The Best AI Stocks to Invest $5,000 in Right Now

If you have extra cash you can commit to a long-term investment strategy, investing in leading technology companies could be rewarding over the next decade. The world is rapidly moving to a digital economy powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The growth of the best AI stocks over the past few years suggests investors see huge long-term potential.

Here are two stocks to capitalize on this opportunity.

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1. Palantir Technologies

Companies are adopting AI to increase efficiency in their operations, and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) is reaping the benefits. It has expanded its software platforms from mainly serving U.S. defense intelligence to also serve Fortune 500 companies.

Palantir continues to close big deals with leading enterprises. It closed 204 deals last quarter, valued at $1 million or more, with 53 deals exceeding $10 million. This is the best quarter yet for closing large contract values. U.S. commercial revenue is exploding, more than doubling year over year in the third quarter.

The stock is expensive, trading at 63 times 2026 revenue estimates. However, Palantir also continues to exceed expectations, which may justify the premium.

Management raised its revenue guidance for 2025. The company now expects revenue to increase by 53% for the year. Palantir also continues to produce robust growth in free cash flow, which further supports the stock's high valuation.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives believes Palantir's market cap, currently at $392 billion, will increase to $1 trillion in the next few years. The value Palantir brings to organizations in terms of cost savings will continue to drive strong revenue growth for many years to come. This company appears well-positioned to generate tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue within the next decade.

2. Alphabet (Google)

Major companies continue to migrate their data to cloud computing services to gain more insights and build applications using AI. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is experiencing tremendous momentum from this opportunity, making it one of the best stocks to profit from the AI revolution.

The stock is up 55% this year, supported by record revenue. Third-quarter revenue grew 16% year over year to reach $102 billion. Revenue from Search, subscriptions, and YouTube all grew solidly in the quarter, led by enhancements to these services using AI. But investors are increasingly recognizing Google Cloud as the company's crown jewel.

Google Cloud revenue grew 34% year over year and now has a backlog of $155 billion. This indicates that it will become a significantly larger contributor to the company's revenue growth over the next several years.

Google is well-positioned to benefit from an AI-driven economy. It has data centers, chips, and Gemini, its proprietary AI model that powers all the company's consumer services. This AI infrastructure, combined with the 2 billion users who use Google services daily, puts the company in a lucrative position.

With a capital spending budget exceeding $90 billion, all supported by its robust operating cash flows, Alphabet is well-positioned to build cutting-edge AI and grow the company's value. Investors are getting one of the most dominant tech companies at a reasonable price of just 26 times next year's earnings estimate.

John Ballard has positions in Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.