If you have an extra $1,000 sitting in a savings or checking account, one of the best ways to earn a return on that money is to invest in the stock market. If you’re new to investing, buying a low-cost S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (ticker: SPY), is a relatively low-risk place to start.
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However, if you’d rather begin building your own stock portfolio from scratch, here are eight of the best established stocks to buy with $1,000 that have “buy” ratings from the CFRA Research analyst team:
| Stock | Implied upside from Oct. 18 closing price |
| Apple Inc. (AAPL) | 25.1% |
| Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) | 23.3% |
| Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) | 2.9% |
| Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) | 42.8% |
| Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) | 42.2% |
| Tesla Inc. (TSLA) | 27.7% |
| Meta Platforms Inc. (META) | 10.4% |
| Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) | 4.4% |
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Apple produces the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac computers and other personal computing devices. In addition, its services segment includes its App Store, Apple Music, iCloud and licensing businesses. Analyst Angelo Zino says Apple has an expanding addressable market, high customer retention rates and stable free cash flow generation. He says the company’s management has a strong track record of innovation and execution, and Apple’s capital return strategy will help support the stock. Zino projects 6.8% revenue growth in fiscal 2024. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $220 price target for AAPL stock, which closed at $175.84 on Oct. 18.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Microsoft is the world’s largest software company that is best known for Windows, Office and Azure cloud services. Zino says Microsoft’s cloud-based versions of Office, Dynamics and Teams are gaining significant traction, and its Azure infrastructure cloud services business is booming. On top of its existing businesses, Zino says Microsoft has a massive opportunity to monetize its artificial intelligence technology, including its investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. He says Microsoft can profit from AI technology in cloud services, search and its CoPilot assistant. CFRA has a “strong buy” rating and $407 price target for MSFT stock, which closed at $330.11 on Oct. 18.
Alphabet is one of the world’s largest online search and advertising companies and is the parent company of Google and YouTube. Zino says Alphabet has tremendous free cash flow and earnings potential and predicts the company will maintain annual revenue growth of between 6% and 11% through at least 2025. Like Microsoft, Zino says Alphabet has a wide range of AI opportunities, including in cloud services, enterprise tools, search and even YouTube. In addition, he says Alphabet is making strides to improve its cloud services profitability. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $142 price target for GOOGL stock, which closed at $137.96 on Oct. 18.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
Amazon is the market leader in e-commerce and public cloud services. Analyst Arun Sundaram says profitability in Amazon’s e-commerce business is improving significantly, while its relatively modest advertising business is growing at an impressive rate. Sundaram says the cyclical downturn in the cloud computing cycle has reached its low point, and Amazon is positioned to expand its operating profits over the next several years as high-margin Amazon Web Services and advertising sales make up a growing percentage of its overall revenue. He projects 11% overall revenue growth in 2023. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $183 price target for AMZN stock, which closed at $128.13 on Oct. 18.
[SEE: 9 Best Stocks for a Starter Stock Portfolio.]
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
Nvidia designs and sells high-end graphics and video processing chips used for desktop and gaming personal computers, workstations, and other advanced computing servers and supercomputers. Not only is Nvidia one of the best-performing stocks in the entire market in the past 15 years, its 229.3% gain through Oct. 18 is the best performance of any stock in the S&P 500 so far in 2023. Zino says generative AI has created unprecedented demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units, and that demand will translate to impressive growth in coming years. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $600 price target for NVDA stock, which closed at $421.96 on Oct. 18.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA)
Tesla is the leading U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer. Analyst Garrett Nelson says Tesla’s new factories in Texas and Germany have set the stage for the company’s next growth phase in 2023 and beyond. Nelson says Cybertruck deliveries are on track to ramp up starting in late 2023, and deliveries of the Roadster and the Optimus robot will serve as additional growth catalysts in the future. He says Tesla has also been the biggest winner from the $7,500 EV tax credits in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $310 price target for TSLA stock, which closed at $242.68 on Oct. 18.
Meta Platforms Inc. (META)
Meta Platforms is a market leader in social media and online advertising and is the owner of Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. Zino says Meta has an improving margin trajectory and several key opportunities, including the metaverse, AI technology and Reels. He says the company’s focus on cost cutting improves Meta’s free cash flow profile and reduces risk for investors. He estimates the company will generate more than $30 billion in free cash flow in 2024, giving it opportunities to ramp up its share buybacks. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $350 price target for META stock, which closed at $316.97 on Oct. 18.
Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY)
Eli Lilly produces brand-name prescription drugs to treat a wide range of medical conditions, including diabetes, cancer and neurological disorders. Analyst Sel Hardy says Eli Lilly has several positive catalysts on the horizon in the medium to long term. He says the company has several impressive late-stage drug candidates, including donanemab for Alzheimer’s disease, pirtobrutinib for certain forms of leukemia and lymphoma, and tirzepatide for obesity and cardiology. Hardy says growth from these impressive pipeline drugs will complement Eli Lilly’s leading current commercial drug portfolio. CFRA has a “buy” rating and $634 price target for LLY stock, which closed at $607.24 on Oct. 18.
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8 Best Stocks to Buy Now With $1,000 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 10/19/23: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
