The Market Just Gave You a Rare Chance to Buy These 3 AI Stocks at a Discount

Even in the middle of a bull market, it's not uncommon to see a market pullback or sector rotation. And with the war with Iran, the artificial intelligence (AI) stocks that have been leading the market higher have pulled back, with investors rotating into energy and value stocks.

However, this is likely to be a temporary phenomenon. While value stocks will have their day, it is growth that ultimately pushes companies to increase in size and importance. Great stocks rarely go on sale, but when they do, you should grab them when they are trading at a discount. Let's look at three great AI stocks to buy now.

1. Nvidia: The AI growth engine

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the engine driving the AI boom, so when its stock goes on sale, it's a great time to scoop up some shares. Off about 17% from its highs (as of this writing), the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 21 times this year's fiscal estimates (ending January 2027) and under 16 times fiscal 2028 estimates for a company that just grew its revenue by 73% last quarter.

While most investors are well aware of how Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) have been its biggest growth driver, I think the most under-appreciated part of the Nvidia story is how it has evolved into a complete end-to-end AI infrastructure company that is constantly moving toward where the ball is going. It has already established itself as the leader in AI model training, but now it can also offer full server racks designed for tasks like inference and agentic AI. That is why the stock is a long-term buy.

2. Micron: The memory maker

While Micron (NASDAQ: MU) shares have skyrocketed over the past year, the stock suddenly finds itself down 20% off the highs it hit in March. That has left it with a minuscule forward P/E of below 4 times fiscal 2027 (ending in August 2027) analyst earnings estimates.

The opportunity with Micron comes from the changes happening in the memory market. It has long been a highly cyclical boom-bust market, but the need for high bandwidth memory (HBM) has added a structural tailwind to Micron's business. To perform at their best, Nvidia's GPUs and other AI chips need to be packaged with HBM. This is starting to lead to an important change in contract structure for the big-three memory makers, which also includes Korean companies SK Hynix and Samsung.

Once dominated by quarterly contracts, which sometimes would stretch out to a year during strong cycles, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) makers are now starting to negotiate longer-term deals of three to five years with base commitments. This includes Micron, which announced its first-ever five-year agreement. This changes the game and helps set a new floor on the business, making Micron's stock a buy on this downturn.

3. Meta Platforms: The AI flywheel effect

The pullback in tech stocks has seen Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) tumble nearly 30% from its highs, leaving it trading at a forward P/E of below 19 times. While Meta has made mistakes in the past, including its heavy investments in its failed metaverse, this is still a company that is greatly benefiting from AI and seeing its revenue growth accelerate.

Investors have punished the stock for its planned large spending on AI and data center infrastructure, but it has been seeing strong returns on these investments. That's a much different story than the metaverse, which just bled massive losses for years.

Its AI investments, meanwhile, feed into a flywheel effect where its shift to interest-based AI discovery helps keep users on its sites longer and both tacks on more ad inventory and helps its advertising customers see better conversions. This AI-powered flywheel effect is what makes Meta a stock you want to buy when it's down.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.