Although artificial intelligence (AI) has been a popular investing theme over the past two years, there is still plenty of room for more growth in 2025. We're just getting started with some of the most important parts of AI implementation, which means we're far from done realizing the gains of many stocks with significant AI investments.
Two stocks that investors can buy with $1,000 and that are no-brainer picks right now are Nvidia (NVDA -3.00%) and Meta Platforms (META 0.84%). Both of these have been wildly successful picks over the past two years, and I think 2025 will also be another successful year for this duo.
Nvidia
Nvidia has been the go-to AI investment for a while, and I think it still deserves a place at the top of the AI investing pecking order. The reason? It's actually making money from the trend.
Many of the biggest AI players are pouring billions of dollars into AI research, and a huge chunk of that money goes to Nvidia. Because Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) and the software that supports them have become the industry standard in AI training, it has established itself as the leader in this field. As these AI hyperscalers continue to spend more on computing power in 2025 (which many have indicated they will), Nvidia will benefit from this.
For FY 2026 (ending January 2026), Wall Street analysts project that Nvidia will grow its revenue at a 52% pace -- not bad for a company whose revenue is projected to double in FY 2025. Powering next year's growth trajectory is undoubtedly its Blackwell architecture, which is Nvidia's next-generation technology. Blackwell chips outperform existing Hopper chips significantly in important tests like AI training. In fact, Blackwell chips are four times faster in training AI models than Hopper chips. That's a massive performance boost, and investors can be sure that the biggest competitors in the space will be sure to obtain these cutting-edge GPUs as they become more readily available.
However, there's a notion that Nvidia's stock is incredibly expensive and should be avoided. I don't think that's true, as Nvidia trades for a reasonable (considering its growth) 47 times forward earnings.
NVDA PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts
Other big tech stocks like Apple (AAPL -2.41%) and Amazon (AMZN -1.44%) trade at 33 and 36 times forward earnings, respectively. However, neither of those is growing nearly as quickly as Nvidia, so this premium makes sense.
Nvidia is still one of the top ways to invest in AI, and investors shouldn't let it slip by.
Meta Platforms
Meta is one of those companies that's dumping billions of dollars into AI research. However, it's doing it to make sure that its social media platforms stay relevant. Meta's primary revenue streams come from ad revenue generated on its Family of Apps (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, and Messenger).
It also has significant augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) investments that haven't paid off yet, but it might be if Meta can deliver a consumer product that integrates top-tier AI at a competitive price point.
Regardless, those investments are years away from paying off, if they ever do. But in Meta Platforms' current business state, they're still an attractive investment.
Meta is projected to grow its revenue by 15% next year, which isn't as fast as Nvidia, but you also don't have to pay a huge premium to own the stock.
META PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts
At 24 times forward earnings, Meta is a reasonably priced big tech stock. This is especially true if you consider the upside that Meta has if one of its products eventually hits it big. The stock is only being valued for its social media advertising business, which is still a fantastic reason to invest in it.
Meta is a huge AI player, but it still has a strong base business to pay its bills while we wait for AI to become fully integrated.
