massive global user base and remains one of the most widely recognized digital payment brands in the world.

Under new leadership, PayPal has been focusing on improving the checkout experience, strengthening merchant relationships, and driving operational efficiency.

If the company can stabilize growth while continuing to generate large amounts of cash flow, the current valuation could look very different a few years from now.

The market can be extremely unpredictable in the short term.

Prices move based on headlines, sentiment, macro news, and countless other factors that are impossible to control.

But over long periods of time, stock prices tend to follow the strength of the underlying business.

That’s why I spend far more time studying things like revenue growth, margins, competitive advantages, and free cash flow than I do worrying about short-term price moves.

If a company continues improving its fundamentals year after year, the market usually recognizes that eventually.

Patience is often the most underrated edge an investor can have.

I’m currently working on launching my Surmount investing strategy, where I’ll be sharing a portfolio focused on high-quality companies with strong long-term growth potential.

The strategy isn’t live just yet, but I’m excited to share more details soon.

Stay tuned.

This newsletter is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed here are my personal opinions and should not be interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Always do your own research and consider consulting a qualified financial professional before making investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.