Have $500? 2 Absurdly Cheap Stocks Long-Term Investors Should Buy Right Now.

By Lawrence Rothman, CFA – Mar 11, 2026 at 8:05AM ESTKey PointsInvestors should seek to buy low and sell high.Amazon's large investment commitment seems wise given the long-term growth opportunity.Target's return to its core merchandising strategy should propel sales growth.Buy low and sell high is more than a maxim. It's an approach to investing that everyone should take. Of course, that's easy to say, but difficult to accomplish. Taking a long-term view, you'd like to pick stocks with strong underlying fundamentals that trade at attractive valuations. This value investing style means you have to be willing to think outside the box, but it can pay off handsomely. These two stocks qualify since the market appears to be discounting their long-term earnings potential. Fortunately, you don't need to start with an exorbitant amount to invest. Image source: Getty Images. 1. Amazon When analyzing Amazon's (AMZN +0.39%) growth opportunity, it's important to examine the company's cloud-computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS). That's because the unit produced about 57% of 2025's operating income. AWS' sales and profits have been growing at a nice clip. Fourth-quarter sales grew 23.6% year over year to $35.6 billion, while operating income gained 17.2% to $12.5 billion. Some investors have been concerned with the higher expenses and planned capital expenditures (capex). Management projects this year's capex will reach $200 billion, up from 2025's $131.8 billion. But Amazon, particularly the AWS business, has a unique opportunity, given its strong market position, with generative artificial intelligence becoming more prevalent among organizations. AWS already has a position of strength, with the leading market share at 28% in Q4. Given the amount of resources required to build data centers, there aren't many major competitors. Microsoft's Azure and Alphabet's Google follow with 21% and 14% shares, respectively. All other companies have below a 5% market share. Including the stock price's recent dip following the company's Q4 earnings release, the shares have gained 7% over the last year through March 6. In comparison, the S&P 500 index returned 18.3%. ExpandNASDAQ: AMZNAmazonToday's Change(0.39%) $0.84Current Price$214.33Key Data PointsMarket Cap$2.3TDay's Range$212.43 - $215.6552wk Range$161.38 - $258.60Volume233KAvg Vol49MGross Margin50.29% As a result of this price action, Amazon's shares trade at a better valuation. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has contracted from 36 to 30 over the last year. The stock has a median P/E multiple of 56 over the last five years. Amazon's stock trades in line with the S&P 500's P/E ratio of 29. However, given the company's bright long-term growth prospects, the shares should trade at a premium. 2. Target Target (TGT +0.50%) has gotten away from its core merchandising strategy, which is to offer differentiated goods that drive customer traffic to its stores and website. Michael Fiddelke, recently promoted to CEO, aims to get Target back to its roots and win back customers to stem the sales decline. His priorities include differentiating the merchandising offerings, improving the online and in-store guest experience, and investing in technology. Rather than competing on price with the likes of Walmart, returning Target's offerings to what made it so popular makes sense to me. He's made management changes to foster his initiatives. Last year's same-store sales (comps) dropped 2.6%, including a 2.5% decline in Q4. This covered the period that ended on Jan. 31. However, Fiddelke has a more optimistic view about this year. He expects comps to increase slightly and operating margin to expand from 4.6% to 4.8%. Investors would welcome this after several years of sluggish comps. Target's shares have rallied this year, including following the recent earnings release. Nonetheless, the stock produced a tepid 5% gain over the last year. ExpandNYSE: TGTTargetToday's Change(0.50%) $0.60Current Price$120.74Key Data PointsMarket Cap$55BDay's Range$118.57 - $122.4752wk Range$83.44 - $126.00Volume1.6KAvg Vol6.8MGross Margin25.44%Dividend Yield3.76% The valuation isn't as attractive as it was throughout 2025, but it's still very compelling. Target's stock has a P/E ratio of 15, up from 13 a year ago. Still, that's about half the multiple of the S&P 500. It's also lower than the five-year median P/E ratio of 17.Read NextMar 11, 2026 •By Sean WilliamsBillionaire Bill Ackman Dumped His Fund's Stake in Chipotle and Has Piled Into This Dual-Industry Leader Over the Previous 3 QuartersMar 10, 2026 •By Daniel SparksAmazon Stock Has Pulled Back in 2026. Is This a Buy-the-Dip Moment?Mar 10, 2026 •By Keith SpeightsBuying Amazon Stock When It's Down This Much Has Always Paid Off in the Past.

Will It Again?Mar 8, 2026 •By Will HealyThe Best 3 Retail Stocks to Buy in MarchMar 7, 2026 •By Geoffrey SeilerThe 3 Best Retail Stocks to Buy in MarchMar 7, 2026 •By Neil PatelIs Amazon Stock a Long-Term Buy?About the AuthorLawrence Rothman, CFA, has been a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst since 2019, covering consumer goods and retail stocks. Previously, Lawrence worked on Wall Street and at independent research firms before devoting his attention to finding successful long-term investments for individual investors.TMFLarryrothmanStocks MentionedAmazonNASDAQ: AMZN$214.33(+0.39%)+$0.84WalmartNASDAQ: WMT$125.12(+0.63%)+$0.78TargetNYSE: TGT$120.74(+0.50%)+$0.60MicrosoftNASDAQ: MSFT$405.50(-0.95%)-$3.91AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOGL$307.13(+0.25%)+$0.77AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOG$306.97(+0.31%)+$0.96*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.