Attempting to time the market by identifying the exact bottom of a dip is very difficult, even for experienced investors. What appears to be a dip can turn into a prolonged decline or a falling knife, and you could just as easily miss out on the best market days to invest as you could the worst.
Instead, by focusing your attention on making quality investments and additions to your portfolio in all market environments, you can withstand the highs and lows of market whims while enriching your portfolio over time.
If you have $50,000 to invest right now, you could choose to diversify that capital across a handful of different businesses. Here are five names that you might want to include on that list.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Amazon
Amazon (AMZN 1.28%) is known for its leading cloud infrastructure business and flagship e-commerce platform, but also boasts an ever-expanding presence across various sectors, including digital entertainment, groceries, advertising, and autonomous vehicles. Amazon Web Services (AWS) isn't just the most profitable segment for the company -- it's also the dominant player in the competitive cloud computing market and controls about 30% of this lucrative space.
The company remains the leading online retailer in the United States, with a market share of around 40%. Amazon is heavily investing in AI across its operations, from logistics optimization to developing custom AI chips like Trainium and Inferentia to offer clients a less expensive alternative to Nvidia GPUs. These innovations are designed to improve efficiency and attract new customers to AWS.
NASDAQ: AMZN
Key Data Points
OpenAI has signed a landmark, multi-year deal to use AWS's infrastructure for running its AI workloads, including the training of future models. Until recently, Microsoft was OpenAI's exclusive cloud provider. The deal is a significant win for Amazon, as it reassures investors that AWS can compete effectively with other dominant players in providing AI infrastructure.
The deal involves a massive commitment of computing resources, and Amazon plans to build dedicated data center capacity for OpenAI. It's also reportedly in talks to invest $10 billion or more in OpenAI. The investment would likely involve OpenAI using Amazon's custom-designed AI chips for some workloads to compete with Nvidia's dominant chips.
Amazon remains extremely financially sound thanks to its strong balance sheet, consistent profitability, and expanding margins. Despite its status as a growth stock, the stock looks reasonably valued at approximately 27 times forward earnings.
2. Alphabet
Alphabet (GOOGL 1.23%) (GOOG 1.29%) has integrated AI seamlessly into its core products and created new tailwinds of growth for the business that long-term investors can capitalize on. The Gemini app alone has over 650 million monthly active users. There have been rumors that the company plans to monetize this user base through various forms of advertising, an area where Alphabet has long remained an indomitable leader.
However, Google's Vice President of Global Ads, Daniel Taylor, and the official Google Ad Liaison account have publicly stated otherwise, so that remains unlikely, at least for now. The company is still actively monetizing AI in other areas, including AI Overviews in Google Search, and testing ads in AI Mode within Search. Meanwhile, the core Google Search business, along with YouTube, continues to drive profitable growth for the Alphabet ecosystem.
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Key Data Points
Google Search & Other revenue reached $56.57 billion in Q3, a 15% year-over-year increase. YouTube advertising revenue surpassed the $10 billion mark for the first time in the third quarter (a 15% increase year over year). The Google Services segment, which includes Search and YouTube, also reported operating income of $33.53 billion (up about 9% from a year ago), despite absorbing a $3.5 billion European Commission fine during the quarter. And, consolidated revenue for Alphabet rose 16% to $102.35 billion.
Google Cloud revenue increased 34% year over year in Q3 2025, and this segment's operating income increased by an eye-popping 85% in the same quarter. Alphabet's backlog of future cloud deals increased 79% in Q3. Alphabet also has potential future growth engines beyond its core businesses, including Waymo and advancements in quantum computing.
Despite the stock's strong performance in 2025 (up over 60%), it trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of approximately 30. Alphabet also retains approximately $98.5 billion in cash against $22 billion in long-term debt. This stock continues to look like a no-brainer buy.
3. Walmart
Walmart (WMT +1.32%) is the world's largest retailer by sales. Its massive scale allows it to offer lower prices and negotiate better terms with suppliers, a significant advantage that helps it attract cost-conscious shoppers, including in inflationary periods.
Walmart has effectively integrated its vast network of thousands of stores into its e-commerce operations and uses them as fulfillment hubs to offer fast delivery and easy in-store pickup options. This strategy has driven robust e-commerce growth (e-commerce sales were up 27% globally in Q3 FY26).
