Meta Platforms, Inc. engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately. The Reality Labs segment provides augmented and virtual reality related products comprising consumer hardware, software, and content that help people feel connected, anytime, and anywhere. The company was formerly known as Facebook, Inc. and changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in October 2021. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California

Meta Platforms, Inc.

Key Points
Amazon has more growth levers and is experiencing meaningful traction for its AI chips and AI agents.
Meta Platforms is growing faster than Amazon thanks to its online ads and social media dominance.
Meta stock trades at a more attractive valuation and may offer a better opportunity when considering AI glasses.
The "Magnificent Seven" stocks have been known to outperform the S&P 500 for several years. In fact, the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF, a fund that only holds Magnificent Seven stocks, has outperformed major market indexes over the long run.
However, two tech giants on this list of coveted stocks didn't fare so well this year. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) both performed below their expectations. Neither of them kept up with the S&P 500 despite both of them having strong starts to the year.
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These underperforming stocks look due for bounce-back rallies in 2026, but which stock is more deserving of a spot in investors' portfolios? These are the key details to consider.
Amazon has multiple growth levers
While Meta Platforms makes most of its revenue from online ads, Amazon has more growth opportunities. Amazon's online marketplace, Amazon Web Services (AWS), online ads, and artificial intelligence (AI) chips are all meaningful business segments.
AWS growth should continue to accelerate thanks to AI tools requiring digital infrastructure. Sales for the segment grew by 20% year over year in Q3, but that wasn't the only part of the business that was growing.
Advertising revenue jumped by 24% year over year, and its online marketplace also posted a double-digit growth rate. Online ads have boosted Amazon's profit margins, but its push into AI agents can further increase margins.
Amazon informed investors in its Q3 press release that AI agents have assisted customers across multiple business segments. For instance, AWS AI agent Transform has saved more than 700,000 hours of manual migration effort year to date, which comes to 335 developer years of work. Amazon also told investors that its Quick Suite agent AI app helped businesses save 80% of their time on complex tasks while realizing 90% cost savings.
Amazon's Trainium2 AI chips are another notable segment that grew by 150% quarter over quarter and is turning Amazon into an AI stock. Trainium2 has become a multibillion-dollar business and can benefit from long-term AI tailwinds.
Meta Platforms is growing faster
Meta Platforms still makes almost all of its revenue from online ads. It's not as diversified as Amazon, but Facebook's parent company continues to grow at a faster rate.
The social media giant delivered 26% year-over-year revenue growth in the third quarter, significantly outpacing Amazon's 13% growth. Furthermore, Meta stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.8 compared to Amazon stock's 32.8. Meta Platforms is growing faster and has a more attractive valuation than Amazon.
Its social networks continue to grow, with daily active users up by 8% year over year, but the real opportunity lies in wearable tech. Meta Platforms aims to be the leader in this industry, and it can make the business less reliant on ad sales.
"We continue to lead the industry in AI glasses. If we deliver even a fraction of the opportunity ahead, then the next few years will be the most exciting period in our history," CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors.
The extremely bullish scenario is that AI glasses become the next smartphone. Instead of reaching into your pocket for your device, you can have it accessible at all times, similar to an Iron Man helmet that doesn't cover your entire face.
If Meta Platforms wins that industry, as it has dominated social media, and AI glasses become mainstream products, the company can bring in billions of additional dollars each quarter. In the meantime, ad revenue continues to generate a healthy cash flow, supporting Meta Platforms' AI investments.
The verdict
It's hard to go wrong with either company, but Meta Platforms appears to be the better growth stock. Facebook's parent company has delivered higher revenue growth rates while offering a lower valuation.
Amazon's revenue growth can accelerate thanks to AWS, online ads, AI agents, and AI chips, but Meta Platforms' ads continue to perform at a high level. AI glasses can finally give Meta Platforms the second major product it has been seeking, so it doesn't depend entirely on ad revenue.
