3 Growth Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right Now

Key Points

• Amazon's core e-commerce business remains remarkably resilient and continues to dominate the global retail landscape.

• Nvidia remains the undisputed leader in supplying the advanced chips powering today’s artificial intelligence revolution.

• Meta Platforms leads the social media landscape, operating three of the world’s top-five most-used platforms and reaching 3.4 billion daily users.

• 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia ›

The last year has been a wild ride for many investors, with a huge swing down in the market in the spring before rocketing back up to today's highs. For investors who want to keep that momentum going, here are four growth-focused companies that would be a smart place to park $1,000.

Amazon continues to dominate

With all the tariff drama, it makes sense that investors have been a bit wary of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) compared to its big tech rivals. I think this fear is overblown. Yes, the trade war between the U.S. and China could reignite, and this would definitely impact Amazon's business, but any disruptions would more than likely be temporary.

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The fact is, Amazon's e-commerce business is highly resilient, and I don't see its dominance meaningfully threatened. Amazon enjoys a moat that few companies in history have. It is hard to overstate how ingrained it is in the daily lives of consumers across the globe.

And beyond its retail business, Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- the company's cloud service -- continues to thrive, growing rapidly in the age of artificial intelligence (AI); revenue was up 17% year over year in the first quarter of 2025. CEO Andy Jassy recently drove home the potential of AWS, saying in an earnings call, "before this generation of AI, we thought AWS had the chance to ultimately be a multi-hundred-billion-dollar revenue run rate business. We now think it could be even larger."

Nvidia is still on top

It's no secret that the most dominant company leading the most dominant industry is Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Data centers across the globe, especially those running today's most advanced AI models, are filled to the brim with the company's advanced graphics processing units (GPUs). Thus far, no other chipmaker managed to rival Nvidia when it comes to delivering the most advanced GPUs needed to power modern AI, and although competitors like Advanced Micro Devices have begun to make some headway, Nvidia is still miles ahead. It also has an incredible amount of capital -- dollars and people -- to deploy in defending its lead.

Image source: Getty Images.

While this would already be a substantial moat, Nvidia's CUDA architecture provides it with an incredible advantage. This is a key component, and although it's definitely talked about, it remains poorly understood by investors given its importance. Without going into too much detail, CUDA is essentially a software layer upon which most AI technology is built. If a company is already in Nvidia's ecosystem, switching to rival chips would require the overhaul of their entire workflow, making them unlikely to leave. As a result, Nvidia's ecosystem keeps clients loyal and willing to pay a premium.

Meta Platforms dominates social media

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is the undisputed leader in social media. Of the top five most used social media platforms in the world, Meta has No. 1, 3, and 4 in Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. All told, its platforms are actively used by more than 3.4 billion people around the world on a daily basis. This massive user base continues to fuel massive growth for the tech behemoth. Its latest quarterly earnings showed a 22% jump in sales year over year (YOY) and a 38% jump in net income.

To capitalize on its success, the company is investing aggressively in its future -- especially in AI -- where its enormous and engaged user base gives Meta a unique advantage. It has access to vast amounts of data to train its models and a captive audience to roll out its AI products to. And unlike some in the AI space, Meta also has the financial strength to continue investing even if the short-term return is less than stellar.

Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?

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Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.