With shares up 2,620% in the past five years and 184% just in 2024 (as of Oct. 25), Nvidia continues to be the talk of the town. The artificial intelligence (AI) hardware maker is benefiting from strong demand for its products and services, driving rapid growth.
Nvidia deserves credit for how it dominates the market for AI infrastructure. It's also very hard to overstate just how unbelievable the share price performance has been.
But I believe investors should forget about Nvidia. Perhaps it's a better idea to buy these two AI stocks instead.
Two leading AI enterprises
Investors need to consider two well-known stocks whose products and services they likely use daily. I'm talking about Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META). These companies have long been leaders in the internet age, and they're poised to be leaders in the ongoing AI race.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai shifted the company's focus to being AI-first eight years ago. Thanks to a massive fortress balance sheet, with about $90 billion in total cash and marketable securities, Alphabet has virtually unlimited resources to invest aggressively in tech infrastructure to support its AI ambitions.
“The momentum across the company is extraordinary. Our commitment to innovation, as well as our long-term focus and investment in AI, are paying off with consumers and partners benefiting from our AI tools,” Pichai said in the Q3 2024 earnings report.
Meta and its founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, are also intensely focused on AI. The technology is available in the company's various social media apps, allowing users to create images and get answers to questions.
The business also sees a future where AI can drastically help advertisers. "Eventually we got to the point where our ads system could better predict who would be interested than the advertisers could themselves," Zuck mentioned on the Q2 2024earnings call The business plans to spend up to $40 billion in capital expenditures this year to support AI ambitions.
Many positive factors
Besides riding the AI wave, Alphabet and Meta Platforms have other compelling traits that investors should pay attention to. For starters, both businesses dominate the digital advertising market, which is a powerful secular trend that has lots of growth potential. Grand View Research believes the industry will be worth a whopping $1.2 trillion in 2030, expanding at an annualized pace of 15.5% between 2023 and the end of the decade.
That favorable backdrop means that Alphabet and Meta should register notable top-line gains in the years ahead. Between 2023 and 2026, revenue at the Google parent is projected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 11.7%, while sales at the social media giant are slated to increase at an annualized pace of 15.6%. These are certainly encouraging forecasts.
Alphabet and Meta both also possess network effects that support their economic moats. Google Search and YouTube become more valuable to their stakeholders the larger they get. The same is true with Meta, as more users results in more content and more connections being made. This setup makes it almost impossible for a rival firm to create competing services that can gain broad adoption, leading to minimal threat of disruption, in my opinion.
Lastly, I'll call out just how strong these companies' financial positions are. They both generate tremendous amounts of cash, while also having pristine balance sheets. This reduces financial risk for investors.
What about valuations?
Nvidia's monumental rise has taken its valuation to high levels. As of this writing, shares trade at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 49.8.
Some strong supporters might believe this valuation multiple is justified. But I think the stock is expensive due to the incredible optimism the market has toward this business. In other words, there appears to be no margin of safety embedded in Nvidia's stock right now.
Paying the right valuation should be a key part of any investor's decision-making process. Here's where Alphabet and Meta stand out. The former trades at a forward P/E ratio of 22, while the latter can be bought for a 27.4 multiple. These are much more reasonable prices to pay than what Nvidia is selling for.
Investors shouldn't overthink it: Buying shares of both Alphabet and Meta can provide adequate exposure to the AI trend.
Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now?
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Neil Patel and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
