When Wall Street tags a stock as a strong buy, it is probably right.

Generally speaking, such shares tend to be among the best positioned investments in the market. Yes, Wall Street is biased toward certain firms and sometimes that does result in strong buys that fail to perform. Yet, more often than not, strong buys tend to live up to their billing.

It follows then that investors are much more often rewarded than punished by investing in such stocks. Investors should consider scooping up these stocks because they are stable investments. They are expected to continue growing at a reasonable rate without substantial downside in general.

Amazon (AMZN)

Investors should consider where Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is fundamentally and where it’s going. In doing so, those same investors will understand the reason it is generally considered a no-brainer stock.

From a fundamental perspective, Amazon continues to impress. It is rare that companies of Amazon’s size can continue to grow at the rates which it does. Case in point, during the fourth quarter Amazon’s revenues increased by 14%, reaching $170 billion. Amazon is a cash rich company and managed to produce more than $10 billion in net income during the quarter and more than $30 billion during 2023 overall. Long story short, Amazon is a strong buy in large part due to its fundamental strength.

One of the other primary reasons to consider Amazon is artificial intelligence (AI). Amazon has benefited as a major cloud provider. Many firms that use its services are investing in the combination of AI and cloud. That has benefited Amazon’s business overall as enterprises seek its services. 

However, Amazon was generally somewhat behind in the generative AI. The company recently invested an additional $2.75 billion in Anthropic, bringing its total investment to $4 billion. That should bring Amazon more in line with tech rivals like Microsoft which has heavily invested in ChatGPT. 

Eli Lilly (LLY)

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) stock has absolutely skyrocketed over the last year. The maker of in-demand weight loss therapeutics Mounjaro and Zepbound has seen its value surge following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals. 

Both of those drugs utilize the same active ingredient called tirzepatide. It is expected that tirzepatide  will account for $62 billion of sales by 2030. Those two drugs are predicted to account for as much as $18 billion in revenues this year. So, it’s clear that Eli Lilly can continue to grow on the strength of its portfolio of tirzepatide drugs. 

However, those two drugs are not the only reason to believe in Eli Lilly stock. The company continues to work on a once daily pill that better targets hormones affecting diabetes and weight loss. Thus, it could stoke even greater weight loss.

Beyond that, Eli Lilly is expected to receive FDA approval for its Alzheimer drug called donanemab. 

Some pundits have even questioned whether Eli really deserves a spot among The Magnificent 7 for its potential. It’s that combination of factors that continues to make LLY shares a no-brainer. 

ServiceNow (NOW)

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) is a digital automation firm represented by a stock that benefits from a strong buy rating. Currently, shares are trading for $731, but analyst consensus suggests that should rise above $850. 

It’s no secret that enterprises of all sizes are looking to automate as much as possible. ServiceNow provides an end-to-end intelligent workflow automation platform serving a global client base. 

That’s all good and well but what really makes ServiceNow a strong stock to scoop up is its fundamental strength. Full year results released in late January provided reason to believe in the company moving forward. Q4 revenues increased by 26%, and the company exceeded growth and profitability metrics overall. NOW took the opportunity to increase forward guidance which should only further impress investors of the company’s continued strength.

In addition, ServiceNow reports 168 transactions valued at over 1 million in 2023, an increase of 33%. Therefore, it’s no wonder that NOW shares are such a strong buy.

Microsoft (MSFT)

Indeed, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is going to be the biggest winner overall in the AI race. Clearly, Microsoft is doing exceptionally well in the early rounds of competition as AI emerges. 

True, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has best managed to monetize AI at this point. However, it is somewhat one-dimensional in that it provides chips alone. NVDA already has multiple competitors threatening to erode its dominant position and perhaps supplant it in the future.

Yet, Microsoft isn’t far behind in terms of monetization and is much more diversified. The company has  proven exceptionally capable of monetizing AI as its intelligent cloud business of Azure surges. So, Microsoft is already well established as it relates to current AI monetization.

Also, MSFT is diversifying for a future in which it intends to dominate. Microsoft is building an AI supercomputer called Stargate, set to launch in 2028, along with OpenAI. Project cost estimates are expected at approximately $100 billion dollars. Microsoft’s current position and continued investment in AI make it an obvious choice to scoop up.

Alphabet (GOOG,GOOGL)

Due to its dominance in search and a strong advertising business, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG,GOOGL) is generally considered a no-brainer investment. Undoubtedly, those will continue to be driving factors behind the success of its stock and prime reasons it continues as a strong buy.

Ad revenue rebounded in 2023 when the economy found renewed strength as inflation stabilized to a degree. That’s arguably the strongest reason to buy Alphabet. However, investors would be remiss to ignore the stock in relation to AI.

Alphabet has long invested in creating its own in-house chips. That is a primary reason to consider it moving forward. Enterprises of all sizes are beholden to chipmakers like Nvidia that can essentially charge as they please at the moment. It underscores the necessity of securing high performing AI chips at the moment – it’s extremely costly to do so.

And it’s another reason that Alphabet is particularly interesting. The company created its Gemini AI model using in-house chips. Given strong ad revenues and multiple AI strengths, Alphabet makes a lot of sense currently.

AMD (AMD)

AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) is going to continue to be a highly attractive strong buy rated stock for one obvious reason. It has emerged as the primary challenger to Nvidia’s dominance in the AI chip market.

The chips that AMD produces are much cheaper than those of Nvidia. Yet, on a specification basis, AMD chips perform very comparably overall. And, it’s clear that enterprise level buyers are strongly interested in AMD chips and willing to buy them over Nvidia’s. Firms including Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft  were chief among enterprises openly willing to switch to AMD’s newest chips.

That should come as no surprise given the high cost of Nvidia’s chips. To date, it hasn’t resulted in any seismic shift in the positions of those two dominant chip makers. But it does clearly show that AMD is knocking on the door. The company finds itself in an enviable position of being next up in an AI industry slated for continued rapid growth for the next decade.

Walmart (WMT)

I can think of at least three good reasons to buy Walmart (NYSE:WMT) stock at the moment.

First, Walmart is the go-to option for investors in cheap retail. It continues to dominate the brick and mortar retail space and does so by offering highly inexpensive goods. Also, Walmart is the largest grocer. And that’s important when considering the ongoing battle to tame inflation. More and more consumers look to Walmart to help offset high prices. That leads me to my next point.

Walmart is concurrently courting wealthier shoppers. The company has added higher-end products to more than 800 locations in an effort to woo more affluent customers. It isn’t the first time Walmart has attempted to attract such customers. So it becomes clear that Walmart is setting its sights on this objective. And it should manage to achieve that goal given its vast resources.

Lastly, Walmart continues to grow its online sales. E-commerce revenues grew by 17% during the 4th quarter. Online revenues surpassed $100 billion during 2023 for the first time ever. All of those factors conspire to validate the notion that Walmart is a must buy stock. 

On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.