As AI glasses technology improves, it can become the next innovative, must-have tech product. Amazon has more paths to long-term growth, but Meta Platforms continues to thrive, thanks to its old reliable sources, while looking for new revenue streams.
Should you invest $1,000 in Meta Platforms right now?
Before you buy stock in Meta Platforms, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Meta Platforms wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $499,978!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,126,609!*
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Marc Guberti has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Meta vs. Amazon: Which Underperforming "Magnificent Seven" Stock Will Rebound More in 2026?

(RTTNews) - Meta (META) has expanded access to its new "Your Algorithm" feature, allowing all U.S. Instagram users to shape the content they see on Reels manually. The tool, tested with a limited user group since October, gives individuals a dedicated control panel that can be opened via an icon in the top-right corner of the Reels feed.
Within the panel, users can add or remove interest categories and review sample videos tied to each topic. The feature is designed to give users more explicit control over recommendations, reducing reliance on Meta's AI-driven personalization.
Meta executive Chris Cox said the rollout marks a major step toward giving users a more controllable experience. He noted that the underlying technology has been upgraded and will continue to evolve, and that the tool already offers a strong influence over recommendation patterns.
While the feature offers meaningful transparency and user agency, Meta acknowledges potential trade-offs. AI-powered recommendations currently drive significant engagement across its apps. Allowing users to override algorithmic inputs manually could reduce time spent on Reels, though Meta believes the risk is limited. Historically, users rarely adjust manual controls even when available, and often prefer the convenience of automated recommendations.
Meta sees the feature primarily as a reassurance mechanism—an option people want for peace of mind, even if they seldom use it. Still, it remains to be seen whether Instagram users will actively refine their feeds using the new controls.
Additionally, Instagram will let users share their interest selections directly to their Stories, providing a way for followers to see the topics they have chosen to prioritize.
META closed Thursday at $652.71, up 0.40%, and is trading after hours at $652.16, down 0.08% on the NasdaqGS.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Instagram Rolls Out New "Your Algorithm" Controls For U.S. Reels Users

Key Points
Oracle's debt is rising as cash flies out the door to fund AI data centers.
The company already has a debt-heavy balance sheet, and it will need to borrow more to fund its AI infrastructure contracts.
Investors have soured on the stock as debt concerns intensify.
Tech giant Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) has racked up remaining performance obligations, which represent future revenue expected to be generated from signed contracts, totaling $523 billion. The company added $68 billion to the backlog in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 alone, signing new deals for AI infrastructure with Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and other customers.
Oracle's deals to provide AI infrastructure require the company to build expensive data centers filled with powerful GPUs before any revenue is recognized. Oracle entered the AI boom with a debt-heavy balance sheet, and the situation is worsening as the company borrows to fuel its AI ambitions.
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Burning cash and piling up debt
For the six-month period ending Nov. 30, Oracle generated $10.2 billion in operating cash flow and used $20.5 billion for capital expenditures. That works out to a negative free cash flow of $10.3 billion. Capital spending more than tripled year-over-year during the period as Oracle plowed ahead with its capital-intensive AI strategy.
Oracle has spent years piling up debt to fund share buybacks, which raises the risk level of adding even more debt to the balance sheet. Thanks to heavy spending on AI infrastructure, Oracle ended the second quarter with about $108 billion in debt. That's up from $92.6 billion in May. The company completed an $18 billion bond sale in September.
Oracle stock was tumbling on Thursday following the release of its second-quarter report. If the company can successfully convert its AI infrastructure backlog into revenue over the next few years, its revenue growth is expected to accelerate dramatically. However, the upfront cost is enormous. Additionally, there's a risk related to OpenAI, which reportedly has a $300 billion AI infrastructure contract with Oracle. If OpenAI struggles to raise sufficient funding or generate enough revenue as competition intensifies, Oracle could be left holding the bag.
How high will Oracle's debt go?
Analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets estimated in September that Oracle may need to add $100 billion in debt over the next four years to fund its OpenAI contract. Oracle management addressed this concern during theearnings call with co-CEO Clay Magouyrk saying that "based on what we see right now, we expect we will need less if not substantially less, you know, money raised than that amount."
