3 No-Brainer Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Now With $300

The artificial intelligence (AI) trend isn't showing any signs of slowing down. If anything, we've seen an acceleration in the number of big long-term deals between companies to support the growing artificial intelligence industry across software developers, chipmakers, and infrastructure providers.

The continued excitement around generative AI has led many stocks to soar to all-time highs and valuations that require everything to go right to justify today's prices. Investors looking to put their money to work, even just $300, may have trouble finding attractive opportunities in the AI space.

However, it's not too late to take advantage of the growing megatrend in AI. Investors may be underestimating the potential for some stocks to grow along with AI advancements. These three stocks look like no-brainers, given their valuation and potential growth, and you can buy each of them for less than $300.

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1. Salesforce

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is positioning itself as the key software layer for developing and deploying agentic AI. AI agents have the power to make decisions and take action with limited human intervention, massively increasing productivity for enterprises.

Since launching its Agentforce platform in the late third quarter last year, the company has signed more than 12,500 deals. In the second quarter, management saw its Data Cloud and AI annual recurring revenue climb 120% year over year to $1.2 billion. While that's still a tiny portion of management's $41.2 billion revenue guidance, the rapid growth of its Agentforce platform also has the potential to drive growth throughout the rest of the business.

Salesforce develops leading enterprise software suites focused on sales, service, marketing, and data management. Agentforce offers another way to get customers in the door before expanding their relationship with the company. Likewise, it presents another service that Salesforce can sell, locking in existing customers.

Not only does selling more software increase revenue, but it also increases the retention rate for that revenue. Management noted 70% of its top 100 wins last quarter included five or more "clouds," or software packages.

At a price around $240 per share, the stock trades for a forward P/E ratio of just 21. With the potential for double-digit revenue growth fueled by Agentforce and strong margin expansion as management focuses on driving profitability, that looks like a great price. It could be a great long-term buy-and-hold AI investment for someone with $300 to invest right now.

2. Marvell Technology

Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) has emerged as a key partner for big tech stocks building out AI data centers. While it offers key networking chips for data centers, specializing in optics, its custom AI accelerator business has taken off in recent years. That's set to grow considerably over the next few years, as more companies look to build custom chips and use more of them in their data centers.

But investors have expressed concerns that Marvell may have lost its key customer on that end, Amazon, to its chief rival, Broadcom. At a recent investor conference, CEO Matt Murphy assured investors that the relationship with Amazon remains healthy. He thinks investors can expect Marvell to grow as fast or faster than the overall industry spend on AI data centers. That's estimated to be 18% next year.

But Marvell has considerable opportunities for market share gains in the data center space. That's supported by its work with Microsoft on its forthcoming Maia300 chip, due for production in late 2026. A report over the summer revealed Microsoft is revamping the design to take advantage of newer technology, and it plans to order a lot of chips for its data centers.

Analysts at Fubon Research estimate the chip could add $10 billion to $12 billion in revenue for Marvell in 2027. That's about double its total revenue for last year.

At a price of $92 per share, Marvell trades for about 33 times forward earnings estimates. While that's a premium price, it's still cheap relative to other major AI chip stocks. And considering its pipeline of orders, it should be able to produce considerable growth over the next few years, more than justifying that price.

3. The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) has seen its share price beaten down over the last year, but that could be an opportunity for investors.

The demand-side platform for digital advertisers first faced challenges late last year as it worked to migrate customers to its new Kokai platform. It made some operational changes in the fourth quarter, ultimately putting it on course to migrate its customer base, but that came with some short-term costs. The company missed its own revenue guidance, sending the stock tanking. Shares recovered by midyear, but disappointing third-quarter guidance sent them back down toward their recent lows.

Connected-TV advertising, one of The Trade Desk's specialties, remains a huge opportunity for advertisers. Ad sales on streaming services will climb 63% over the next four years, according to estimates from eMarketer. So, despite increased competition from big tech companies like Amazon in the space, there's still plenty of opportunity for growth.

The Trade Desk has historically taken share of the digital ad market, and that trend should continue. Its key advantages include its neutrality, as it doesn't offer any inventory itself like the bigger ad tech companies.

On top of that, its algorithms for pricing ad inventory and placing bids present an advantage based on years of first-party data collection and a broad customer base. The Trade Desk's platform offers customers full transparency and allows them to take control of the bidding algorithm to maximize their ad dollars. That feature helps it retain its customer base.

The stock currently trades at $54, giving it a forward P/E ratio of around 30. With the potential for revenue growth in the high teens and margin expansion as it scales, that valuation is more than justified. It could be another great addition to a beginner's portfolio for someone with just $300 starting out.

Adam Levy has positions in Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and Marvell Technology and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.