Old-School Stocks Shing! Prefer “Story Stocks” or “Cash-Paying” Ones?
Earnings season is here—are you only watching AI, semiconductors, and high-growth names?
But take a look at $Coca-Cola(KO)$ — profits are rock-solid; and $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ ? It’s actually the worst-performing stock among the Magnificent 7 this year.
So here’s the real question — while everyone’s chasing “growth,” are these ignored, cash-rich “old-school stocks” secretly setting up for a year-end breakout? 🧐
At Berkshire Hathaway’s 1994 shareholder meeting, Buffett said something worth remembering: $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B)$
“We can perfectly well buy businesses that don’t grow at all. If the return is satisfactory, we’ll gladly own them.”
He gave a simple example:
An account with 10% annual return but no capital growth,
vs. an account with 2% annual return that grows 10% each year.
After ten years, the first one pays back your principal early and keeps printing profit; the second one looks prettier on paper but delivers far less real cash.
That’s exactly what Buffett values most: Free Cash Flow and Capital Recovery Speed.
📈 If a company can generate tons of cash every year without heavy capital spending — that’s basically owning a money-printing machine.
Even with zero growth, the cash flow alone can keep compounding your wealth.
Look at Buffett’s bet on Japan’s five major trading houses:
Combined net profit: ¥3.8 trillion (~$25B USD),
Free cash flow: ¥3 trillion,
All light-asset businesses.
As Buffett put it:
“Some of our best businesses don’t grow, but they generate so much cash that we can use it to buy other assets.”
That’s the magic of boomer stocks — Not companies selling stories, but companies paying you real cash. 💰
⚡ With oil prices rebounding, energy names like $Occidental(OXY)$ are heating up again.
Coca-Cola and P&G, the classic cash cows, are quietly outperforming too.
When growth stocks get overcrowded near bubble levels, steady cash flow and low-valuation giants might just become the next surprise winners.
Buffett also said:
“There isn’t only one way to invest — but there are some very useful ones.”
Peter Lynch beat Wall Street by investing in what he saw in daily life, Buffett won by harvesting cash flow. There’s no single “right” path — the real key is whether you can spot value where others can’t.
💬 Let’s Discuss:
1️⃣ Which stock today best represents a true “boomer stock”?
2️⃣ If you could hold only one high-cash-flow, low-growth stock forever, which would it be?
3️⃣ Do you prefer buying “story stocks” or “cash-paying” ones?
Leave your comments to win tiger coins~
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Coca-Cola (KO) perfectly fits the title — slow growth, steady dividends, and timeless global demand. It’s not exciting, but it’s reliable. Other contenders: Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and McDonald’s — all built on consistency, not hype.
2️⃣ One High-Cash-Flow, Low-Growth Stock to Hold Forever:
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B). It’s like owning a diversified portfolio of old-economy cash machines — insurance, utilities, railroads — with Buffett’s discipline keeping capital productive. It may not soar, but it rarely stumbles.
3️⃣ Story Stocks vs. Cash-Paying Stocks:
I prefer cash-paying stocks. They reward patience with tangible returns, especially in volatile markets. Story stocks are fun but fragile — narrative fades, fundamentals stay. Best strategy: hold a few story-driven names for excitement, but anchor wealth in cash-flow giants that pay you to wait.
Warren Buffett declared : We can perfectly well buy businesses that don't grow at all. If the business is satisfactory we will gladly own them.
Translation? If the cash gushes & the capex is low, you have got a financial geyser. If a company prints money without needing to reinvent itself every quarter, it is not boring, it is beautiful.
DBS fits Buffett model of high cash flow & eternal compounding.
Dividend Royalty : DBS yields over 4%, paid out every quarter.
DBS is a cash flow machine. With net profit crossing SGD 2.5 billion per quarter, DBS does not chase growth. It commands it.
DBS CET1 ratio is 15.2% - fortress grade.
DBS is the kind of stock that I would hold forever. No drama, just deposits & dividends.
DBS is my favourite cash cow.
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這正是巴菲特最看重的：自由現金流和資金回收速度。
在伯克希爾哈撒韋公司1994年的股東大會上，巴菲特說了一句值得記住的話：$伯克希爾哈撒韋公司(BRK.B)$
If I could hold one “boomer stock” forever, it’d be Coca-Cola. Its global reach, strong pricing power, and consistent free cash flow make it exactly what Buffett calls a “money-printing machine.” It doesn’t need heavy reinvestment, yet keeps rewarding shareholders year after year — the kind of compounding that works quietly but effectively.
That’s why I prefer cash-paying companies over story stocks. Narratives can fuel short-term hype, but cash flow sustains long-term returns. When growth names get overpriced, these cash-rich giants often become the smart contrarian play.
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PepsiCo Inc (PEP) offers reliable cash flow from snacks and beverages, with a long history of dividends; though not a high-growth stock, its consistent performance and market share make it a solid long-term pick。。。
For investors seeking stability, “cash-paying” stocks are safer, as “story stocks” in tech or biotech offer upside but come with higher volatility, while dividend stocks provide steady income and less risk, appealing to conservatives
Finally, bank stocks in Singapore and Hong Kong are excellent “boomer stocks”, by offering steady cash flow, reliable dividends, and stability with less exposure to the volatility of growth stocks
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And their growth is also making them worth keeping for long term
So, if I could only hold one high cash flow, low growth stock, it has to be coca-cola. Besides, it doesn’t just have coke, it has a wide variety of other drinks like coffee, Minute Maid, sports drinks that are popular too.
For the longer term, cash paying ones would be like a money printing machine. In the short to medium term, story stocks are good for generating capital gains if the profit is realised. So, I think it depends on my investment horizon. Cash paying ones would be my buy and forget ones but story stocks would be for me to swing trade or to invest only for the short to medium term.
(2) If you could hold only one high-cash-flow, low-growth stock forever, which would it be?: DBS any day (though it is also growing crazily in the recent past).
3 Do you prefer buying "story stocks" or "cash-paying" ones?: I don't prefer going all in, into any one theme. In my dinner plate, there is place for both bread and desserts. Cash-paying stocks being the bread and the story stocks being the desserts. After all, one can eat only bread and still survive; whilst the desserts taste great one can't eat them alone.
Whether it was petrol or natural gas, these companies should have used their incredible base (wealth, infrastructure, know how, etc.) to step into new adjacent fields like solar, wind, thermal, etc.
Companies who refuse to diversify or pivot, will fall behind in the long run, no matter how stubborn they want to be, look at how solar prices keep dropping because China placed a strong emphasis on it. Investors should be smarter and show companies that they have to keep up with the times, or they will no longer have our favour.
I'm not sure if ExxonMobil still insists on being a dinosaur, but I know from reports that they were incredibly stubborn about moving on and constantly propped up dud initiatives to keep up the charade of looking like they were stepping forward.
Oil and petroleum companies have my scorn for raising prices after COVID lockdowns to take "revenge" for "lost" profits.