Been looking at the broader market rally and honestly, there's some interesting stuff happening right now if you've got around a grand to deploy. The S&P 500 has been on a solid run since late 2022, and major banks like Deutsche Bank are calling for 8,000 by year-end. That kind of momentum makes you think about what the best stocks to buy right now might actually be.

If you've got investible cash sitting around after handling your expenses and debt, here's what I'm noticing in the market. There are basically three areas worth paying attention to - quantum computing, AI infrastructure, and memory chips. Each one tells a different story about where capital's flowing.

Let me start with the quantum angle. IonQ caught my attention because quantum computing is still early stage, but McKinsey is projecting the market could explode from $4 billion in 2024 to $72 billion by 2035. That's the kind of growth trajectory that gets people interested. IonQ specifically designs and manufactures quantum computers, plus they offer services through major cloud providers. Their numbers are wild - revenue more than doubled in the first nine months of 2025 to $68 million, with Q3 alone jumping 222% year over year. They hit a world record 99.99% two-qubit gate performance too, which basically means their systems are running with almost zero errors. They're claiming their cost per system is 30x lower than competitors. Obviously the stock is expensive at 158 times sales and volatile as hell, but if you're looking at best stocks to buy in the quantum space right now, this is the play. Small allocation could pay off massively if the technology takes off.

Now here's where it gets interesting with AI infrastructure. Gartner's forecasting a 41% jump in AI infrastructure spending in 2026 to $1.4 trillion. That's real money. Celestica is positioned perfectly in this space - they're designing and manufacturing the networking components that go into AI accelerator chips from Broadcom, Marvell, AMD, and Intel. They're also building rack-scale networking solutions for hyperscalers deploying AI data centers. Revenue jumped an estimated 27% in 2025 to $12.2 billion, and the forecasts suggest acceleration ahead. Trading at just 3.2 times sales, it's hard to argue against picking up Celestica right now. The valuation is reasonable for a company riding this AI infrastructure wave.

Then there's Micron Technology, which is probably the most interesting value play I'm seeing. Memory chips are the unglamorous backbone of AI infrastructure, and there's a shortage. Micron's trading under 10 times sales despite absolutely stunning growth - earnings could jump nearly 4x this fiscal year on the back of 100% sales growth. Forward earnings multiple is sitting at 11, which is cheap. The thing is, the shortage is real and sustainable. Demand for high-bandwidth memory in AI data centers is crushing supply, and that's likely continuing through 2028. Even as companies add capacity, it takes time to bring new facilities online. That means memory prices should stay elevated. Micron's already up 243% over the past year, but with the memory market dynamics being this favorable and the valuation this attractive, it looks like one of the best stocks to buy right now if you want exposure to AI infrastructure without paying crazy multiples.

So if you're thinking about where to put that $1,000 right now, you've got options depending on your risk tolerance. The quantum play is speculative but potentially massive. The AI infrastructure names are riding a real, measurable tailwind with reasonable valuations. Either way, the broader market momentum seems to be supporting this kind of deployment.