The Smartest Growth Stock to Buy With $1,000 Right Now

If you've got $1,000 to invest today, I'd stick with a market leader. As such, one of the smartest growth stocks to invest in today is Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). With $1,000, or a little more, you'll be able to buy five shares.

The stock has actually been a market laggard over the past five years. This underperformance, though, has left it at one of the cheapest valuations in its history, with the stock trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of about 26.5 times 2026 analyst estimates. That's way below the valuations of brick-and-mortar retailers Walmart and Costco Wholesale.

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An e-commerce and cloud computing leader

Don't be fooled by the underperformance of Amazon's stock. Under the hood, the company has been doing a lot of good things. Amazon became the undisputed king of e-commerce by investing heavily in its warehouse and logistics network. This allows it to get goods to consumers quickly, which helps drive sales.

More recently, the company has been investing in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to continue to increase delivery speed and improve operational efficiency. The company is the largest manufacturer of robots in the world and now has over 1 million deployed in its distribution centers, all of which are coordinated by its DeepFleet AI model. At the same time, it's using AI to optimize delivery routes and inventory warehouse placement.

This is creating strong operating leverage in its e-commerce business, which could be seen in its fourth-quarter results. Last quarter, its North America operating income climbed 24% year over year on a 10% increase in revenue. Also helping drive its operating income growth is its high-margin sponsored ad business. Amazon has become one of the largest digital advertising platforms in the world, and this part of its business is growing quickly. Last quarter, its ad revenue climbed 22%.

In addition to being a leader in e-commerce, Amazon also holds the No. 1 market share in cloud computing, an industry it helped create. This is the most profitable segment of the company, and the fastest growing. Best of all, revenue in this segment is accelerating, with revenue growth of 24% in Q4. That was its highest level of revenue growth in more than three years.

Image source: Getty Images.

With demand for AI infrastructure and related services booming, the company will invest aggressively to expand capacity this year, committing to spend a whopping $200 billion in capital expenditures (capex) in 2026. Amazon has also developed its own custom AI chips, which have been gaining traction, and it recently opened up a massive data center dedicated solely to Anthropic, powered by its Trainium chips.

With its stock trading at an attractive valuation, the company seeing great operating leverage in its e-commerce operations, and its cloud computing revenue accelerating, Amazon is one of the smartest stocks to buy for the long term.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Costco Wholesale, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.