The company continues to expand into higher-margin areas like advertising and its membership program, which are contributing a meaningful share of operating income and bolstering overall profitability. Walmart also continues to invest in technology, automation, and AI-driven systems to improve its supply chain efficiency, inventory management, and customer experience, which could position it for long-term success against major retail competitors.
NASDAQ: WMT
Key Data Points
In Walmart's Q3, the company generated total revenue of $179.5 billion, up about 6% year over year. Its global advertising business clocked growth of 53%, bolstered by the integration of VIZIO and strong performance from Walmart Connect, while membership income increased 16.7% thanks to double-digit growth in Walmart+ and Sam's Club China memberships.
Households earning more than $100,000 accounted for 75% of Walmart's market share gains during the quarter. Approximately 35% of store-fulfilled orders in the U.S. were delivered in under three hours, with expedited delivery sales growing nearly 70%.
Walmart is also a Dividend King, having raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years. This history of reliable payouts could appeal to income-focused, long-term investors and underscores its cash flow durability. Its current yield is in the ballpark of 0.8%, a bit below the average S&P 500 stock. While Walmart's trading higher than historical averages (about 38 times forward earnings), this stalwart consumer staples stock could be a smart addition to a long-term investor's portfolio.
4. Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly (LLY 2.01%) leads the market for GLP-1 medications and has officially surpassed its rival Novo Nordisk. The market for these drugs is projected to reach over $100 billion by 2030, so there's a considerable long-term growth opportunity for the company to continue to capitalize on.
Its dual-acting drugs, Mounjaro (for diabetes) and Zepbound (for weight loss), have shown superior efficacy compared to competitors in clinical trials, which has fueled a significant increase in Eli Lilly's market share.
The company has promising late-stage candidates, including the once-daily oral weight-loss pill orforglipron and the triple-agonist injectable retatrutide, which could further expand its market reach and offer more treatment options to patients. Eli Lilly has filed for FDA approval for orforglipron. It's a small molecule, easier to manufacture than peptides, and shows promise for diabetes as well as cardiovascular risk factors.
Retatrutide replicates the effects of three different natural hormones: glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and glucagon. By combining the effects of all three hormones, retatrutide is designed to be a highly effective treatment for conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, and could serve as a future pillar of Eli Lilly's portfolio.
NYSE: LLY
Key Data Points
Eli Lilly has consistently beaten analyst expectations, with its third-quarter 2025 revenue soaring 54% year over year to $17.6 billion. The company has invested billions in expanding its manufacturing capacity in the U.S. and internationally to meet the explosive demand for its drugs.
Despite the stock's high P/E ratio of around 34 on a forward basis, the company's strong growth prospects and dominant position in a revolutionary therapeutic area could warrant a long-term investment in this powerhouse healthcare stock. The company has also paid a dividend in some form since the 1800s, and regularly increases its payout. It's increased its dividend by a notable 15% for seven years in a row and counting.
5. AbbVie
AbbVie (ABBV 0.36%) is benefiting from the burgeoning sales of its flagship immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq, which delivered combined revenues of about $7 billion in the third quarter of 2025 alone. These drugs are more than making up for the decline in sales of Humira, which was once the top-selling drug in the world, and have patent protection into the 2030s.
The drugmaker's overall net revenue for the three-month period totaled just shy of $16 billion, up 9% year over year. AbbVie has around 90 programs in its R&D pipeline across various therapeutic areas. Recent acquisitions have added promising new candidates to the mix.
These include candidates like Bretisilocin (from Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals) and ISB 2001 (from Ichnos Glenmark Innovation), and signal AbbVie's push into novel neuroscience and oncology, including psychedelic-inspired therapies and advnced antibody-based cancer drugs. Bretisilocin is a serotonin receptor agonist designed for major depressive disorder (MDD), while ISB 2001 is a T-cell engager for multiple myeloma.
NYSE: ABBV
Key Data Points
The company has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years (including its time as part of Abbott Laboratories), which makes it another Dividend King on today's list. The current forward dividend yield is an attractive 3.05%.
AbbVie stock trades at a reasonable forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 16. If you're looking for a quality healthcare stock to buy and hold for the long run, definitely don't overlook AbbVie the next time you go stock shopping.
