Chevron Corporation (CVX), GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (GSK) & These Stocks All Better Than Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

Its 2012 net margin was approximately 17.9% and and it just beat expectations in its most recent quarter by almost $0.02. Toss in a dividend of 4.5% and share growth since early 2009 of 80.2% and you’ve got a keeper, one that both grows and pays a dividend to boot.  Remember, both the U.S. and the rest of the world are aging.  That means an increased demand for pharma products and an increased level of sales for those supplying them.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) should be on investors’ radars rather than Amazon. Retail is one of those things that some investors don’t think about. But people gotta shop, right? And not always online.

For basic staples, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has a big chunk of the market locked up. Even in an industry with lighter profit expectations, it beats the pants off of Amazon at about 3.8% net margin and it pays a dividend yield of 2.4% against Amazon paying nothing. Toss in share growth since 2009 of 69% and it’s a good play.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) is an under-appreciated tech stock. Unlike Amazon, the firm makes products and supports them. It’s good at it, too. Also unlike Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) it has a history of solid profitability – 26.9% in 2012 alone. Combine that with a share growth of 123% since 2009 and things look pretty good. I could wish for a larger dividend – it only provides a yield of 0.74% – but with that profitability and growth I can understand.

Look DEEP into my eyes

The thing about tech stocks is that sometimes they’re not based on anything real. Amazon makes the Kindle, and that’s great. But the majority of its business is being a middle man, of providing a marketplace for others to sell their products.

That leaves the company hideously vulnerable to competition. One or two well-heeled competitors entering the market with the intent of spending a few hundred million dollars – say Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) or another firm from Asia – and Amazon could find that it suddenly needs to stop hand-waving and make some profit fast–and the firm doesn’t have the history to make me believe it can do it.

The article Four Companies that Are Better to Invest in Than Amazon originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Nate Wooley.

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