3 Growth Stocks to Buy With $5,000 Right Now

Buying growth stocks gives investors the potential to outperform the S&P 500, but some of these picks are better than others. While every sector has a stock that beats the S&P 500, the tech industry is filled with top performers. These three growth stocks have been steadily gaining market share and are worthy candidates if you have $5,000 to invest.

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Robinhood

Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) hasn't done too well with a 15% year-to-date decline, but recent earnings results show that the fintech leader is due for a rebound.

A 32% year-over-year increase in Q2 revenue doesn't capture the full story. First, that revenue increase came as crypto revenue dropped by 38% year over year, declining to $100 million in the process. That's a little less than 10% of Robinhood's total revenue, but it used to make up a larger slice of the pie.

Crypto has been a bit disappointing this year, with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) down by 22%. However, the price has mostly stabilized since February, so future declines in this segment will be less consequential. Furthermore, a future crypto rally would suddenly turn crypto trading into a tailwind instead of a headwind for Robinhood.

The fact that Robinhood can still produce high revenue growth rates is a testament to how well the rest of the business is performing. Prediction market revenue rose more than 10-fold to $156 million and continues to accelerate. Robinhood was also selected as the primary broker for Trump Accounts, which introduces a new income source and boosts the company's authority compared to other brokerage accounts.

Amazon

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has always been a popular pick for growth investors, but rising sales for its cloud computing division have changed the long-term outlook. Amazon Web Services sales increased by 37% year over year, which was its fastest growth rate in more than four years. This acceleration is due to the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out, and it shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.

The renewed strength of AWS fueled 20% year-over-year revenue growth in the second quarter. AWS's AI business more than doubled year-over-year to reach a $25 billion annual revenue run rate. Its AI chips business also more than doubled year over year.

These are smaller parts of the business that can become much larger due to strategic partnerships and rising demand for AI infrastructure. However, Amazon has multiple businesses expanding in key industries that already produce meaningful sales and profits. For instance, its online advertising revenue increased by 26% year over year in the second quarter. Online store sales rose by 15% year over year.

Amazon combines a durable, growing business model with moonshot opportunities, like agentic AI and chips. That combination has helped Amazon outpace the S&P 500 with a 15% year-to-date gain.

ServiceNow

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) makes it easy for enterprises to create and scale AI agents. The company generates high annual recurring revenue from about 8,800 customers, including 90% of the Fortune 500.

The company regularly beats its forecasts and has posted an annualized 24% revenue growth rate for the past five years. ServiceNow remained consistent in the second quarter, posting a 24% year-over-year boost in total revenue.

ServiceNow Chief Executive Officer Bill McDermott told investors in the Q2 press release that agentic deployments of ServiceNow AI increased ninefold in just nine months. That type of engagement has helped establish the company's AI Control Tower as the market standard. ServiceNow can command higher sales growth as agentic AI demand gains momentum and its top enterprise customers upgrade their plans.

That trend has been taking shape for years. The earnings presentation revealed that ServiceNow has 658 customers with annual contract values that exceed $5 million. It's a 23% year-over-year increase. The average annual contract values of those customers also inched higher to $15.2 million, marking a 6% year-over-year boost.

Marc Guberti has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Bitcoin, and ServiceNow. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.