As long-term investors, it's most important to focus on where a company will be in 10 years and invest accordingly. But it's also beneficial to find growth stocks benefiting from catalysts that could send their shares higher in the near term.
After falling earlier this year, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -1.98%) and Amazon (AMZN -0.68%) are starting to see their share prices rise. AMD is a leader in supplying artificial intelligence (AI) chips to data centers, while Amazon is benefiting enormously from its increasing use of robotics in its fulfillment centers.
Here's what's driving these stocks higher and why they have room to run.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Advanced Micro Devices
Shares of AMD have soared 61% since hitting a 52-week low of $76.48 in April. The company reported its third consecutive quarter of accelerating revenue growth as it prepares to launch new versions of its MI300 series of graphics processing units (GPUs) for data centers.
AMD is building momentum. It recently announced an agreement with Saudi Arabia's new AI enterprise HUMAIN to build cost-efficient computing systems using AMD chips to power advanced AI workloads for enterprises, start-ups, and governments.
This news comes as AMD is set to launch its MI350 GPU. Its first data center GPU debuted in 2023: the MI300 chip, which raked in $5 billion of revenue last year.
The MI350 promises 35 times more throughput and performance than the MI300x, and management said on the first-quarter earnings call that customer interest is "very strong." Oracle is already in line to deploy a large-scale cluster powered by MI355x accelerators for AI workloads.
AMD reported a 36% year-over-year increase in revenue in the first quarter, accelerating from a 24% increase in the fourth quarter of 2024. The momentum is catching investors' attention heading into the company's upcoming Advancing AI event, where analysts are expecting it to announce new design wins and potentially new customers for its GPUs.
During the first-quarter earnings call, management noted positive customer feedback and plans for broader deployments for its MI400 chip, which is being launched in 2026. Even with the risk that chip export controls might pressure revenue, CEO Lisa Su doesn't see China chip restrictions changing AMD's long-term addressable market, which is estimated at $500 billion.
AMD is on track to finish 2025 on a high note. The consensus analyst estimate has earnings per share growing 20% in 2025 before surging 44% in 2026, according to Yahoo! Finance. Given this expectation, the stock's forward price-to-earnings multiple of 31 could support more gains in the near term.
Image source: Amazon.
2. Amazon
Shares of Amazon have rebounded 42% from their 52-week low of $151.76. With analyst estimates calling for record earnings in 2025 and 2026, the stock could be ready to hit new highs in the second half of the year.
The company reported a 62% year-over-year increase in earnings in the first quarter. Its growing use of robotics across its fulfillment network is starting to gain attention on Wall Street that could send its stock higher in the second half of 2025.
There's no retailer more invested in robotics than Amazon. Since it acquired robotics company Kiva Systems in 2012, Amazon has continued to lean into this technology to improve delivery speeds and efficiency.
It has the largest fleet of industrial robots, with over 750,000 across its fulfillment network. This technology is getting very sophisticated, and it uses different types of robots for various tasks. For example, its Vulcan robot knows how much force to apply to an object to avoid damaging it.
Amazon says it has several initiatives underway to improve its cost structure. It is reportedly testing the use of humanoid robots for carrying packages from the delivery van to a customer's door. This could be very beneficial to margins in the long run, since the last mile typically accounts for over half of total shipping costs.
With AI and robotics getting more advanced every year, now's the time to buy Amazon stock. Robots are only going to get more capable in the coming years, which will increase the number of tasks they can handle in the company's fulfillment centers. This spells massive productivity gains and margin improvement that is not reflected in the stock's current valuation.
The shares are trading at 35 times 2025 earnings estimates, which looks very reasonable considering the robust earnings growth over the past year and opportunities for higher margins over the long term. As Wall Street continues to pay attention to Amazon's opportunity in robotics, the stock could climb higher.
