With the stock market ping-ponging from the constant shift in the Trump administration's proposed tariffs and trade policy, investors might wonder how to handle the situation. In this environment, it's best to stick to the stocks of market-leading companies that should prosper over the long run.
You don't have to pile into individual stocks all at once -- save some room to buy on dips. Let's look at three leading tech stocks you can start building positions in today and throughout the year.
1. Nvidia
Nvidia (NVDA +1.67%) has clearly established itself as the driving force behind the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure buildout, where its graphics processing units (GPUs) provide the power to run AI workloads.
The company has established a more than 80% market share in GPUs with its CUDA software platform, which allows developers to easily program its chips for various tasks and has a collection of libraries and tools specifically for AI.
Spending on AI infrastructure continues to ramp up, as cloud computing companies build out their data center capacity to meet increasing demand for AI. Many other enterprises are taking a hybrid cloud approach, while several leading tech companies that are building their own AI models are also spending big on data center infrastructure. For its part, Nvidia sees data center capital expenditures (capex) reaching $1 trillion by 2028.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
Potential tariffs on semiconductors present some uncertainty, but Nvidia just announced it is working with its partners to manufacture chips and supercomputers in the U.S. This includes its newest Blackwell chips being manufactured at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's (TSM +1.97%) new plant in Phoenix, Arizona.
It also plans to build supercomputers at Foxconn's and Wistron's factories in Texas. This should buy the company some goodwill with the Trump administration.
With Nvidia being the biggest beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, now is a good time to add shares for the long run.
Image source: Getty Images
2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC for short, is another market-share leader that has established itself as an invaluable part of the semiconductor value chain. The company is the No.1 semiconductor contract manufacturer in the world, making around two-thirds of all chips produced.
Its technological expertise, scale, and skilled workforce give it a huge advantage in the foundry space and make it a key partner for leading semiconductor companies like Nvidia.
NYSE: TSM
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TSMC continues to build its fabs (manufacturing facilities) to help meet increasing demand, while its vital role in making advanced chips give it the power to produce strong revenue growth and expanding margins, helping drive even stronger profitability.
While potential tariffs are also a risk, thus far semiconductors have been exempted. President Donald Trump has said chip tariffs will be coming but noted there would be some flexibility.
TSMC has also been working to get in the administration's good graces, with its $65 billion fab in Arizona and a pledge to invest another $100 billion in the U.S. It has also had discussions to team with rival Intel to form a joint venture where TSMC would run its fabs and take a 20% stake.
At the end of the day, TSMC has an incredibly valuable role in semiconductors, and it is actively working to please the administration by investing in the U.S. and working with Intel. Expect the stock to be a long-term winner.
3. Salesforce
Software companies will not be directly affected by tariffs, since they do not sell physical goods. However, economic weakness and customers looking to reduce spending can hurt these companies. Nonetheless, Salesforce (CRM +0.51%) still finds itself in a solid position.
It's the leader in software for customer relationship management (CRM), which is meant to help create efficiencies and reduce costs -- something important in a weaker economy. Its platform requires no hardware and has low-code tools built into it, saving on IT costs while helping cut development time.
NYSE: CRM
Key Data Points
Its customers get a unified view of siloed data, giving real-time insights, improved forecasting, and help preventing any redundancies. It also has time-saving tools to help automate manual tasks.
Salesforce is looking to become the leader in agentic AI with its new Agentforce platform. Its AI agents can be a digital workforce for autonomous decision-making within set guardrails with little human intervention. This can be a big money saver for its customers, and the company has already seen strong interest since it introduced the platform last fall.
As a consumption-priced product that costs $2 per interaction, Agentforce has the potential to be a huge growth driver for the company. As such, now is a great time to start building positions in this leading software-as-a-service company.