Oracle has a few tools at its disposal, including deals where customers bring their own chips. The company could also work with private equity firms or other third parties, similar to a deal Intel struck with Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to fund its Arizona semiconductor fab. Magouyrk insisted during theearnings callthat Oracle was committed to maintaining its investment-grade debt rating.
While the jury's still out on how much debt Oracle will need to fulfill its contracts, investors have been registering their opinions in recent weeks by sending the stock tumbling. Oracle's AI growth story is falling on deaf ears, and it's hard to say what it will take to shift sentiment in a positive direction.
Should you invest $1,000 in Oracle right now?
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The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Oracle wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $499,978!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,126,609!*
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Timothy Green has positions in Intel. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Oracle. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Oracle's Debt Balloons to $108 Billion as AI Spending Soars

Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 12/15/25, Meta Platforms Inc (Symbol: META), Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc (Symbol: WH), and Dominos Pizza Inc. (Symbol: DPZ) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. Meta Platforms Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.525 on 12/23/25, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.41 on 12/30/25, and Dominos Pizza Inc. will pay its quarterly dividend of $1.74 on 12/26/25. As a percentage of META's recent stock price of $650.13, this dividend works out to approximately 0.08%, so look for shares of Meta Platforms Inc to trade 0.08% lower — all else being equal — when META shares open for trading on 12/15/25. Similarly, investors should look for WH to open 0.56% lower in price and for DPZ to open 0.42% lower, all else being equal.
When an S&P 1500 component reaches 20 years of dividend increases, it becomes a contender to join the elite "Dividend Aristocrats" index. Dominos Pizza Inc. (Symbol: DPZ) is a "future dividend aristocrats contender," with 15+ years of increases.
Below are dividend history charts for META, WH, and DPZ, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
Meta Platforms Inc (Symbol: META):
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc (Symbol: WH):
Dominos Pizza Inc. (Symbol: DPZ):
In general, dividends are not always predictable, following the ups and downs of company profits over time. Therefore, a good first due diligence step in forming an expectation of annual yield going forward, is looking at the history above, for a sense of stability over time. This can help in judging whether the most recent dividends from these companies are likely to continue. If they do continue, the current estimated yields on annualized basis would be 0.32% for Meta Platforms Inc, 2.23% for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc, and 1.66% for Dominos Pizza Inc..
In Thursday trading, Meta Platforms Inc shares are currently down about 1%, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc shares are up about 1.6%, and Dominos Pizza Inc. shares are up about 0.4% on the day.
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Also see:
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Ex-Dividend Reminder: Meta Platforms, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Dominos Pizza

Key Points
Nvidia's success throughout the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution rests almost entirely on its chip dominance.
Alphabet's custom tensor processing units (TPUs) are gaining momentum from AI hyperscalers.
Some investors worry that Nvidia could be dethroned by Alphabet in the chip industry.
For the last three years, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been the most dominant company in the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape. The company's graphics processing units (GPUs) are the backbone on which generative AI is developed.
Hyperscalers including OpenAI, Oracle, Meta Platforms, and cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have collectively spent hundreds of billions of dollars clustering Nvidia GPUs inside of data centers to build their AI infrastructure.
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While Advanced Micro Devices is largely perceived as Nvidia's chief rival in the AI chip market, a new threat is emerging: Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG). The internet giant is making waves in the semiconductor industry thanks to rising interest in its custom hardware, known as tensor processing units (TPUs).
Let's take a look at what Alphabet's entrance in the chip market means for Nvidia as investments in AI infrastructure continue to unfold. Should Nvidia investors be worried? Read on to find out.
What is the difference between a GPU and a TPU?
Nvidia's GPUs are versatile pieces of hardware. These chips are designed to work in clusters in parallel with the company's CUDA software architecture. Taken together, Nvidia's ecosystem can be used to train large language models (LLMs) or help build more robust applications across AI robotics, autonomous driving, and quantum computing.
