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Received yesterday β€” 27 July 2025

5 Brilliant Growth Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for the Long Term

Key Points

  • Alphabet's AI strengths are being overlooked by the market.

  • Amazon is using AI behind the scenes to become more efficient and drive growth.

  • Meta Platforms and Pinterest are both using AI to drive advertising revenue growth.

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom continues to drive growth and transform industries, but it's not just infrastructure players that are benefiting. Some of the best long-term opportunities are with companies deploying AI behind the scenes.

Let's look at five brilliant AI-related growth stocks to buy and hold for the long haul.

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 Β»

1. Alphabet

Investors continue to underestimate Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), as they worry about AI disrupting its search business. But that view ignores what Google, its major component, actually does. This is a company built around content discovery -- not just traditional search -- and it's integrating AI into tools billions of people already use. And no other company is better at monetizing that content discovery through advertising than Alphabet. Its search data and digital ad network just cannot be matched.

The Chrome browser and Android operating system give it unmatched distribution; Chrome is the default search engine on the majority of devices, giving it a huge built-in advantage. And a recent Oppenheimer survey revealed that users found Google Search's new AI Mode more helpful than not only traditional search but also ChatGPT.

YouTube remains the world's largest ad-supported streaming platform. Google Cloud, Alphabet's cloud computing unit, is growing fast, helping companies build, train, and run AI models.

Google is also becoming a chip leader. Its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) are helping to power AI development, while its Willow quantum computing chip may be a future growth driver. And Alphabet subsidiary Waymo is expanding its robotaxi footprint.

Taken altogether, Alphabet is one of the most innovative companies in the world, and one you want to own.

2. Amazon

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is using AI to become even more dominant. While it's best known for e-commerce and cloud computing, the company's behind-the-scenes work is where the real long-term value is being built.

On the logistics and warehouse side, Amazon is using AI to determine where to store inventory, create more efficient delivery routes, and even navigate hard-to-find drop-off points. Its robotics division just passed 1 million deployed units, and some of its AI-powered robots can detect damaged products or even repair themselves. Amazon also created a new AI model called DeepFleet that coordinates its entire robot fleet to help boost throughput.

The company's largest and fastest-growing business is Amazon Web Services (AWS). It helps customers build AI models and apps with tools like Bedrock and SageMaker, and then has them run those programs on its infrastructure. It's also developed custom AI chips that give it a cost advantage, and continues to invest in AI infrastructure to meet rising demand.

Overall, Amazon is well positioned for an increasingly AI-focused world.

3. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) owns one of the world's most valuable digital advertising businesses, and AI is making it better. Its Llama models are driving more engagement across Facebook and Instagram, boosting user time spent on the apps. That gives Meta more ad inventory to sell. It's also using AI to help advertisers create better campaigns and target potential customers, which is increasing demand and leading to higher ad prices.

But Meta's growth story is just getting started. The company is only now beginning to serve ads on WhatsApp, which has over 3 billion users. It's also rolling out ads on Threads, its new social platform, which had 350 million users at the end of the first quarter. With two massive platforms still early in their monetization cycles and AI continuing to drive performance, Meta looks like a long-term winner in the AI-powered digital economy.

But the company is not stopping there. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is spending aggressively to poach top AI talent. This is all part of an effort to -- as Zuckerberg says -- "deliver personal superintelligence to everyone in the world." If it's successful, Meta could become the top AI stock to own.

A digital rendering of a brain labeled Ai.

Image source: Getty Images.

4. Pinterest

Meta isn't the only social media company using AI to drive growth. Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) has been using AI to evolve into a more shoppable and advertiser-friendly platform. The company has built a multimodal model that understands both images and text, allowing for better personalization and powering new features like visual search. Users can now click on items within images and shop for similar products directly, making Pinterest far more transactional and more attractive to both users and advertisers.

It's also working to simplify advertising on its platform. Performance+, its new AI-powered ad product, automates everything from campaign creation to targeting and bidding. That makes the platform easier to use for advertisers and helps them save time and drive better outcomes.

Pinterest has a global user base that has historically been undermonetized, especially compared to those of its peers. But with AI improving engagement, search, and ad performance, the company has a big opportunity to start to close that gap. If it can continue executing on its vision of merging content discovery with commerce, Pinterest could be a breakout growth story over the long term.

5. Toast

Toast (NYSE: TOST) has become one of the leading software platforms for the restaurant industry. What started as simply a point-of-sale system is now a full-stack software platform that helps restaurants streamline operations and drive more sales. Its newest tools -- like the AI-powered intelligence engine ToastIQ and the agent and assistant Sous Chef -- are designed to help restaurants make better decisions in real time.

Meanwhile, the company said a restaurant piloting its new menu upsell tool saw average order volume increase by 6%, while another restaurant group testing its new AI-powered advertising tool saw more than a "10x return on ad spend" with Google Ads.

Toast directly benefits from its customers' success, earning a cut of sales through payment processing. That creates a strong alignment between the business and its customers, so the company continues to innovate to help drive restaurant sales. Toast added 6,000 new locations in Q1 and now serves more than 140,000 restaurants. It's also expanding into chains like Applebee's and Topgolf, as well as adjacent verticals like hotel food service and retailers. It's slowly expanding overseas as well.

Toast's pace of innovation and expanding customer base give it a long runway of growth. This makes it a growth stock you want to own for the long term.

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Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet, Pinterest, and Toast. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Pinterest, and Toast. The Motley Fool recommends Topgolf Callaway Brands. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Received before yesterday

The hidden power of applying quickly to your dream job

20 July 2025 at 09:06
People stand over a table at a job fair
Jumping on a job posting and responding quickly to employers can boost your chances of getting a role.

