The Best Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right Now

Things haven't been all flowers and sunshine for the stock market to start 2025. Many big-name stocks and two of the market's top indexes, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, have found themselves in the negative for the year (as of March 10).

The obvious bad news is that some investors may find their portfolios down so far this year. The semi-encouraging news is that slumps and down periods are a natural part of the stock market and present good buying opportunities.

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If you have $1,000 available to invest, the following two tech stocks are worth considering. One is a dividend stock, and the other is growth-focused. Investing $500 into each can give you the best of both worlds.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. AT&T

AT&T (NYSE: T) has been one of the notable exceptions to the 2025 stock market slump. The stock is up over 18%, continuing its momentum that has seen it rise over 56% in the past 12 months.

AT&T's recent stock price run is an impressive turnaround. At one point, the stock looked dead in the water, but a renewed focus on its core telecom business (especially mobile and fiber) has put the company back on track. In 2024, AT&T added 1.7 million postpaid phone customers and 1 million fiber customers (its seventh consecutive year adding at least a million).

Mobile service is AT&T's moneymaker, but the company has done a great job reinvesting profits from that business into expanding its fiber footprint, which is important to its long-term growth and competitive advantage. Fiber is the next step up from cable, and if AT&T can continue its impressive expansion, it has a chance to attract and retain customers who value more reliable high-speed internet.

In the fourth quarter, fiber revenue grew 18% year over year, and AT&T predicts it will increase in the mid-teen percentages in 2025. This is much higher than the anticipated mobility growth in the 2% to 3% range. Assuming AT&T comes close to achieving both, the security of its dividend should be unquestioned.

The latter is important because AT&T's dividend is its selling point to investors (though 56% gains in 12 months isn't too shabby). Because of AT&T's recent gains, its dividend yield has dropped, but it's still well above average at around 4.1%.

T Dividend Yield data by YCharts

Assuming AT&T's dividend yield hovers around 4%, a $500 investment could net you $20 in dividends this year. It's not enough to begin planning a trip to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, but it's a good start to a stock that can be a great long-term investment.

2. Amazon

Unfortunately, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) hasn't had the year AT&T has (when's the last time you heard that one?), with the stock down over 12%. However, that's been the story of every "Maginificent Seven" stock not named Meta Platforms.

Despite Amazon's rough patch, I believe it's still one of the best tech investments one can make. It has gone from an online bookstore to an e-commerce giant to having an ecosystem that includes businesses in industries like cloud computing, advertising, healthcare, and entertainment.

Amazon's cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), remains the company's main growth driver, and this likely won't change anytime soon. E-commerce brings in the most revenue, but AWS is the profit-maker, accounting for 58% of its operating income.

Amazon's advertising business has a way to go before catching up with the likes of Meta or Alphabet, but it has been one of its fastest-growing segments over the past couple of years. As Amazon Prime grows and its ecosystem of services expands, Amazon has a chance to make advertising a tangible part of its business.

That could only help a business that has increasingly become one of the premier cash cows in the world. Amazon made $638 billion in revenue in 2024 (up 11% year over year), bringing in more than any public company in the world except Walmart. That continues the impressive growth the company's seen over the past decade.

AMZN Revenue (Annual) data by YCharts

Amazon's stock isn't "cheap" by most standards, but its recent declines give investors a much more appealing investing opportunity. If you're concerned that the stock may continue falling (which could be the case), I'd recommend dollar-cost averaging your way into a stake. You likely won't regret a $500 investment in the company when you look back a decade from now.

Should you invest $1,000 in AT&T right now?

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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. 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. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Stefon Walters has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.