TPUs, by contrast, are much more specialized. Rather than being a purpose-built piece of hardware, Alphabet's TPUs should be classified as a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). This makes TPUs useful in extremely bespoke workloads such as deep learning.
Alphabet's TPUs are seeing strong demand, but there's a catch
Throughout the AI revolution, one of Alphabet's biggest winners has been its cloud division: Google Cloud platform. In recent months, Google Cloud has won notable deals with OpenAI as well as a $10 billion contract with Meta Platforms.
What investors might not fully comprehend is that the introduction of hardware now makes TPUs an interesting selling point within Google's broader cloud ecosystem.
Notably, Apple used TPUs to train its Apple Intelligence models. Meanwhile, Anthropic announced plans to expand its usage of Google Cloud in a deal featuring up to 1 million TPUs. Lastly, rumors are swirling that Meta is considering complementing its existing reliance on Google Cloud by deploying its own TPU clusters.
On the surface, accelerating TPU demand from big tech might sound alarming for Nvidia investors. However, there are some finer details that smart investors shouldn't overlook.
While Anthropic's relationship with Google Cloud is significant, the company also has strong ties with Nvidia. Just weeks ago, Anthropic agreed to purchase $30 billion of compute capacity from Microsoft Azure, which runs heavily on Nvidia's GPUs.
On top of that, OpenAI recently struck a $38 billion deal with AWS to access Nvidia's new GB200 and GB300 chips.
Furthermore, while Nvidia does not reveal the specifics around its customer concentration, many analysts on Wall Street suspect that the hyperscalers -- including Alphabet -- are among its largest chip buyers.
These are important details to understand. While TPUs represent potentially transformative dynamics in the AI chip market, many of their users -- including Google itself -- actually complement this custom hardware with Nvidia's general purpose GPUs. Against this backdrop, TPUs don't appear to be replacing GPUs at all.
AI chips is not a winner-take-all market
Management consulting firm McKinsey & Company is forecasting AI infrastructure to be a $7 trillion market by 2030, with roughly $5 billion of this spend allocated toward AI workloads.
Given the hyperscalers are accelerating their capital expenditures (capex), I feel confident that demand for Nvidia's GPUs and accompanying data center services will remain robust for the foreseeable future.
It's possible -- even likely -- that rival accelerators from AMD in combination with custom ASICs such as TPUs will eventually erode Nvidia's pricing power in the chip market down the road.
Nevertheless, the introduction of TPUs is not a checkmate move by Google. If anything, complementing existing Nvidia infrastructure with custom chip designs reinforces how large of an opportunity AI infrastructure is becoming. In other words, AI chips are not a winner-take-all market.
For these reasons, I don't think Nvidia investors need to panic. The company still remains the king of the chip realm and appears well positioned to thrive in the AI infrastructure era.
Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now?
Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alphabet wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $499,978!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,126,609!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 971% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 195% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of December 8, 2025
Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Did Alphabet Just Say "Checkmate" to Nvidia?

Market Volatility and Opportunities

Key Points
Alphabet's advertising business provides it with plenty of money to invest in Google Cloud.
Amazon has a 40% market share in e-commerce in the U.S.
Buffett has trimmed Berkshire Hathaway's stake in Apple, but it still makes up 21% of the conglomerate's portfolio.
I appreciate that Warren Buffett keeps us guessing. The longtime CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) is retiring at the end of this month, but he leaves a powerful legacy as one of the greatest investors to have ever lived.
Buffett has famously focused on companies that aren't flashy, such as those in the credit card, financial services, insurance, and consumer staples sectors, which are easily understood, undervalued, and have a strong competitive moat. Buffett made a significant amount of money with his investing philosophy, leading Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio to outperform the S&P 500 by far for the duration of his career.
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But Buffett's also willing to change, and he's never one to leave the stocks of great companies on the table. So, it's interesting that in the final month of his career at Berkshire, the conglomerate is now holding some outstanding tech stocks that are at the forefront of the proliferation of artificial intelligence.
