3 Stocks Investors Should Buy Hand Over Fist

Even as the stock market seesaws with uncertainty, there are a handful of screaming values that I think investors should consider scooping up today. I've got three of them that are trading at deep discounts to where they should be, and it seems that it's only a matter of time before the rest of the market catches on and sends these three higher.

At the top of my investment list are Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), and The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD). All three of these stocks are well off their all-time highs, but if investors trusted the direction they are heading, they would be much higher.

Image source: Getty Images.

Microsoft

Microsoft is thriving in the AI build-out. It has become a facilitator, and instead of spending billions of dollars training a generative AI model, it's using that capital to build out computing infrastructure that it can rent out to AI developers who are. This is the primary reason to invest in Microsoft, and its cloud computing business unit, Azure, which powers these workloads, is doing great.

During the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 (ended Dec. 31), Azure's revenue rose by 39% year over year. For all of the money that Microsoft is spending on AI computing hardware, that represents a great return on investment, but it's not done yet. Microsoft has a $625 billion backlog that it's still churning through, so there is a massive amount of contracted business already on the books waiting to be used up.

Despite this, Microsoft's stock trades at a historically low valuation. I'm using the operating price-to-earnings ratio because it ignores the effects of investment gains (like Microsoft's OpenAI investment), and it gives investors a bit more clarity into the historical valuation picture without the effects of one-time events.

MSFT Operating PE Ratio data by YCharts

Microsoft's valuation today is near the low end of where it has traded over the past decade, making today's price tag a screaming deal.

Nvidia

If you thought Microsoft's stock was cheap, wait until you see Nvidia's. Nvidia makes graphics processing units (GPUs), which have been heavily utilized in the AI build-out. This has caused Nvidia to soar to become the world's largest company, but it's far from being done.

During Q4, its revenue rose 73%, and management gave guidance for 77% growth in Q1. Nvidia believes that global data center capital expenditures will rise to $3 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030, which is a huge uptick from today's already large levels.

So, the likelihood is that we're a long way away from finding our spending ceiling on AI computing hardware, and Nvidia is set to profit from this build-out trend for many years. Despite that, its stock trades for a cheap price tag of 22.1 times forward earnings, nearly the same as the S&P 500, which trades for 21.7.

This valuation indicates that Nvidia's growth this year will be impressive, but could slow down after that. However, projections indicate that this isn't the case, so investors should use this opportunity to buy Nvidia stock.

The Trade Desk

Last is The Trade Desk, which is much smaller than Nvidia and Microsoft. The Trade Desk operates a buy-side ad platform that pairs advertisers with ideal spots to advertise on the internet. This has been a successful business model, but its growth has slowed recently.

However, there could be a new catalyst that could kick-start The Trade Desk's growth. It was reportedly in talks with OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, on how to implement ads on its platform. This could be a real game changer for the stock and cause its growth rate to accelerate. If it does, The Trade Desk's stock will be primed to make a huge run, as it currently trades at a dirt cheap 14 times forward earnings.

That's a huge discount to the market despite past success and market-matching growth. As a result, I think it looks like a compelling investment opportunity.

Keithen Drury has positions in Microsoft, Nvidia, and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Microsoft, Nvidia, and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.