The best stocks to invest $1,000 right now

Key Points

• Despite Walmart's disappointing second-quarter earnings, the company continues to strengthen its relationship with consumers through a broader and more comprehensive business strategy.

• Rocket Lab brings something that the space launch business has needed for a long time: profitability.

• Energy-efficient computer processors are more important than ever, and Arm Holdings is ready to meet this demand.

Do you have some money ready to invest? It's easier said than done at the moment. Too many trades seem to be saturated and many stocks seem overvalued.

However, if you are willing to consider names other than the more popular options on the market, you will likely find something interesting.

Here are three of the best stocks to invest $1,000 in right now. Each one is very different from the other two, which makes them complementary to each other, creating an interesting balance between risk and reward.

1. Walmart

Walmart's shares fell more than 6% after reporting earnings of $0.68 per share against estimates of $0.76. The company cited tariffs as the main cause of the setback.

However, there are reasons why the shares have recovered almost all of their decline. Investors recognize that their revenue growth of 4.8% (5.6% at constant currency) to $177.4 billion exceeded estimates of $176.2 billion, and the company raised its growth outlook for the entire year.

The most compelling aspect is how it is succeeding in areas that are not yet fully reflected in its results. For example, advertising revenues generated through Walmart.com and its smart TV platform Vizio increased by 46% year-over-year and 31% in the important U.S. market. Although it represents less than 1% of its total sales, these are high-margin revenues for a traditionally low-margin business.

In addition, e-commerce revenue grew another 25% year-over-year, driven by in-store fulfillment and local pickup/delivery. This demonstrates the retailer's ability to merge its online and offline offerings, similar to the 15.3% improvement in Walmart+ membership revenue.

In summary, Walmart is becoming a comprehensive solution for consumers and a machine for recurring income for shareholders, although many customers and investors may not fully perceive it yet.

2. Rocket Lab

Although you have probably heard of Walmart, you may have never heard of Rocket Lab, although you are likely benefiting in some way from the service it provides.

As the name suggests, Rocket Lab puts satellites into orbit, specializing in cost-effective launches of relatively small satellites. Its reusable Electron rocket can carry up to 660 pounds to low Earth orbit. To date, 70 successful launches have enabled the deployment of 238 satellites.

This type of solution represents a large part of the future of the space industry. As communication satellites decrease in size and weight while the demand for broadband connections and satellite mobile telephony increases, an affordable launch solution like Electron -with an average launch cost of $7-8 million- is exactly what telecommunications companies and the military are looking for.

Furthermore, there is a huge potential catalyst in development. Rocket Lab is working on a medium-lift rocket called Neutron that can launch up to 14 tons, necessary to support missions to the moon or even other planets. The company says it will launch its first Neutron rocket before the end of the year.

Interested investors should prepare for volatility. Not only are the shares of this relatively small company with a market capitalization of only ( billion $20 easily affected by headlines, but its current lack of profitability increases its unpredictability.

3. Arm Holdings

Finally, add Arm Holdings to your list of great stocks to buy if you have $1,000 to invest.

Arm designs computer processors, but it only designs them. Unlike companies like Nvidia or Intel, Arm licenses its knowledge to these same players. There are no significant revenues with this business model )only generated about (billion last year$4 , but they are high-margin and consistent revenues.

What makes Arm's technology so special? In one word, efficiency - Arm's processing architecture consumes significantly less electricity than rival chips designed by Intel or AMD.

The Arm-based Graviton processor from Amazon Web Services, for example, is approximately 60% more energy-efficient than other comparable processors, resulting in a 20% lower cost of use. Apple also opted for processors designed by Arm in its new iPhones, capable of performing artificial intelligence work from the device itself.

Perhaps where Arm Holdings will have the greatest impact is in the data center market, which currently consumes impressive amounts of electricity. Google introduced its first Arm-based CPU -called Axion- for use by its cloud computing customers.

Arm expects its share in the data center processor market to increase from 15% last year to 50% by the end of this year. The analyst community believes that Arm's revenue will grow by more than 20% annually for at least the next three years, which will result in nearly tripling its profits during this period.