Even though Buffett is stepping down and the famed Berkshire portfolio is being taken over by one of his trusted lieutenants, Greg Abel, here are three stocks that you should have in your portfolio today. Hint: they all start with the letter "A" and, in my mind, are the very definition of an A-rated stock.
Alphabet: The newest pick
Berkshire Hathaway didn't open a position in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) until the third quarter. The purchase of nearly 18 million shares was disclosed in a regulatory filing in November, giving Berkshire a stake now worth more than $5.5 billion.
Alphabet has some traits that come directly from the Buffett playbook. It has a massive competitive moat, with a dominant 89% of internet search and a 71% web browser market share. That gives it fuel for its powerful advertising business, which generated $74.1 billion in the third quarter.
The massive cash influx enables Alphabet to invest in the infrastructure necessary for the growth of its Google Cloud computing division. Cloud computing is becoming more important because it's tremendously expensive to buy, cluster, and operate thousands of expensive semiconductor chips to run AI programs. Many companies are turning to cloud hyperscalers like Google as a solution, which is why Alphabet's Google Cloud revenue jumped 33% to $15.1 billion in the third quarter compared to the same period last year.
If Alphabet signs a rumored multi-billion-dollar deal with Meta Platforms to supply Meta data centers with its Google tensor processing units (an alternative to Nvidia's graphics processing units), then Alphabet may just be scratching the surface of its AI potential.
Amazon: E-commerce and cloud dominance
Berkshire Hathaway opened its position in Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock in early 2019. And Buffett has kept a position for nearly seven years now, it's notable that the conglomerate's stake of 10 million shares is significantly less than its stake in Alphabet, and is valued at $2.2 billion.
Given a choice between the two, I think that Alphabet is by far the superior stock, so it makes sense to me that Berkshire's investment is more than twice as much as its Amazon holdings.
Amazon fits the Buffett mold by having a dominant e-commerce business, holding a 40% market share in the U.S. market and $147.1 billion in revenue in the third quarter. The problem with the business is that it has a profit margin of only 4%. If there were a way for Amazon to achieve a margin of even a few percentage points higher, I think the stock would be significantly more appealing.
But like Alphabet, Amazon has a cloud computing division, and it's much more profitable. Amazon Web Services (AWS) generated $33 billion in the third quarter, up 20% from a year ago. The 34% profit margin is more than attractive.
Apple: The biggest position
Berkshire Hathaway has owned Apple stock for nearly a decade, and it's by far the company's largest holding. Berkshire Hathaway owns 238.2 million shares of Apple stock, with a stake valued at $66 billion. Apple stock makes up more than 21% of Berkshire's entire portfolio.
But it used to be a lot more. Apple used to make up about half of Berkshire's portfolio, but Buffett and his team sold more than 680 million shares since 2023, including nearly 42 million shares in the third quarter.
Does this mean Apple's a bad stock? Not at all. It simply means that Buffett and his team believed the company needed to diversify its holdings -- and that's always good advice. You don't want any company to dominate your portfolio because it leaves you vulnerable to weakness in the company or the sector.
Fortunately for Apple and its investors, the company had a strong 2025, with revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter (ended Sept. 27), up 8% from a year ago to $102.5 billion. Buffett appreciates Apple because its customers tend to be loyal, creating an ecosystem that includes smartphones, personal computers, wearable technology, and entertainment. Now, as Apple invests in Apple Intelligence, the AI tool that it incorporates into its computers, smartphones, and tablets, Apple has high hopes that AI will continue to make Apple a winning stock.
How to invest $10,000 into Buffett stocks
With your $10,000 investment split equally, you can get 10 shares of Alphabet Class A stock (the same class that Berkshire holds), 14 shares of Amazon stock, and 12 shares of Apple stock. That's a strong Buffett-approved way to invest in the tech sector -- and position your portfolio to profit from the growing AI transformation.
Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now?
Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alphabet wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $521,550!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,133,904!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 981% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 194% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of December 8, 2025
Patrick Sanders has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The Best Warren Buffett Stocks to Buy With $10,000 Right Now

Key Points
A major social media company is making a concentrated push into for-profit AI, according to a media report.
