Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, as a group, have been among the best-performing groups in 2025, just as they were in 2024.
Three AI stocks that were big winners in 2025, as of Dec. 23, and that I believe will be big winners again in 2026, are Nvidia (NVDA 1.49%), Broadcom (AVGO 1.43%), and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSM (TSM 4.54%).
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3 Top AI stocks to buy for 2026
Stocks are listed in order of 5-year return.
| Company | Market Cap | Forward P/E | Wall Street's Estimated Annualized 5-Year EPS Growth | Year-to-Date 2025 Stock Return | 5-Year Stock Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia | $4.8 trillion | 24.0 | 48.5% | 40.9% | 1,359% |
| Broadcom | $1.7 trillion | 34.4 | 35.9% | 52% | 813% |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing | $1.2 trillion | 24.5 | 30.4% | 52.4% | 211% |
| S&P 500 Index | -- | -- | -- | 19% | 102% |
Data sources: Yahoo! Finance and YCharts. P/E = price-to-earnings ratio. EPS = earnings per share. Data as of Dec. 23, 2025.
Nvidia: The dominant maker of AI chips and related tech
Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), its flagship semiconductors, are considered the gold standard for training artificial intelligence (AI) models and deploying AI applications.
The company's data center platform had been performing well for quite some time. But demand began skyrocketing for its AI-enabling products -- its GPUs and high-performance networking products -- soon after OpenAI released its ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022. This event demonstrated to company leaders and the general public the phenomenal capabilities of generative AI.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
In late October at the company's GTC (GPU Technology Conference) in Washington, D.C., CEO Jensen Huang said that management has "visibility" into $500 billion of demand for its key data center technology over the next five quarters. This demand of $100 billion per quarter, on average, is truly mind-blowing. As context, in its fiscal third quarter (ended late October), Nvidia's total revenue was $57.0 billion, of which $51.2 billion was from the data center platform.
Broadcom: The leading maker of custom AI chips
Broadcom develops semiconductors for various end markets and also develops infrastructure software.
The company's robust growth is being drven by strong demand for its custom AI-enabling application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and Ethernet networking products, both for data centers. Its acquisition of software maker VMware in late 2023 is proving to be a shrewd move, as this business is also growing nicely.
NASDAQ: AVGO
Key Data Points
Broadcom is the top partner for big tech companies seeking custom ASICs. As the name suggests, these chips are designed for specific applications. These include internal uses and, in some cases, for availability in their cloud computing services. By contrast, Nvidia's GPUs can be considered more general-purpose AI chips. There is a need for both GPUs and ASICs, so investors shouldn't be concerned that one of these types of chips will fully win out over the other.
TSM: The world's largest chip foundry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is the world's largest chip foundry. That means it produces chips of various types for companies that contract out all or some of the manufacturing of chips they design.
TSM is the largest producer of AI chips worldwide, which has led to significant financial growth in recent years, driven by surging demand for these chips.
NYSE: TSM
Key Data Points
TSM's customers include nearly every major chip company, such as Nvidia, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which is Nvidia's main rival in the AI-enabling GPU market. Moreover, it also manufactures chips, including AI chips, for major tech companies that have designed their own chips. This includes Apple, widely considered the company's largest customer, though some Wall Street analysts expect Nvidia to soon overtake Apple as TSM's top customer.
An added benefit for some investors is that TSM pays a decent dividend for a tech company. The dividend yield was 1.13%, as of the close of the market on Dec. 23.
