3 Beaten-Down Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy With $500 Right Now

Source The Motley Fool

Key Points

  • Many AI stocks have continued climbing higher in 2025, pushing up the overall market.

  • However, these three stocks have all been beaten down by short-term worries.

  • They now all trade at exceptional values, making them no-brainer buys.

  • 10 stocks we like better than Marvell Technology ›

Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have been the driving force behind the current bull market. Massive spending budgets from big tech companies and investor excitement about the potential for AI has led to rising stock prices across the board, especially benefiting tech companies.

But not every AI stock has climbed higher in 2025. A handful of stocks have been beaten down by the market despite good progress in their artificial intelligence efforts. That could present an opportunity for investors looking to invest in the megatrend. Even if you only have $500 to invest, you could buy any of the following stocks at an absolute bargain of a price.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Let's consider three such stocks today.

A person using a laptop with a graphic overlay displaying different applications for AI.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Marvell Technology

Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) makes many of the chips you might find in a data center dedicated to AI training and inference. It offers numerous solutions for networking chips, which ensure data moves quickly and efficiently from one server to another. That's an important aspect in AI training, which relies on minimizing downtime for expensive GPU servers. Marvell's varied options for data centers should enable it to take market share over time.

But it's Marvell's custom AI accelerator business that's been driving results lately. The company works with Amazon and Microsoft on their custom AI chips, and it makes several other AI-related chips for the other hyperscaler customers. As a result, data center revenue climbed to $1.5 billion last quarter, up 69% year over year.

Management has warned that next quarter's custom silicon revenue will come in lower than the second quarter. That led many investors to fear that Marvell is losing share with Amazon, which may switch to another chip company. But the market may be putting too much weight on a single quarter's guidance.

Marvell's work with Microsoft for its next-generation chip will also face some delays. The Maia300 chip production timeline was pushed out to 2026 over the summer. That said, expectations are that Microsoft will invest a lot in the custom chip once it is ready, providing a substantial boost to Marvell's revenue. The chip design could bring in $2.4 billion in revenue next year and $10 billion to $12 billion in 2027, according to analysts at Fubon Research.

Marvell stock sank after the disappointing guidance from management. Investors can now pick up shares for just $74, which equates to a forward P/E of 26.5. That's a price far below other AI chipmakers, giving investors a great opportunity to buy into one of the beneficiaries of big tech's data center buildouts.

2. Salesforce

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is a pioneer in the software-as-a-service model, and it has expanded its enterprise software services across multiple domains, including its original sales software, customer service, marketing, and data management. While each individual piece of software offers a best-in-class solution, the ability to package multiple "clouds" together in a single contract makes Salesforce a top pick for most businesses.

That's evidenced by its biggest contracts. Management said that 70% of its top 100 wins last quarter included five or more of its services. That gives Salesforce a significant competitive moat since switching costs grow as its customers use more and more of its services.

The next big growth driver for Salesforce is its Agentforce solution, built on its data management software. Agentforce enables businesses to use their own data to create AI agents for things like customer service and marketing across Salesforce's other platforms. Management said its data cloud and AI annual recurring revenue climbed above $1.2 billion last quarter, up 120% year over year.

Salesforce shares are down over 33% from their all-time high reached at the end of 2024, trading around $245. Meanwhile, the company is still exhibiting strong earnings growth fueled by margin expansion and steady revenue growth with significant upside provided by its AI efforts. At a forward P/E ratio of just 21.5, it's another great opportunity for investors.

3. Adobe

Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) is best known for its content creation software like Photoshop and Illustrator. Many investors fear generative AI will displace the need for Adobe's creative tools, offering image creation and editing capabilities that meet the needs of most users.

But Adobe is building its own artificial intelligence platform, Firefly, which it's integrating across all of its products. It boasts the model is trained on Adobe's stock images and video, making it safe for commercial use. Management has set a goal of $250 million in annual recurring revenue related to Firefly by the end of the year, and it already surpassed that target as of the end of the third quarter. So, it's seeing strong progress in the use of its AI tools.

It's also seeing great success fending off competitors with its free top-of-funnel Adobe Express service. Monthly active users grew 25% year over year last quarter, and it's seeing strong conversion rates to monetized products.

Adobe also offers marketing solutions, which are growing well. Digital experience subscription revenue climbed 11% year over year in the most recent quarter, driven by the strength of its GenStudio marketing platform. Annual recurring revenue for the product climbed 25% to more than $1 billion last quarter.

Shares of Adobe are down 33% from their high price in late 2024, trading at just $365 per share. That gives the stock a forward P/E of 17.6. With steady revenue growth in the low double digits and the potential for margin expansion combined with share repurchases, earnings per share should come in at the mid-teen level for the foreseeable future. Investors with $500 looking to invest in an underappreciated AI stock should consider adding Adobe to their portfolio.

Should you invest $1,000 in Marvell Technology right now?

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The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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