It's reportedly utilizing several third-party models, such as Alibaba's, to aid in training its system.
Following news that it is reportedly involved in a significant artificial intelligence (AI) initiative by a major U.S. tech company, Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) stock closed higher on Wednesday. Investors pushed the shares almost 2% skyward, a rate that beat the 0.7% gain of the benchmark S&P 500 index.
A new AI initiative
Before market open that day, Bloomberg reported that social media titan Meta Platforms is making a concentrated effort to develop a proprietary, for-pay AI model.
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Citing unnamed "people familiar with the matter," thefinancial newsagency wrote that Meta aims to debut such a model, currently code-named Avocado, next spring. This would mark a departure from the company's strategy of open-source AI.
The group developing Avocado, which Bloomberg reported has been named TBD, is utilizing a set of third-party AI models to assist in training the Meta system. Among these are Alibaba's Qwen, Gemma from Alphabet unit Google, and OpenAI's gpt-oss.
Neither Meta nor Alibaba officials have commented on the article yet.
Revolutionary success
Alibaba's apparent contribution to Avocado is meaningful not for the relatively modest revenue it might bring to the company, but because it bolsters Qwen as a powerful and useful tool for AI developers. This enhancement to reputation can only benefit Alibaba as its maker, and keep the world aware that the Chinese company is a player in the AI revolution.
Should you invest $1,000 in Alibaba Group right now?
Before you buy stock in Alibaba Group, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alibaba Group wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $521,550!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,133,904!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 981% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 194% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of December 8, 2025
Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Why Alibaba Stock Inched Higher Today

Key Points
A clutch of state attorneys general sent a letter warning selected tech companies about the dangers of their AI chatbots.
Several top industry names received the letter.
A finger-wagging from state attorneys general over artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots was the catalyst behind a mild sell-off of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) stock on Wednesday. While this isn't the first, or the most serious, regulatory issue the company has faced, it wasn't helping sentiment on the tech giant. It contributed to Microsoft's nearly 3% decline in share price that day.
Concerns expressed
That morning, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general sent a letter to several major tech companies -- including Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Alphabet's Google, and Apple -- warning them that their AI-enhanced chatbots were causing problems.
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The legal officials aimed to "communicate our serious concerns about the rise in sycophantic and delusional outputs to users emanating from the generative artificial intelligence software promoted and distributed by your companies, as well as the increasingly disturbing reports of AI interactions with children."
The attorneys general added that these factors "indicate a need for much stronger child-safety
and operational safeguards. Together, these threats demand immediate action."
The recipients were requested to allow independent auditing of these products by state and federal authorities.
The effort is part of a tug-of-war between the states and the federal government regarding AI oversight. The Trump administration aims to restrict states from enacting their own laws on it, while certain officials, such as the authors of the letter, would like to place some limits on the technology.
Been there, done that
As mentioned, Microsoft has found itself on the business end of regulatory pushes before. It has always found a way to either gain compliance or settle for a compromise that doesn't significantly harm its business. While we can expect some level of legal and regulatory oversight to cover AI products in the near future, I believe that, regardless, Microsoft will find a way to operate effectively.
Should you invest $1,000 in Microsoft right now?
Before you buy stock in Microsoft, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Microsoft wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $521,550!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,133,904!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 981% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 194% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of December 8, 2025
Eric Volkman has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Why Microsoft Stock Tumbled Today

Key Points
VGT is missing key tech stocks because of how they're categorized by sector.
Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple account for over 45% of VGT.
QQQ has outperformed VGT since VGT's inception.
When you look at the stock market performance of the 11 major U.S. business sectors, there's tech, and then there's everyone else. The tech sector has considerably outperformed other sectors and has positioned itself as the go-to for investors seeking high-growth opportunities.
Twenty years ago, at the end of 2005, only one of the world's top 10 most valuable companies was a tech company (Microsoft). Today, nine of them are, each with a valuation of over $1 trillion (as of Dec. 4).
