Many investors are starting to panic with the Nasdaq index in correction territory (marked by the index being down at least 10% from its all-time high). However, corrections happen quite often, usually about once per year on average. This is the price of admission to the stock market, and investors must be patient (even if their portfolio is down more than 10% from its highs).
The recent decline has erased gains made from September of last year, so we've only reset the clock about six months. Still, I think there are some excellent buying opportunities available in the market that could really accelerate your returns in the pursuit of becoming a millionaire.
Why these three? They're all heavily invested in one of the largest technological shifts that we've ever seen: artificial intelligence (AI).
Just a few percentage points of outperformance can make a huge difference on returns
The three stocks that I'm most interested in right now in the AI realm are Nvidia (NVDA 1.20%), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM 1.64%), and Alphabet (GOOG 0.81%) (GOOGL 0.78%). These are fairly large companies, so the chances of one of them growing enough from a modest investment to make you a millionaire are pretty slim. However, I think all of these stocks have a chance to put up far better than market-beating returns, which will accelerate your path to becoming a millionaire.
If you invest $500 per month into an S&P 500 fund that has historically returns about 10% annually, you'll turn your monthly $500 into $1 million in about 29 years. But, if you can improve your returns to 13% annually, you can achieve millionaire status about five years earlier.
That's why finding companies that can beat the market is important, as they can rapidly accelerate your path to becoming a millionaire.
All three of these companies are fantastic candidates for beating the market and have huge growth trends in their favor.
This trio is exposed to a massive growth trend
Nvidia makes graphics processing units (GPUs) that are used to train AI models and power inference once they're deployed. Nvidia's GPUs dominate the market right now, and the company has put up incredible growth as a result. However, that growth isn't expected to slow anytime soon, with Wall Street analysts projecting Nvidia's revenue will rise 56% in FY 2026 (ending January 2026).
This is because the AI buildout is far from complete, and many of Nvidia's largest clients have already announced record capital expenditures for this year, much of which will go to Nvidia. Nvidia's growth spurt isn't done yet, and investors shouldn't write off this long-term winner.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
Another beneficiary of the AI growth trend is Taiwan Semi, or TSMC, as it produces many of the chips that are powering various AI workloads. Nvidia is one of TSMC's biggest clients, but it also has many more that compete in the AI arena. TSMC's management predicts monster growth over the next five years, with AI-related revenue growing at a 45% compound annual rate and companywide revenue growing at nearly 20%. Because of TSMC's neutral position in the chip world, it has an unparalleled view into what demand is on the horizon, and when they say chip demand is going to more than double over the next five years, investors should pay attention and invest accordingly.
While most of Alphabet's revenue comes from its advertising platforms (like the Google search engine and YouTube), it's also a big player in the AI arms race. Alphabet is integrating AI into its ad tools and providing AI-summed search results. But the biggest benefit it's seeing from AI is in its cloud computing wing, Google Cloud. Cloud computing is a huge beneficiary of AI, as few companies have the resources to buy massive computing power upfront.
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Key Data Points
However, they can rent it from cloud providers like Google Cloud, which has spurred huge growth in this division. In Q4, Google Cloud's revenue rose 30%, making it one of Alphabet's fastest-growing divisions. This makes Alphabet a balanced investment, as it has the growth upside of AI and cloud, with the steadiness of its dominant advertising business.
After the sell-off, all of these companies are pretty cheap, at least from a historical standpoint.
TSM PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts
While the Nasdaq has returned to its September levels, all three of these companies are far cheaper now than they were then. Furthermore, both Alphabet and TSMC are trading for under 19 times forward earnings, which is far cheaper than the Nasdaq and S&P 500 trade at.
Nvidia is only slightly more expensive than the two indexes, but that premium still makes sense, considering its rapid growth.
I think all three of these stocks make for excellent buys now, and their sale price boosts the odds of these three beating the market over the long term even more.
