Got $1,000? Here Are Three Incredible AI Stocks to Get Started
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By Keithen Drury – May 3, 2026 at 1:30PM ESTKey PointsSemiconductor giant Nvidia is seeing incredible AI demand.Alphabet is facilitating a lot of AI traffic via Google Cloud.Nebius is one of the fastest-growing stocks on the market. Getting started with artificial intelligence (AI) investing may be intimidating, but it isn't hard. There are plenty of solid AI investing options out there, but if I had to restart, there are three I'd buy first. They range in size, but all of them have one thing in common: impressive growth. AI is delivering massive revenue growth for many companies now, and it's key to identify the ones that are benefiting from the trend. The first three AI stocks I'd buy now are Nvidia (NVDA 0.48%), Alphabet (GOOG +0.27%) (GOOGL +0.20%), and Nebius (NBIS +11.79%), and all three of them are booming. Image source: Getty Images. 1. Nvidia Nvidia is the world's largest company, which may have you thinking, "How can Nvidia grow even more?" It all comes down to AI computing demand, which has proven to be insatiable. Nvidia makes graphics processing units (GPUs), which have been the top option to train and run AI models since the buildout began in 2023. Nvidia's products are still at the top of the food chain and are seeing immense growth as a result. ExpandNASDAQ: NVDANvidiaToday's Change(-0.48%) $-0.96Current Price$198.61Key Data PointsMarket Cap$4.8TDay's Range$197.13 - $202.9552wk Range$110.82 - $216.82Volume4.5MAvg Vol175MGross Margin71.07%Dividend Yield0.02% Last quarter, Nvidia put up 73% year over year revenue growth. Considering most big tech companies are elated when they have a 20% growth quarter, this showcases how strong Nvidia's business is. But it's only getting stronger. Next quarter, management expects 77% revenue growth. With how much the AI hyperscalers are spending on data centers this year, it's safe to say that this will continue to be a multi-year growth trend for the company. That makes Nvidia an excellent stock to buy now and hold on to, as the growth is far from over. 2. Alphabet Alphabet is the parent company of Google, and it's deeply involved in the AI boom in multiple ways. The most obvious is via its various generative AI offerings, headlined by its flagship Gemini model. But that's not the only way Alphabet is making money from AI. It has also integrated Gemini into its Google Search platform and offers nearly every standard Google Search an AI summary, which exposes millions of users to AI every single day. ExpandNASDAQ: GOOGLAlphabetToday's Change(0.20%) $0.78Current Price$385.58Key Data PointsMarket Cap$4.7TDay's Range$379.09 - $386.7652wk Range$147.84 - $386.76Volume1.4MAvg Vol33MGross Margin60.43%Dividend Yield0.22% Another key way Alphabet is benefiting from AI is through its cloud computing service, Google Cloud. Many businesses train and run AI models with Google Cloud's computing infrastructure, including its custom-designed TPU chips. This part of the business was especially strong during Q1, with revenue rising 63% year over year. Investors shouldn't be surprised to see this rapid growth rate continue, and with Alphabet spending hundreds of billions of dollars on capital expenditures to increase its data center footprint, this stock growth will persist for years to come. 3. Nebius While there's a good chance you've heard of Nvidia and Alphabet, Nebius may be a bit under the radar. It is a neocloud company that offers AI-centric cloud computing. Similar to Google Cloud, it's seeing incredible demand, but its growth rate far surpasses anything that Google Cloud could dream of these days. ExpandNASDAQ: NBISNebius GroupToday's Change(11.79%) $16.29Current Price$154.52Key Data PointsMarket Cap$39BDay's Range$140.08 - $155.9952wk Range$23.25 - $168.71Volume629KAvg Vol16MGross Margin-765.63% At the end of 2025, its annual run rate was $1.25 billion. By the end of 2026, management expects that number to be between $7 billion and $9 billion. That isn't a figure that's just expected from the company; Wall Street analysts expect 523% revenue growth in 2026 and 206% in 2027. Overall, the company expects revenue to to rise 20-fold from the end of 2025 to the end of 2027, making this one of the fastest-growing stocks on the market. This is the high-risk, high-reward section of the AI stock picks, but if it pans out, the returns it will deliver to investors will far outpace anything that Nvidia or Alphabet provides. However, there is more uncertainty with this stock, so investors should also balance it out with less-risky picks like the other two.Read NextMay 3, 2026 •By John BromelsJensen Huang Just Announced Something Big. Here's What It Means for Nvidia Stock.May 3, 2026 •By Scott LevineStock Market Indexes Explained: What They Are and Why They MatterMay 3, 2026 •By Adam SpataccoIs Nvidia's Deal With Oklo a Game Changer?May 2, 2026 •By Prosper Junior BakinyMajor Hyperscalers Just Reported Earnings.
Nvidia Was The WinnerMay 2, 2026 •By Chris NeigerNvidia Is Using AI to Fix Quantum Computing's Biggest ProblemMay 2, 2026 •By Prosper Junior Bakiny2 Growth Stocks to Invest $500 in Right NowAbout 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 MentionedNvidiaNASDAQ: NVDA$198.61(-0.48%)-$0.96AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOGL$385.58(+0.20%)+$0.78Nebius GroupNASDAQ: NBIS$154.52(+11.79%)+$16.29AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOG$382.96(+0.27%)+$1.02*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.