Missed AI’s “Act 1”? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn’t buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of “Act 1″\u2014the R&D phase. “Act 2” is the global rollout. Continue \u00bb<\/a> <\/p>\n Two of these comprise a substantial 42% of the portfolio by market value. They are Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Vistra Corp (NYSE: VST). Here’s a deeper dive into these companies to help investors evaluate whether to follow Peter Thiel’s lead and buy shares. <\/p>\n Peter Thiel’s Thiel Macro had no investments in the first quarter of 2026. Suddenly, Thiel loaded up on eight stocks in Q2, with Amazon as its largest holding. This one company comprised 28% of the fund. Notably, the remaining seven were energy-related stocks, leaving Amazon as the outlier. <\/p>\n Amazon may be known as an e-commerce titan, but its position as the world’s top cloud computing company, with an impressive 28% market share, is a key factor making it a compelling AI investment. Notably, the company’s CEO, Andy Jassy, built the Amazon Web Services (AWS) division into a cloud powerhouse before being selected for the CEO role. <\/p>\n AWS is just one of the many businesses Amazon owns, and it houses the tech titan’s artificial intelligence infrastructure. This is the vehicle for delivering AI to other organizations, such as its Seller Assistant, an agentic AI tool helping businesses sell their products. Amazon’s goal is for AWS to make it as easy for organizations to construct AI systems as it is to build a website. It’s making rapid strides toward achieving this objective. <\/p>\n For example, Amazon reported its AI business exceeded a $25 billion annual revenue run rate in the second quarter, representing a triple-digit year-over-year increase. This contributed to AWS sales expanding 37% year over year in Q2, the fastest growth in 18 quarters. <\/p>\n This performance is just the start. Industry forecasts expect the global artificial intelligence market to expand from $618 billion in 2026 to a whopping $1.4 trillion by 2032. That kind of growth suggests Amazon could sustain several years of strong performance in its AI business, especially given its role as a key provider of cloud computing infrastructure. <\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n Vistra stock is such a bargain, its CEO bought shares <\/p>\n Aside from Amazon, Peter Thiel’s investment fund is focused on energy stocks. How do these companies tie into artificial intelligence? Electricity is the one resource every AI company in the world requires to operate its armies of computers. Without it, there’s no AI, which explains why Thiel concentrated the bulk of his holdings in this sector. <\/p>\n Vistra Corp is the one energy stock Thiel invested in that stands out to me. The company provides electricity to 18 states across the U.S., and plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Its strategy to meet this goal is to steadily shift to nuclear, solar, and other clean energy sources, helped by its position as the operator of the second-largest fleet of competitive nuclear power plants in the U.S. <\/p>\n The company caught my attention when its CEO, James Burke, bought several thousand shares at the end of August<\/a>. I find it’s a good strategy to look into a business when insiders scoop up company shares, as this indicates they see the stock as undervalued. That’s the case here. <\/p>\n Vistra’s forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13 hovers near a low point over the past year; in the second quarter of 2025, it stood at 28. Meanwhile, its business is thriving. <\/p>\n The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $3.3 billion for the first half of 2026, compared to $2.6 billion in 2025. That’s outstanding growth, and Vistra forecasted to end the year with adjusted EBITDA between $6.8 billion and $7.6 billion, up from $5.9 billion last year. <\/p>\n Vistra is poised for continued expansion in the years ahead as AI’s electricity demand grows. Data centers housing AI systems typically use graphics processing units (GPUs) to deliver the computational capabilities necessary for artificial intelligence systems. GPUs consume at least 500 watts of power per square foot, which is as much as five times as much electricity as non-AI data centers. <\/p>\n This means Vistra is likely to experience rising customer demand over time, given it is one of the largest power producers in the U.S., according to the company. Its strong position in the energy sector and reasonable valuation are why I bought the stock, and I can see why Peter Thiel picked Vistra as one of his handful of Q2 investments. <\/p>\n Should you buy stock in Vistra right now? <\/p>\n Before you buy stock in Vistra, consider this: <\/p>\n The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks<\/a> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Vistra wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. <\/p>\n Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $375,240!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,403,292!* <\/p>\n That performance is why people listen. With a track record of beating the S&P 500 by 4x, Stock Advisor offers a distinct advantage. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. <\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a> <\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of October 2, 2026. <\/p>\n Robert Izquierdo<\/a> has positions in Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, and Vistra. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, and Vistra. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/a> Image source: Getty Images. Why Amazon is an appealing AI stock <\/p>\n