3 Core Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market Leaders to Buy with $1,000 Right Now and Hold for the Next 20 Years

If you've got $1,000 available to invest for the long term right now, I'd suggest looking at three stocks that are about as close to set-it-and-forget-it as it gets: Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META). In my view, they are highly likely to outperform the market over a two-decade stretch. That's a bold statement, but given the market positions that my core artificial intelligence (AI) stocks hold, I'm confident in this projection.

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Microsoft

Microsoft has been a dominant force in the tech industry for decades already, so expecting it to maintain that strength for another 20 years isn't far-fetched. It's taking the right steps to stay relevant, including building AI solutions into its business productivity software and investing heavily in cloud computing infrastructure, which will power AI workloads for as long as there are AI workloads to power.

Microsoft is building out its data centers to ensure there is enough capacity to meet demand, and the clients it lands now will likely be customers for a long time. This makes these early days of execution vital, and with Azure's 40% growth rate, its cloud computing division is doing just fine.

Microsoft is set to have another strong multidecade run, but it just so happens that the stock is also trading near a decade-low valuation level. Because its AI capital expenditures are so high at the moment, the smart way to value the stock is by measuring it against the company's operating cash flow. From this perspective, Microsoft hasn't been this cheap since 2018, and I think that makes the stock an excellent bargain that investors should scoop up today.

MSFT Price to CFO Per Share (TTM) data by YCharts.

Amazon

Two decades ago, Amazon was an established and rapidly growing e-commerce business. Now that its e-commerce platform is mostly built out (at least in the U.S.), it's looking for other areas to grow into. Amazon was the first major cloud computing provider to emerge, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest cloud provider in the world. In 2026, it plans to spend $200 billion on data center capital expenditures, and CEO Andy Jassy has informed investors that there are already customers signed up to lease that new capacity as soon as it's ready.

I think this will help Amazon establish itself as a great business to buy and hold over the next two decades.

Amazon, too, is trading near a decade-low price-to-operating-cash-flow level, so it looks like a strong stock pick.

AMZN Price to CFO Per Share (TTM) data by YCharts.

Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms may be the most controversial stock on my list. Meta Platforms was formerly known as Facebook -- a social media platform that launched in early 2004. So, its entire existence barely spans two decades. However, given the pervasiveness of its social media empire, I think Meta can easily last for another two decades, as long as it can pivot effectively to stay on top of the trends. A few years ago, it looked like the next big trend would be the metaverse, which prompted both the company's name switch and many years of major capital outlays. While that didn't pan out, Meta was recognized as a leader in that space. Now, the tech world's focus has shifted to AI, and Meta is investing to ensure that it can compete in this realm.

While it hasn't made a ton of mainstream AI breakthroughs, it has used the technology to improve its advertising operation, which led to 33% year-over-year revenue growth in the past quarter. If Meta can continue delivering such results, it will be a great stock to own. If it can launch an AI product that captures the attention of the masses, it will be a must-own stock, as no upside from such a speculative outcome is currently priced into the stock.

Moreover, Meta trades at a price-to-operating-cash-flow ratio even lower than those of Microsoft and Amazon.

META Price to CFO Per Share (TTM) data by YCharts.

This makes Meta a major bargain, and if it can continue to evolve to meet the social network developments over the next two decades, it will prove a great stock holding.

Keithen Drury has positions in Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.