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
Considering the historical success, it makes sense that investors would want to continue pouring money into the sector. Rather than betting on individual stocks, investing in tech-focused exchange-traded funds (ETF)gives you broad exposure to the sector without taking on each company's individual risks.
Two popular tech ETFs are the Invesco QQQ ETF (NASDAQ: QQQ) and the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT). However, if you had to choose one of the two, which is the better option to go with heading into 2026? To me, the Invesco ETF stands out as the go-to. Here's why.
Sector technicalities could mean missing out on key tech companies with Vanguard Information Technology ETF
The Invesco QQQ mirrors the Nasdaq-100, an index tracking the 100 largest nonfinancial companies on the Nasdaq exchange. This means QQQ isn't only tech stocks, but they do make up 64% of the ETF. On the other hand, the Vanguard ETF contains only companies from the information technology (tech) sector.
One knock on Vanguard Information Technology that makes me lean toward QQQ is how stock sectors are defined and how that affects what companies the Vanguard fund holds. The Vanguard fund is a pure-play tech ETF, but because of how the information technology sector is categorized, it's missing some key companies that I'd want exposure to if I were investing in a tech ETF.
For example, the ETF doesn't include Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, or Netflix because the stock market categorizes those companies in different sectors. Alphabet, Meta, and Netflix fall into the communication services sector, and Amazon and Tesla fall into the consumer discretionary sector.
Although QQQ includes companies from other sectors, it also includes all the companies mentioned above, as well as those that technically fall into the tech sector.
High concentration comes with more risk
The other reason I would prefer QQQ over Vanguard Information Technology ETF going into 2026 is that it's much less concentrated. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Apple, and Microsoft are the top three holdings in each ETF, but in the Vanguard ETF, they account for over 45% of the fund.
Company
Percentage of VGT
Percentage of QQQ
Nvidia
18.18%
9.16%
Apple
14.29%
8.85%
Microsoft
12.93
7.47%
Source: Vanguard and Invesco. Vanguard holdings as of Oct. 31. Invesco holdings as of Dec. 2.
Three companies comprising around 25% of QQQ doesn't necessarily scream diversification, but having three companies account for over 45% of a 314-stock ETF is a high-risk, high-reward game. It has worked out in Vanguard Information Technology ETF's favor in the past few years because of Nvidia's beyond-impressive performance (up 987% in three years), but the cause of its gains can be the same cause of its vulnerability.
The high concentration in Nvidia, in particular, is cause for hesitation. It has benefited significantly from demand for its graphics processing units (GPUs), artificial intelligence (AI) chips, and other data center hardware. But at over 18% of the Vanguard fund, you'd be banking on that demand continuing and Nvidia's earnings growth remaining near its current rate at a time when it's facing increased competition from companies like Alphabet, Amazon, and AMD.
AI demand is still strong, but I would prefer exposure to QQQ in the coming year because it also holds companies that deal with AI on the application side (Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta), which seems more promising than relying solely on the hardware side of the ecosystem.
Comparing their performances
Over the past decade, both QQQ and the Vanguard Information Technology ETF have performed impressively, but the Vanguard fund has outperformed QQQ, mainly due to the growth of its top holdings, such as Nvidia. However, when you zoom out, QQQ has narrowly outperformed Vanguard since the latter debuted in January 2004.
Past performance doesn't guarantee future performance, and there's no way to predict how each will perform going forward. That said, I like how QQQ is better positioned for the long run. It has all the tech giants you would want, while having a piece of other sectors to help hedge against any tech-related downturns.
Should you invest $1,000 in Invesco QQQ Trust right now?
Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $521,550!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,133,904!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 981% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 194% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of December 8, 2025
Stefon Walters has positions in Apple and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Index	Bulls	Bears
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	S/L 5%RUB 682.64	S/L 10%RUB 715.14	S/L 15%RUB 747.65
Day	5.49%	0.01%	0.00%
Week	39.06%	8.02%	0.93%
Month	67.53%	39.33%	20.45%

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