There are many parts of the economy that can provide solid investment ideas. One popular area is the technology sector: Not only are the companies at the forefront of innovations, but they’re also some of the most successful. 

If you’re looking to buy three top tech stocks in 2023, consider the dominant internet businesses Amazon (AMZN -1.92%), Alphabet (GOOGL -1.16%) (GOOG -1.22%), and Meta Platforms (META -2.92%). Here’s why they make good long-term investments. 

Secular trends 

These three companies are all riding strong tailwinds that have propelled them in the past and are likely to continue doing so far into the future. 

Amazon is a clear winner in the growth of online shopping, and it has a huge lead over any other e-commerce platform in the U.S.

As leaders in digital advertising, Alphabet and Meta both will gain as the internet expands in users and usage. This leads to more data creation and collection, things that these two businesses use to better position ads for marketers. 

According to Grand View Research, the global market for cloud computing services is set to be worth nearly $1.6 trillion by 2030. Amazon Web Services (AWS), the top player in the industry, and Alphabet’s Google Cloud, in third place, are set to benefit from the shift to off-premises information-technology spending. 

With YouTube, Alphabet also has a popular service in the streaming wars. The video platform is estimated to have 2.5 billion monthly active users, and it commands more TV viewing time in the U.S. than Netflix. 

Another tech trend to pay attention to is artificial intelligence (AI), a topic that investors can’t seem to get enough of. By already having incredibly popular products and services that can instantly integrate AI, these three companies have a huge advantage for staying at the forefront of this technology. 

Economic moats 

Warren Buffett wants to own businesses that have an economic moat, which is a single quality or combination of traits to help them stay ahead of the competition, while also discouraging new entrants into their respective industries. These three companies provide case studies on powerful moats. 

Amazon has huge scale advantages thanks to a logistical footprint that allows it to ship products at lower costs than rivals. And the data it collects on shopping behavior helps drive strategic decisions that further bolster its competitive standing.

Network effects are another source of an economic moat to think about. With search and YouTube, Alphabet owns services that become more valuable to users as they get bigger. 

Meta also has network effects. Its popular social media apps, which have over 3 billion daily active users, become exponentially better as they grow. That’s because more connections can be made and more interactions can happen. 

It’s difficult to overstate how powerful these three companies are. An insightful exercise is to think about what it would take to try to launch competing products and services. Where would you even begin to successfully create a new mass-market e-commerce website, or a new search engine, or a new social network? It seems impossible. 

Vast resources 

With a combined 2022 revenue base of $914 billion, coupled with cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities on their balance sheets of $241 billion (as of June 30), it’s easy to see the immense scale and financial resources these businesses have. I think this is another key reason to want to own their shares.

Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta can all focus relentlessly on investing in innovative technologies or launching new products and services to stay ahead of the game. And if these bets don’t pay off, they have proven moneymaking business lines to fall back on. Having access to the brightest minds in technology also helps, as human capital is a major asset these days. 

Thanks to their tremendous scale, unlimited financial resources, and top-tier tech talent, it’s probably safe to assume that these three businesses will remain dominant for years to come. This makes buying and holding their shares a smart idea.