If you have an extra $1,000 sitting in a savings or checking account, one of the best ways to make money with it is to invest it in the stock market. If you're a beginner investor, buying a low-cost, diversified S&P 500 exchange-traded fund such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (ticker: SPY) is a relatively low-risk way to get started.
But if you want to build your own stock portfolio from scratch, here are 8 of the best blue-chip stocks you can buy with $1,000 that have been rated “Buy” by the CFRA analyst team.
| stock | Suggested Increase* |
| Microsoft (MSFT) | Ten% |
| Apple Inc. (AAPL) | 21.6% |
| NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) | 16.3% |
| Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) | 7.2% |
| Amazon.com (AMZN) | 7.8% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) | 16% |
| Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) | 17.9% |
| Broadcom (AVGO) | 22.1% |
* Exceeds the closing price on April 15th.
Microsoft is the world's largest software company, best known for its Windows, Office, and Azure cloud services. Analyst Angelo Gino says Microsoft's shift to a cloud-based business model and industry-leading artificial intelligence technologies, including its investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, create continued growth opportunities for Microsoft in the coming years. Gino says cloud versions of Microsoft programs like Office, Teams, and Dynamics are gaining momentum, and Microsoft has an opportunity to further monetize its offerings and grow revenue by integrating additional AI technologies. CFRA rates MSFT shares a “strong buy” and sets a target price of $455. MSFT shares closed at $413.64 on April 15.
Apple makes iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, Mac computers, and other personal computing devices. In addition, its Services division includes the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, and licensing business. Zino said Apple's valuable brands, large ecosystem, global customer base, and high customer retention rates help the company grow its profit margins. The company has maintained stable free cash flow generation and is expanding its addressable markets while aggressively returning capital to shareholders. Zino predicts rising selling prices and growth opportunities in advertising, bundling, and gaming. CFRA has a “buy” rating on AAPL shares and a $210 target price. AAPL shares closed at $172.69 on April 15.
NVIDIA designs and sells high-performance graphics and video processing chips used in desktop and gaming PCs, workstations, and other advanced computing servers and supercomputers. Not only has NVIDIA been one of the best-performing stocks in the overall market over the past 15 years, but it was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 last year, thanks to a 239% gain in 2023. Gino said the global adoption of AI technology across industries, countries and companies will be a big tailwind for NVIDIA's AI chip sales. CFRA has a “buy” rating on NVDA shares and a $1,000 target price. NVDA shares closed at $860.01 on April 15.
Alphabet is one of the world's largest online search and advertising companies and the parent company of Google and YouTube. Gino says Alphabet can sustain 6-11% annual revenue growth through at least 2025. He is bullish on the company's free cash flow potential and says the stock is attractively priced. Gino says Alphabet has the opportunity to apply its industry-leading AI technology to develop new enterprise AI tools, grow revenue for its Google Cloud business, and improve efficiency in search and YouTube. CFRA rates Google shares a Buy and has a $166 price target. The stock closed at $154.86 on April 15.
Amazon is a market leader in e-commerce and public cloud services. Analyst Arun Sundaram says Amazon is positioned to deliver huge cash flows and profits to investors in the coming years. Sundaram says Amazon is experiencing the highest growth rates in its higher-margin businesses, including third-party fulfillment, Amazon Web Services, and advertising. Additionally, he says there are opportunities to improve efficiency by integrating robotics and increasing automation. Sundaram also says Amazon can strengthen its Prime Video offering and further monetize its AWS cloud services business. CFRA has a “buy” rating on AMZN shares and a target price of $198. AMZN shares closed at $183.62 on April 15.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META)
Meta Platforms is a market leader in social media and online advertising, owning platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Zino said Meta has several attractive growth opportunities, an improving margin trajectory and an attractive valuation. He said cost-cutting measures and increased digital ad spending will help Meta expand margins and continue to grow revenue and free cash flow. He expects FCF to reach $50 billion in 2024. He is particularly bullish on Meta's growth opportunities related to Reels, AI technology and the metaverse. CFRA rates META shares a “Buy” and has a target price of $580. META shares closed at $500.23 on April 15.
Eli Lilly manufactures brand-name prescription drugs to treat a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders. Analyst Sel Hardy says Lilly has several long-term drivers that make him bullish on the company's stock, including late-stage Alzheimer's disease treatment donanemab, certain leukemia and lymphoma treatment pirtobrutinib, and sleep apnea and heart disease treatment tirzepatide. Hardy says these innovative therapies are the perfect complement to the company's flagship marketed drugs, including type 2 diabetes treatment Trulicity and type 2 diabetes and weight loss drug Mounjaro. CFRA rates Lilly shares a “strong buy” and has a target price of $885. The company's closing price on April 15 was $750.77.
Broadcom is a diversified global analog semiconductor supplier. Zino said the combination of Broadcom's network and switcher business with its application-specific integrated circuit business will make the company one of the biggest winners from the global AI infrastructure investment boom. In addition, Broadcom will benefit in several key ways from its recent acquisition of VMware, including significant cost synergies, higher-margin software sales, diversification and increased recurring revenue, he said. Zino said Broadcom's AI opportunity and long-term chip supply agreement with Apple create great financial visibility for investors. CFRA rates AVGO shares, which closed at $1,310.69 on April 15, a “buy” and has a target price of $1,600.
AVGO stock can trade for over $1,000 a share, but don't be scared: Many brokers allow fractional share trading, so you can buy a portion of a pricey stock like Broadcom and still get a percentage of the return that a full share would make.
