Thursday, January 22, 2026
Economy & Markets
18 min read

My Top 5 Artificial Intelligence Stocks for 2026

The Motley Fool
January 18, 20264 days ago
My Top 5 Artificial Intelligence Stocks to Buy for 2026

AI-Generated Summary
Auto-generated

The AI stock market is expected to see emerging leaders and laggards by 2026. Key companies highlighted for potential growth include Nvidia, a leading AI chip seller, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, a crucial chip producer. Amazon and Alphabet are noted for their established businesses and AI integration. CoreWeave is presented as a higher-risk, higher-reward option for aggressive investors.

Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have powered the overall market higher in recent years, and signs are showing that the AI story is far from over. Cloud service providers continue to invest in infrastructure to keep up with demand from their customers, and the revenue of many companies developing or using AI keeps roaring higher. I recently predicted that gains in AI stocks in 2026 may not be as broad as they were in recent years; instead, winners and losers may start to emerge. But this investing theme should remain strong, and certain AI stocks could contribute significantly to the market's momentum. Considering this, here are my top five AI stocks to buy for 2026. 1. Nvidia Nvidia (NVDA 0.29%) has been the "go-to" AI stock for many investors in recent years for one simple reason: It's the leading seller of AI chips, the elements powering this technology revolution. Though Nvidia's earnings and stock price have soared, the shares still trade at a reasonable level considering the company's market dominance and likelihood of remaining on top. Nvidia has put the focus on innovation, launching updates annually, and demand for these new products has remained high. Meanwhile, the company also has acquired technology and forged partnerships to deepen its expertise and broaden its work across industries. Finally, in this era of infrastructure spending, Nvidia's chips are greatly needed -- so the company is well positioned to score yet another win. 2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM +0.22%) is a great AI bet because the company manufactures the chips of not just one AI chip leader, but many. For example, TSMC produces the chips of Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom. This means the company benefits from the growth of all players -- and in a high-growth market such as AI, this is huge. NYSE : TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Today's Change ( 0.22 %) $ 0.76 Current Price $ 342.40 Key Data Points Market Cap $1.8T Day's Range $ 341.46 - $ 349.85 52wk Range $ 134.25 - $ 351.33 Volume 18M Avg Vol 13M Gross Margin 59.02 % Dividend Yield 0.90 % In the fourth quarter of 2025, the company beat analysts' profit and revenue estimates and spoke brightly about the future. TSMC said it has talked with cloud service providers and other customers, and the message is clear: Demand for AI chips is strong, and this trend is set to continue. All of this makes TSMC a likely winner as this story unfolds -- and a great stock to buy now. 3. Amazon Amazon (AMZN +0.40%) represents a fantastic buy for investors looking for a company that is involved in AI but doesn't greatly depend on it for revenue. This player built its e-commerce and cloud computing businesses well before the AI boom began. And these units have a long track record of delivering growth and billion-dollar revenue. As AI emerged, Amazon jumped in, both as a user and a developer and seller of the technology. The company uses AI to gain efficiency in its e-commerce business. And its Amazon Web Services (AWS) business develops its own AI chips and tools for customers and also sells a wide range of other chips and products from leaders such as Nvidia. AWS recently reached a $132 billion annual revenue run rate thanks to its AI efforts. Today's Change ( 0.40 %) $ 0.94 Current Price $ 239.12 Key Data Points Market Cap $2.6T Day's Range $ 236.41 - $ 239.57 52wk Range $ 161.38 - $ 258.60 Volume 46M Avg Vol 45M Gross Margin 50.05 % For this combination of safety and growth, Amazon is reasonably priced, trading at 30x forward earnings estimates. 4. Alphabet Alphabet (GOOG 0.85%) (GOOGL 0.80%) is another option if you want AI growth but aren't too keen on risk. Like Amazon, Alphabet has built a business over time, and it doesn't depend on AI. The company's biggest revenue driver is advertising across its Google platform, and the second key source of growth is the Google Cloud business. Both of these businesses helped the company reach a milestone recently: the first-ever quarter of $100 billion in revenue. Alphabet, like Amazon, has gotten in on AI. The company has developed products, such as its own large language model, and offers access to these and other AI tools via its cloud business. And Alphabet also uses AI to improve operations across the company. Today's Change ( -0.80 %) $ -2.68 Current Price $ 330.10 Key Data Points Market Cap $4.0T Day's Range $ 327.70 - $ 334.50 52wk Range $ 140.53 - $ 340.49 Volume 1M Avg Vol 36M Gross Margin 59.18 % Dividend Yield 0.25 % Right now is an excellent time to invest in this solid tech company because it's dirt cheap, trading for only 29x forward earnings estimates. 5. CoreWeave And now, a potential buy for aggressive investors who don't mind some risk. Meet CoreWeave, (CRWV +6.55%) a company delivering what AI customers need a lot of these days: capacity for workloads. Today's Change ( 6.55 %) $ 6.22 Current Price $ 101.23 Key Data Points Market Cap $50B Day's Range $ 95.75 - $ 102.98 52wk Range $ 33.52 - $ 187.00 Volume 35M Avg Vol 29M Gross Margin 49.23 % CoreWeave offers customers the ability to rent graphics processing units (GPUs) as needed from its fleet of high-powered Nvidia products. This saves customers time and money as they don't have to build out or invest in infrastructure. The company works closely with Nvidia, and that's resulted in CoreWeave being the first to make the chip giant's systems generally available. A risk for CoreWeave is that it must rely on debt to invest heavily to meet demand. And any potential dip in AI spending could hurt revenue and the stock price. But, if AI demand continues to soar over time and CoreWeave can turn revenue growth into profit, this company could score a major win for investors over time.

Rate this article

Login to rate this article

Comments

Please login to comment

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
    Top AI Stocks to Buy for 2026 | Expert Picks