The Best Stocks to Invest $50,000 in Right Now
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By Keith Speights – Jan 11, 2026 at 5:41AM ESTKey PointsAlphabet is playing to win in the AI market.Micron is arguably the biggest AI bargain around.Vertex Pharmaceuticals should deliver plenty of good news in 2026.We’re bullish on these 10 stocks ›NASDAQ: VRTXVertex PharmaceuticalsMarket Cap$118BToday's Changeangle-down(-1.24%) $5.82Current Price$463.86Price as of January 9, 2026 at 4:00 PM ETThese stocks should be good bets in the new year.The greater the amount at risk, the more due diligence is required. Most investors won't lose sleep if they lose $50. However, losing $50,000 is another story altogether. Where can investors put such a large amount of money to work without worrying about it? Here are my picks for the best stocks to invest $50,000 in right now. Image source: Getty Images. 1. Alphabet Alphabet (GOOG +1.05%) (GOOGL +1.02%) has clearly demonstrated that it's playing to win in the artificial intelligence (AI) market. Once written off by some as being left behind by OpenAI's ChatGPT, the company now claims the No. 1 and No. 2 large language models (LLMs) – Google Gemini 3.0 Pro and Google Gemini 3.0 Flash – on LMArena's AI model leaderboard. This achievement doesn't just give Alphabet bragging rights. I think it will translate to significant revenue and profits for the company. More customers will likely choose to use Google Cloud, which is already the fastest-growing of the top three cloud platforms, to build and deploy their AI applications because of the capabilities offered by Gemini. ExpandNASDAQ: GOOGLAlphabetToday's Change(1.02%) $3.31Current Price$328.75Key Data PointsMarket Cap$4.0TDay's Range$325.85 - $330.8252wk Range$140.53 - $330.83Volume925KAvg Vol36MGross Margin59.18%Dividend Yield0.25% Alphabet is also integrating the latest, most powerful version of Gemini throughout its product ecosystem. I expect this move will further cement Google Search's dominant market position.Advertisement Investors shouldn't overlook the tremendous opportunity Alphabet has with Waymo, either. The self-driving car technology unit has an impressive head start in the robotaxi market. I don't think Waymo's potential is fully reflected in Alphabet's valuation. 2.
Micron Technology What's the biggest AI bargain right now? A good case can be made for Micron Technology (MU +5.53%). Micron's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is critical for AI chips. Don't take my word for it. Here's what Nvidia (NVDA 0.05%) CEO Jensen Huang said last year: "Micron's leadership in high-performance memory is invaluable to enabling the next generation of AI breakthroughs that Nvidia is driving." Lisa Su, CEO of Nvidia's top rival, AMD (AMD 0.67%), also spoke positively about her company's partnership with Micron. ExpandNASDAQ: MUMicron TechnologyToday's Change(5.53%) $18.07Current Price$345.09Key Data PointsMarket Cap$388BDay's Range$326.19 - $345.8052wk Range$61.54 - $346.30Volume33MAvg Vol27MGross Margin45.56%Dividend Yield0.13% Isn't memory a commodity? Sure. However, it's a hot commodity. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra revealed last month that his company has fully allocated its HBM supply for the entire calendar year 2026. He also projected a 40% compound annual growth rate for HBM through 2028, from $35 billion in sales last year to $100 billion within the next three years. Returning to Micron being a bargain, the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.7 and a price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 0.59. There's relatively minimal downside for Micron at that valuation but plenty of upside potential, in my view. 3.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Not every great stock to invest in right now is focused primarily on AI. I've sung the praises of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 1.24%) for years and continue to do so as 2026 begins. Look for Vertex to report fast-growing sales of two new products throughout this year – Alyftrek and Journavx. Alyftrek is the company's most powerful cystic fibrosis (CF) therapy yet. While it's likely to cannibalize sales of older CF drugs, that's OK. Vertex's profits will still rise because Alyftrek's royalty burden is lower. Meanwhile, non-opioid pain drug Journavx has blockbuster written all over it, in my view. ExpandNASDAQ: VRTXVertex PharmaceuticalsToday's Change(-1.24%) $-5.82Current Price$463.86Key Data PointsMarket Cap$118BDay's Range$463.39 - $475.3352wk Range$362.50 - $519.68Volume1.7MAvg Vol1.4MGross Margin86.29% Vertex's pipeline should also deliver good news. The big drugmaker is already in the process of submitting a rolling Biologics License Application (BLA) for povetacicept in the treatment of IgA nephropathy. This chronic kidney disorder affects around 300,000 people in the U.S. and Europe. By comparison, CF – the indication where Vertex has made its fortune – affects roughly 109,000 people worldwide. You might think that these opportunities are already largely baked into Vertex's share price with its forward earnings multiple of 25.4. However, I don't think that's the case. The biotech stock's PEG ratio, which is based on five-year earnings growth projections, is 0.58. I believe that Vertex, like Alphabet and Micron, has considerable room to run.Read NextOct 24, 2025 •By Keith SpeightsThe Best Stocks to Invest $50,000 In Right NowJan 10, 2024 •By Keith SpeightsThese 3 Stocks Have Beaten the S&P Average Return for Years and Are Likely to Continue That TrendDec 4, 2023 •By Keith SpeightsA Bull Market Is Coming. Here Are 3 Stocks You'll Absolutely Want to Own.Apr 1, 2023 •By Eric CukaThe 10 Best Stocks to Buy in April 2023Dec 30, 2019 •By Matt DiLallo5 Stocks to Buy in JanuarySep 1, 2018 •By Steve Symington3 Stocks That Could Put Netflix's Returns to ShameAbout the AuthorKeith Speights is a contributing Motley Fool healthcare analyst covering publicly traded companies across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, technology, and marijuana. Prior to The Motley Fool, Keith was CEO of Constant Care Technology, a healthcare technology company; vice president of American HealthTech, a healthcare software company; and a director of operations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi, a health insurer. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University.TMFFishBizStocks MentionedVertex PharmaceuticalsNASDAQ: VRTX$463.86 (0.01%) $5.82AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOGL$328.75 (+0.01%) $+3.31Micron TechnologyNASDAQ: MU$345.09 (+0.06%) $+18.07NvidiaNASDAQ: NVDA$184.95 (0.00%) $0.09Advanced Micro DevicesNASDAQ: AMD$203.30 (0.01%) $1.38AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOG$329.43 (+0.01%) $+3.42*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.Advertisement