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

  • Applying right away can boost the chances you'll hear back about a role, LinkedIn data shows.
  • Responding quickly to employers can up your chances of getting an interview and a job, Indeed found.
  • Career coaches told BI that your speed can signal your interest in a role.

If you're looking for a job, speed is your friend.

That's because, like in business itself, there is often a first-mover advantage for job seekers who respond quickly to open roles and overtures from employers, according to data from job sites.

Applying to a role within the first 10 minutes of getting a relevant job alert can boost your chance of hearing back by as much as four times, LinkedIn found.

Haste can also pay off throughout the process, especially when it comes to responding to those doing the hiring.

In the US, job seekers who reply to a prospective employer's message within 24 hours are 4.1 times as likely to get hired and 6.7 times as likely to get an interview, according to data Indeed shared with Business Insider.

"Speed is not just an edge, it's a signal," said Patrice Lindo, CEO of Career Nomad, a platform that helps professionals navigate career changes. "It says, 'I'm ready. I'm visible. I'm serious. I'm a decision-maker.'"

She recommends that clients apply for jobs within the first four to eight hours of seeing a posting.

"They're far more likely to be seen and even considered," Lindo told BI.

A sign of intent

The difference that speed can make matters because, for many desk workers, the pace of hiring has gone from blazing fast a few years ago to sluggish.

The overall job market remains strong, yet some companies are taking their time to hire as they try to gain insights into factors such as how tariff vacillations could affect the economy and how quickly artificial intelligence could take on certain tasks.

That's why, in this market, moving quickly isn't a sign of desperation, but rather of intent, Lindo said.

Another reason to be speedy is that once an employer has a sufficient number of rΓ©sumΓ©s, they're likely to stop looking at whatever else trickles in, Susan Peppercorn, an executive and career coach, told BI.

She advises clients that, most of the time, it's not worth it to apply for a role when the number of applicants reaches 100.

Peppercorn, like Lindo, said that moving fast can send a positive signal when communicating with a would-be employer.

"Responding within 24 hours anybody can do, but responding within the first hour shows that you're really, really interested," Peppercorn said.

Doing your homework quickly

Moving fast doesn't give you a license to be sloppy, of course. It's still better to tailor your applications to each job and to include a cover letter that, at the very least, mentions the employer's name and the role you're going after.

Customizing an application while also moving fast can be challenging, but it's doable if you're prepared. Lindo likened it to how a pregnant woman might prepare a bag packed with essentials for the hospital. Translation: Have a strong rΓ©sumΓ© ready to go.

That way, it only needs small adjustments, depending on the opportunity, she said.

Peppercorn recommends limiting what you tweak to create a solid but speedy application. She said job applicants should focus on the top summary section of their rΓ©sumΓ© and, where possible, leave the other sections alone.

The edits you make to the top should incorporate some of the key words contained in the job posting, Peppercorn said.

While it's a good idea to include a cover letter, she said, the software that many employers use to collate applications often strips off that layer to focus on the rΓ©sumΓ© itself. So, Peppercorn said, a perfunctory cover letter with some modest customization might often suffice.

In any case, don't take too long. Otherwise, you risk missing out because some employers close openings within five to 10 days, Lindo said.

Even if an employer doesn't take down a listing, if you're still perfecting your rΓ©sumΓ© on day eight, "you've already missed the window," she said.

Lindo added that some employers are likely to think that applicants who move quickly would also apply that approach to the job.

"It's an indicator of how you will operate if you were to be chosen," she said.

Do you have a story to share about your job search? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

Read the original article on Business Insider

Reid Hoffman shares his daily AI habit that he says gives him a 'lens' on the tech's future

26 April 2025 at 14:33
LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman prompts AI tools daily.
LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman.

Dominik Bindl/Getty Images

  • Reid Hoffman said he uses OpenAI's Deep Research every day to have a "lens" on AI's future.
  • He said using "chain-of-thought" models offered an insight into how these products could be "workers in the future."
  • He added that "a bunch of folks" were in the race to develop the best agentic AI.

Reid Hoffman has said he uses a specific tool daily to gain insight into how AI products could be "workers in the future."

The LinkedIn cofounder and investor said he did "at least" one prompt daily with OpenAI's Deep Research tool, an agentic tool for automating complex multi-step internet research. He also said there was many companies building "strong" offerings in the race to make AI agents.

Hoffman, who stood down as an OpenAI director in 2023, citing potential conflicts of interest with his other AI investments, was asked about the startup during an interview on Bloomberg Television on Friday.

He said he was using Deep Research once a day, and that it "gives you the lens to the amplification we're going to get with these products as workers in the future."

The rise of agentic AI, which can independently act on a person's behalf and make decisions without human intervention, has fuelled speculation about how and when AI might replace human workers.

A group of Carnegie Mellon researchers ran a virtual simulation designed to test how AI agents fare in real-world professional scenarios. They found that the top-performing model finished less than one-quarter of all tasks.

"While agents may be used to accelerate some portion of the tasks that human workers are doing, they are likely not a replacement for all tasks at the moment," Graham Neubig, a computer science professor at CMU and one of the researchers, previously told BI.

Hoffman, who cofounded Manas AI, said he saw no clear leader in the race to develop agentic AI, saying there was "a bunch of folks who are doing very strong things," and "not just OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Google."

Bloomberg interviewer Ed Ludlow told Hoffman he was increasingly talking to AI in voice mode, which he called "a psychological thing that, as a consumer, you kind of have to get over."

Read the original article on Business Insider

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