Which Stock to Buy Right Now: Microsoft and Alphabet Lead the Pack

Building long-term wealth doesn’t require taking on excessive risk. The smarter approach is identifying strong companies with industry leadership and solid growth potential—companies that serve billions of customers and reinvest profits into innovation. Two stocks worth considering in your portfolio are Microsoft and Alphabet, both of which offer compelling reasons to buy right now.

Building Your Foundation: Why These Companies Matter

Both Microsoft and Alphabet possess a significant advantage: massive user bases that translate directly into sustainable revenue streams. Microsoft has 900 million people leveraging AI capabilities across its ecosystem, while Alphabet’s services reach 2 billion users through Search, Gmail, and YouTube. These platforms generate substantial profits that fuel ongoing investment in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

The competitive advantage is clear. By continuously improving their services through AI innovation, both companies widen their moat—making it increasingly difficult for competitors to challenge their market position. This is precisely the kind of stock to buy right now if you’re thinking about decades-long wealth building, not quick gains.

Microsoft: Capturing the Productivity AI Shift

Microsoft exemplifies how to leverage new technology for growth. The company’s Copilot AI assistant has reached 150 million monthly active users, fundamentally changing how people interact with productivity software. This widespread adoption is driving a crucial metric: higher revenue per user.

When customers willingly pay more for software because AI features genuinely improve their work, it signals strong pricing power. Microsoft 365 and related productivity tools generated 17% year-over-year revenue growth in the latest quarter. Beyond that, Azure—the company’s enterprise cloud division—is backed by $400 billion in future customer commitments, providing exceptional visibility into long-term revenue.

The financial results speak for themselves. Over five years, Microsoft’s net income has nearly doubled to $105 billion. This is the kind of stock to buy if you value both current profitability and future growth. Even with aggressive spending on AI infrastructure, the company is positioned to deliver substantially higher profits down the road.

Alphabet: Positioning for the Digital Ad Boom

Alphabet’s path forward mirrors Microsoft’s in many ways, with one key difference: advertising as the profit engine. Google has successfully integrated AI into its search platform, prompting users to ask more questions—and creating more ad opportunities in the process.

The numbers demonstrate this strategy’s effectiveness. Google’s ad revenue climbed 14% year-over-year in Q3 2025, up from 12% in Q3 2024 and 11% in Q3 2023. This accelerating growth trajectory shows that AI integration is actually strengthening Google’s market position rather than cannibalizing it—a critical distinction for any stock to buy in the AI era.

Alphabet’s profitability has matched its revenue momentum. The company’s net income has more than doubled to $124 billion over just three years. While advertising spending naturally fluctuates during economic downturns (as witnessed in 2022), the broader digital advertising market is expanding dramatically. Industry estimates suggest the market could roughly double to $1.1 trillion by 2030. Google’s AI capabilities position it to capture significant share of this opportunity.

Why Investors Should Act Now

If you’re evaluating which stock to buy right now, consider the compounding power of time. Historical precedent provides perspective: Netflix investors who bought on December 17, 2004 would have seen $1,000 transform into $462,174 by January 2026. Similarly, Nvidia investors from April 15, 2005 watched $1,000 grow to $1,143,099.

Both Microsoft and Alphabet possess the characteristics that drove those exceptional returns: dominant market positions, accelerating profit growth, and exposure to transformative technology trends. Neither company requires speculative bets; both are established industry leaders with clear paths to expanding profitability.

The question isn’t whether to invest, but which stocks deserve your capital. Microsoft and Alphabet represent thoughtful choices for investors seeking exposure to sustained AI-driven growth within a framework of financial stability and proven execution.