2 Growth Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right Now

One nice aspect of investing is that you don't have to have a lot of money to benefit from it. Hence, if you find yourself with an extra $1,000, you can put that to work at your convenience.

Fortunately, even in a market that recently rose to record highs, investors can find growth stocks with the potential to rise higher over time.

Knowing that, growth investors may serve themselves well by taking a position in two stocks that could outperform the S&P 500 and deliver outsize returns over time.

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1. CoreWeave

CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) has only traded publicly for about eight months, but it is already making waves in the cloud industry.

It stands out from its more generalized cloud peers by providing infrastructure specifically geared for large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) workloads: It designed its product explicitly to run the generative AI workloads fueling the boom in the technology.

This has created unique opportunities and relationships. For example, its capabilities have made Nvidia both a GPU supplier and a customer. And even though Microsoft is a cloud provider, it is also a CoreWeave customer due to its need for specialized AI cloud infrastructure. Consequently, in the first nine months of 2025, revenue grew 205% to $3.6 billion.

CoreWeave carries some risks; it incurred $771 million in net losses during the first nine months of the year. That was only a slight improvement from the $857 million loss in the first three quarters of 2024.

Moreover, total debt now exceeds $14 billion. That is well above the debt of just under $8 billion in the year-ago quarter. It also represents a considerable burden for a company with a book value of less than $3.9 billion.

Furthermore, the company has had to spend heavily to keep up with its growth. In the first nine months of the year, it invested more than $6.2 billion in capital expenditures (capex). Such factors may have led to a dramatic decline in CoreWeave stock in recent trading sessions.

Still, the lower share price may present an opportunity for investors. Demand for AI processing power remains strong, increasing the likelihood that its capex will pay off for shareholders. Also, the stock sells at a price-to-sales ratio (P/S) of 11, a low level considering the revenue growth.

Investing in a money-losing company with high capital spending requirements does come with significant risk. Nonetheless, as of the time of this writing, the approximate $79 share price will buy investors six shares for about $474. With that, the growth potential for AI and the relatively low valuation could make CoreWeave stock a huge winner as it works to meet the unprecedented demand for AI-ready cloud capacity.

2. Nu Holdings

NuBank parent Nu Holdings (NYSE: NU) is likely not on the radar of most U.S. investors. Although it is the world's largest digital bank outside of Asia, it operates in only Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia.

However, thanks to NuBank, millions of people have received their first credit card or bank account, bringing them into the financial system. Also, its 127 million customer base grew by 16% over the last year, and the digital bank added more than 4 million customers in the third quarter of 2025 alone.

About 110 million of its customers are in Brazil, where it serves over 60% of the adult population. Moreover, NuBank has shifted its focus to Mexico and Colombia in recent years and could expand into other countries. This includes the U.S., where it has applied for a bank charter.

Amid this growth, it earned more than $11 billion in revenue in the first nine months of 2025, a 30% increase compared to the same period in 2024. During that time, interest costs, transaction costs, and credit loss expenses increased significantly.

Still, since Nu limited its growth in operating expenses to 1%, it reported net income of almost $2 billion, 39% more than in the same year-ago period.

Nu Holdings stock sells at a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 34. That is notable since the S&P 500's average earnings multiple is 30, and it remains a rapidly growing company.

The countries it serves face political and economic turmoil, particularly in Brazil, where most NuBank customers live. That challenge, and the fact that personal finance practices differ from those in the U.S., could make Nu Holdings stock a less appealing option for some investors.

Furthermore, rising credit loss expenses have been an ongoing concern, though the 25% growth rate in these loans in the first nine months of 2025 lags the company's revenue growth for now.

Ultimately, Nu Holdings offers investors rapid growth at a reasonable valuation, and with shares at about $16 at the time of this writing, you can buy 33 shares for about $528. Even with the political and financial challenges, the fact that its rapid growth can likely continue for years makes Nu Holdings a stock that investors should consider owning.

Will Healy has positions in CoreWeave and Nu Holdings. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Nu Holdings 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.