It has been a difficult year for stocks generally, and especially growth stocks. As inflation spiked and interest rates followed, the hit to growth stocks, with the bulk of their profits well out in the future, has been especially large.

However, not all growth stocks are unprofitable, and some market leaders are likely to be quite resistant to a recession. The following three stocks have some nice defensive qualities that should hold up even in an adverse economic environment and should also thrive over the longer term.

Even if a company is the second-largest in the world by market cap, that doesn't mean it's done growing. After all, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has been able to consistently grow by double digits in most quarters over the past decade, especially under CEO Satya Nadella, who took the helm in 2014.

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Source Fool.com