You don't have to look at the path less traveled to beat the S&P 500. Some of the best growth stocks are hiding in plain sight and look poised to rally despite being mega-caps.
Two of them are already household names, and the third pick on this list is well on its way to a $1 trillion valuation and becoming yet another household name for investors who are monitoring artificial intelligence (AI).
If you have $500 available to invest that isn't needed for monthly bills, to pay down short-term debt, or to bolster an emergency fund, you might want to consider putting it toward buying shares of these three no-brainer growth stocks.
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1. Nvidia supplies the top AI chips
Nvidia (NVDA +0.47%) is the most valuable publicly traded company by market cap and has established itself as a household name thanks to its AI chips. The demand for these semiconductors remains insatiable, and Nvidia's recent earnings report shows why it remains a top pick despite surging by more than 1,100% over the past five years.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
The AI chipmaker delivered record revenue of $57 billion in fiscal 2026's third quarter, which is a 22% sequential increase. Net income reached $31.9 billion, up by 21% sequentially. Both figures were up by more than 60% year over year.
That type of growth makes Nvidia hard to ignore, even though it's the main star in the spotlight. Nvidia's outlook for $65 billion in fiscal 2026's Q4 shows that sequential growth is still accelerating. It has a commanding lead in the GPU market, which explains why big tech is comfortable with paying high prices. Advances in robotics and autonomous vehicles will also boost the demand for Nvidia's chips, since those technologies require AI chips to operate.
2. Micron ensures those chips can operate at a high level
Micron Technology (MU +4.87%) doesn't have as much attention as Nvidia, but its memory storage solutions are a critical component of Nvidia's chips. Without Micron, Nvidia's chips can't perform at high levels and fulfill intense AI workloads. If Nvidia is the enabler of big tech's ambitions, then Micron is an enabler of Nvidia.
NASDAQ: MU
Key Data Points
The company gave rosy guidance for Q2 FY26 while delivering 57% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 FY26. The company also almost tripled its net income. This performance wasn't just a blip on the radar. It reflects the strong demand for memory storage solutions as big tech expands AI infrastructure.
Micron even told investors that it is exiting its consumer business to go all in on the AI boom. Its current business offers higher growth potential and better margins than its consumer segment. The switch was a prudent business decision that should translate into long-term gains.
The company is also one of the few AI stocks to trade at a low valuation, despite surging by more than 300% over the past year. Micron trades at a 13 forward P/E ratio, which has climbed in recent weeks, but it's still extremely low. As revenue and net income continue to climb, Micron's valuation will look even more attractive.
3. Alphabet is turning AI chips and storage into tangible revenue growth
Tech companies aren't spending billions of dollars on AI each month just for the sake of it. They expect those investments to generate meaningful revenue growth and higher profit margins. While companies have had varying levels of success, Alphabet (GOOG +0.85%) (GOOGL +0.81%) has emerged as one of the most successful AI stories.
NASDAQ: GOOG
Key Data Points
The tech conglomerate offers a healthy mix of business segments that are delivering solid results right now and speculative growth opportunities that could compound in the future.
Google Search, YouTube, and Google Cloud are the company's three most successful segments. Google Search revenue increased by 17% year over year in Q4 to reach $95.9 billion. That figure includes YouTube ad revenue.
Google Cloud brought in $17.7 billion, which is a small slice of total revenue, but this segment was up by 48% year over year. Accelerated growth suggests cloud computing will make up a larger portion of Alphabet's total sales in the upcoming quarters.
The company is also making big strides with Gemini, its AI model. Gemini now has 750 million monthly active users. Waymo is one of the company's more speculative opportunities, but its self-driving vehicles are showing up more often in U.S. cities. If Waymo continues to scale, it may become a corporate giant in its own right, but it happens to fall under the Alphabet umbrella.
Alphabet has regularly crushed the S&P 500 and is up by more than 60% over the past year. Impressive growth rates and a reasonable valuation suggest that there is more upside, especially since it is in the middle of a small correction.
