The Best Stocks to Buy With $1,000 Right Now

By Keithen Drury – Mar 17, 2026 at 12:00AM ESTKey PointsThe market is only valuing Nvidia's stock as it will grow for one more year.Microsoft has seldom been this cheap over the past decade.If you've got $1,000 waiting to be invested, I can think of few better stocks to buy than Nvidia (NVDA +1.63%) and Microsoft (MSFT +1.08%). Both of these are massive companies that are well positioned to take advantage of the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out. Each of them is also trading for an attractive valuation, making them the best stocks to buy with $1,000 right now. Image source: Getty Images. Both stocks are trading at historically cheap levels Nvidia and Microsoft hardly need an introduction. Nvidia is the world's largest company and makes graphics processing units (GPUs) and other products that give Nvidia the best accelerated computing ecosystem available. This popularity has been prevalent throughout the AI buildup, as its products are incredibly popular. ExpandNASDAQ: NVDANvidiaToday's Change(1.63%) $2.94Current Price$183.19Key Data PointsMarket Cap$4.5TDay's Range$181.42 - $188.8852wk Range$86.62 - $212.19Volume8.8MAvg Vol177MGross Margin71.07%Dividend Yield0.02% Microsoft's business may seem ho-hum with its Office product suite, but there's so much more to Microsoft than that. Its fastest-growing segment, Azure, is its cloud computing wing, and it's handling huge demand for its computing resources from several AI hyperscalers like OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT. While Azure is Microsoft's most prominent segment, Microsoft is also seeing strength all around its business. Despite both companies being at their best, neither of them trades where they normally do. Nvidia trades for a mere 22 times forward earnings, about the lowest it has been over the past few years. NVDA PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts. That's about the same price as the S&P 500, which trades for 21.7 times forward earnings. This valuation basically projects that Nvidia is going to grow for this year, then deliver market-matching growth after that. However, from all of the AI build-out projections, it's clear that this isn't true, as elevated AI spending is expected to persist throughout 2030. This makes Nvidia a no-brainer buy right now. Microsoft may not be as cheap as Nvidia, but it is attractively priced compared to where it has been in the past. For Microsoft, I'm using the operating price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, as it isn't as skewed as when you use net income due to fluctuations in investments. From this standpoint, Microsoft stock has seldom been this cheap over the past decade. MSFT Operating PE Ratio data by YCharts. It's not often you get the chance to turn back the clock and invest in one of the biggest winners of the past decade, but that's exactly what the market is giving you in Microsoft's stock right now. I think both Nvidia and Microsoft are some of the best AI stocks to buy right now. Even if you remove the AI tag, they are still genius buys, and investors will make a nice profit on these stocks over the next few years as they realize growth and return to more sane valuation levels.Read NextMar 16, 2026 •By Adam Levy1 No-Brainer Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock to Buy Right Now With $400Mar 16, 2026 •By Keithen Drury1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Down 25% That Could Roar Back in 2026Mar 16, 2026 •By Manali Pradhan, CFAPrediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Benefit Most From the Shift to Software Monetization in 2026Mar 15, 2026 •By Keithen Drury3 Stocks Investors Should Buy Hand Over FistMar 14, 2026 •By Daniel SparksWhy I've Changed My Mind on Microsoft StockMar 14, 2026 •By Keithen Drury4 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks at the Top of My Buy List for MarchAbout the AuthorKeithen Drury is a contributing Motley Fool technology analyst covering AI, semiconductors, cybersecurity, and SaaS stocks. In addition to The Motley Fool, Keithen is a mechanical engineer and has held roles at Honeywell and smaller industrial companies like Brand Hydraulics and Lincoln Industries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Dordt University.TMFTripleOptionStocks MentionedMicrosoftNASDAQ: MSFT$399.84(+1.08%)+$4.29NvidiaNASDAQ: NVDA$183.19(+1.63%)+$2.94*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.