If I Had $5,000 to Invest Today, Here's the Trillion-Dollar Stock I'd Buy Instead of SpaceX

If I Had $5,000 to Invest Today, Here's the Trillion-Dollar Stock I'd Buy Instead of SpaceX Anthony Di Pizio, The Motley Fool Wed, June 24, 2026 at 10:57 AM GMT+2 5 min read SPCX NVDA Elon Musk's space transportation and satellite internet connectivity company, Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX), went public on Friday, June 12. It was well received by investors, and its stock climbed to a peak of $218 per share within a few days. But with a market capitalization of $2.

8 trillion and just $19. 3 billion in trailing-12-month revenue, it was trading at a sky-high price-to-sales ratio of 145, making it a whopping 20 times as expensive as the Nasdaq-100 technology index. Missed Nvidia in 2009?

This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again.  In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia.  For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia.

  Continue » That valuation was simply unsustainable, and as of the market close on Thursday, June 18, SpaceX stock had already fallen to $185. But it's still very expensive, so if I had $5,000 to invest in one stock for my diversified portfolio, I would probably look elsewhere. In fact, here's why Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) might be the better long-term buy.

Image source: Getty Images. Positioned to lead the artificial intelligence software race Microsoft has a broad portfolio of software products, which includes the Windows operating system, the Edge internet browser, the Bing search engine, and the 365 productivity suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, and more). The company developed an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant called Copilot, which it has embedded into each of those software products.

Microsoft has a huge advantage over most pure-play AI software companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, because it has the distribution side sorted. Windows alone powers over 1. 6 billion monthly active devices worldwide, which gives Copilot an unprecedented amount of reach without the need for marketing or any other user acquisition costs.

Copilot is available for free through Windows, Edge, and Bing, but it's a paid add-on for the 365 application suite. This is a huge financial opportunity for Microsoft, especially on the enterprise side, because organizations around the world pay for over 400 million 365 licenses for their employees. As of the company's fiscal 2026 third quarter (ended March 31), enterprises had added Copilot to 20 million licenses, up by a whopping 250% year over year.

Microsoft's Azure cloud platform is growing rapidly Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform that offers hundreds of solutions to help enterprises thrive in the digital age, from simple data storage to complex software development tools. However, it's also a top destination for enterprises that need access to the computing capacity, ready-made large language models, and other services required to develop AI software. Story Continues Microsoft operates AI data centers worldwide, equipped with thousands of the latest chips and components from leading suppliers, including Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices .

Demand for computing capacity is off the charts -- Microsoft ended the third quarter with an eye-popping $627 billion order backlog from customers who were waiting for more data centers to come online, and that figure doubled from the year-ago period. Azure's total revenue grew by 40% during the third quarter, which marked an acceleration from its second-quarter growth of 39%. Microsoft plans to double its global data center footprint over the next two years to help fulfill its enormous order backlog, so it's possible Azure's revenue growth will accelerate even further from here.

Microsoft stock trades at a very attractive valuation Earlier this year, fears emerged on Wall Street that AI would disrupt the software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry, so investors started reducing their exposure to the space. Some analysts think AI could reduce the global workforce, thus affecting companies that sell software on a per-user basis. Other analysts believe AI will allow businesses to build their own versions of legacy software products such as Word or Excel, reducing the need for vendors like Microsoft entirely.

As a result, Microsoft stock is currently down 30% from its all-time high. However, the blistering growth in Copilot adoption, combined with the incredible strength in Azure, makes me believe this sell-off is probably overdone, especially when you consider Microsoft's current valuation. Based on Microsoft's trailing-12-month earnings of $16.

79 per share, its stock trades at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 22. 5. That is a steep discount to its 10-year average of 32.

7, so it looks undervalued right now. MSFT PE Ratio data by YCharts Microsoft stock is also much cheaper than the Nasdaq-100 technology index, which has a P/E ratio of 34. 4.

That suggests it might be undervalued compared with a basket of its big-tech peers. Furthermore, its price-to-sales ratio of just 8. 9 makes it substantially cheaper than SpaceX.

SaaS companies like Microsoft deliver more than just raw software products. They also provide the data centers, security, and technical support necessary to make their products commercially viable. It's only profitable to maintain all of this infrastructure at scale -- in other words, the costs involved with building replicas of legacy software products would be prohibitive for the average business.

As a result, I wouldn't bet on Microsoft's demise. In fact, I think its stock has far more upside potential from the current price than an incredibly expensive name like SpaceX. We just issued 'double down' alerts on 3 stocks — find out if Microsoft made our list Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks?

Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a "Double Down" stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late.

And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia:  if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009,  you'd have $541,841 ! * Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $56,608 ! * Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $393,037 !

* Right now, we're issuing "Double Down" alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join  Stock Advisor , and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon. See the 3 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 22, 2026 Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Microsoft, and Nvidia.

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