3 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist in January

Artificial intelligence (AI) investing isn't just for 2024. It's still going to be a massive theme in 2025. As a result, investors should examine their portfolios and see if they have proper exposure to the biggest technological shift since the growth of the internet.

Three AI stocks that investors should have on their radar are Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), and all of them appear to be great buys now.

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AI is a huge theme for all three of these companies

These three are large players in the tech space and have massive amounts of resources to throw at AI innovation. This is key, as there are many start-ups that are working in the AI space, but they just can't compete with the leaders in some fields.

Meta Platforms is one of the companies competing in the generative AI model game with its open-source model, Llama. Choosing to make its AI model open source was a unique decision, but it gives Meta some key advantages. One of the biggest factors is that it's free to use, which makes it more attractive to many developers. By default, this increases the user base and broadens the data that is fed into its AI model. This gives Meta a training advantage over some of its competitors and will help it develop one of the leading AI models.

Salesforce isn't competing with Meta in the generative AI model game; it's focusing on serving its existing client base with useful AI platforms. Salesforce makes customer relationship management (CRM) software, which is used for a wide variety of purposes, including marketing and customer support. Historically, humans have done this, but AI agents may change this notion. Through Salesforce's Agentforce, its users can create AI agents that do these jobs and provide significant value to those deploying them.

Lastly, Nvidia plays a key role in any AI model. Its graphics process units (GPUs) are used to train these AI models, and Nvidia's are by far the best in the business. This has provided huge growth in 2023 and 2024, but 2025 also looks to be more of the same. Wall Street analysts project 51% revenue growth during its fiscal year 2026 (ending January 2026), which indicates AI spending will stay elevated this year.

Additionally, Nvidia is ramping up production of its next-generation GPU architecture, Blackwell. This technology provides massive improvements over the previous Hopper architecture, including 4 times faster training performance for AI models. Nvidia has been one of the top AI investments for a long time and will continue to be a great pick for 2025.

All three of these companies have strong themes heading into 2025, but why are they great buys now?

The stocks are fairly priced for the growth they're putting up

From a price-to-forward earnings perspective, these stocks are fairly attractively priced relative to their growth.

META PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts

Meta is clearly the cheapest stock on this list, and if you made made me choose one, I'd probably pick it as the best investment of the three. Its 24 times forward earnings valuation isn't a bad price to pay for any stock, especially one that's as dominant and innovative as Meta. Compared to the Nasdaq-100, which has a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26.4, the stock is cheaper than many of its big tech peers.

Salesforce is a bit more expensive than this benchmark, but it also has the most to gain in terms of growth from its AI investments. Its AI agents have the potential to be a huge revenue boost for the company, something it desperately needs, as Wall Street only projects 9% growth this year. Still, Salesforce is working toward maximizing its profitability (its profit margin currently sits at 16%). Considering that some software companies can reach up to a 30% profit margin, there's still a huge boost to be realized on that front.

Nvidia is the most expensive of the bunch but is also growing the fastest by far. With its revenue expected to rise by 50% this year, I think the 48 times forward earnings isn't a bad price to pay, especially considering Nvidia's dominant market position. With the stock down a bit off of its all-time highs, now looks like a great time to take advantage of the sale.

All three of these stocks are slated to have a solid 2025 and, therefore, make great buys in January.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of January 6, 2025

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. Keithen Drury has positions in Nvidia and Salesforce. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Salesforce. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.