2 No-Brainer Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Right Now - September 2025 Edition
AI stocks surge as institutional money floods the sector - ignoring these two plays could cost investors millions in missed upside.
The Quant Revolution
Machine learning algorithms now drive 73% of market volume, crushing traditional fund managers who still think Excel spreadsheets count as 'quant analysis'. These two companies built the infrastructure that makes Wall Street's AI arms race possible.
Infrastructure Plays Outperform
While retail chases flashy AI apps, smart money stacks the picks-and-shovels companies - the chipmakers and data infrastructure firms printing cash regardless of which chatbot goes viral next week.
Regulatory Moats Widen
Both stocks operate in licensed sectors with compliance requirements that keep amateur competitors out - because nothing says 'sustainable advantage' like government-mandated barriers to entry.
Forward Outlook: Bullish With Catalysts
Q4 product launches and contract renewals with Fortune 500 clients set to drive 2026 guidance above analyst expectations - the kind of predictable growth that makes hedge fund managers actually earn their 2-and-20 fees.
Image source: Getty Images.
Amazon
At this point, investors widely understand the success of(AMZN -0.16%). As a pioneer in e-commerce and cloud computing, it has evolved into a conglomerate supported by several consumer-related and tech businesses.
Still, if that leads consumers and investors to overlook it as an AI company, they are likely making a huge mistake. As the world's leading cloud infrastructure company, Amazon Web Services (AWS) plays a critical role in supporting AI-related functions for its clients.
Its generative AI application builder, chatbots, and code builders are just a few examples. Considering that AWS makes up the majority of the company's operating income, this success is crucial to its growth.
The examples are also extensive on the e-commerce side of the business. It supports shopping services and customer service functions for its customers. That underpins fast-growing enterprises within the company, such as digital advertising and third-party seller services. Additionally, AI bolsters robotics and supply chain management to improve efficiencies within its logistics network.
Even though it generated $323 billion in net sales in the first half of 2025, its 11% annual growth is slower than in past years. Still, Amazon kept cost and expense growth in check, meaning its $35 billion in net income for the period grew by 48% compared to year-ago levels.
Overall, the stock is up by about 25% over the last year, which lags the aforementioned rate of profit growth.
However, its 35 price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is not far above theaverage of 31, meaning the stock sells at a significant discount compared to past years. With its profits likely to continue growing at a rapid pace, now appears to be a great time to add shares.
Upstart Holdings
(UPST -0.01%) applies AI to a business long overdue for a technical upgrade -- loan evaluation.
Thecontrols the dominant loan evaluation metric, the FICO Score. Nonetheless, the scoring system has not undergone a significant update since its introduction in 1989, leaving the industry vulnerable to competitive challenges.
Upstart continues to upgrade its technology, updating its AI-driven model and approving 92% of loan applications without human intervention. Thanks to the added factors it considers, its model can approve 101% more applicants without increasing risks to lenders, according to Upstart.
Additionally, Upstart has derived the majority of its revenue from evaluating personal loans. Still, it is gaining traction in the auto loan market, and it has begun evaluating applicants for home equity lines of credit. Those avenues should dramatically expand the company's addressable market.
Amid those initiatives, investors should expect considerable growth for Upstart over the next few years. Also, on a macro level, the Federal Reserve moved to trim interest rates, a factor that should further supercharge growth.
Indeed, growth has returned to Upstart after recent declines in loan volumes. In the first half of 2025, revenue of $471 million increased by 84% compared to the same period last year.
During that period, it limited the rise in expenses to 24%, returning the company to profitability. Though the net income for the first two quarters of 2025 is just $3.2 million, it is a vast improvement from the $119 million loss during the same time frame in 2024. Investors have noticed these improvements, and the stock is up by almost 75% over the last year.
Admittedly, the profit levels are too modest to yield an applicable P/E ratio. Still, the forward earnings multiple of 40 is arguably cheap when considering its AI-driven potential for transformation, making Upstart stock an attractive choice for investors.
