After another strong run in 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) stocks look poised to continue their momentum in 2026. Let's look at two top AI stocks to buy right now.
1. Nvidia
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
The king of AI infrastructure, Nvidia (NVDA 1.32%) is well positioned to see strong growth coming from the ongoing AI data center buildout. The company's graphics processing units (GPUs) are the main chips used to power AI workloads, and with large language makers (LLMs), cloud computing companies, and even governments spending aggressively on AI infrastructure, Nvidia is set to once again reap the rewards in 2026.
Nvidia has garnered an approximate 90% market share in the GPU space, largely due to its CUDA software platform, which is where most AI code is written and optimized for its chips. Meanwhile, its recent acquisition of SchedMD, the maker of open-source AI orchestration software Slurm, should only widen its software moat. Nvidia will keep Slurm open source, making it usable for any chips, but by owning the developer of the platform, it will be able to optimize it for its GPUs.
The company also recently made the largest deal in its history, licensing the technology and acquiring most of the employees from chipmaker Groq. Groq has developed a chip designed specifically for AI inference. These so-called language processing units (LPUs) should help complement the dominance of its GPUs in the AI training market, and eventually Nvidia should be able to move them into its CUDA ecosystem.
Meanwhile, trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of under 25 times next year's analyst estimates and a price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of less than 0.7 times, the stock is still reasonably priced. Stocks with positive PEGs below 1 are typically considered undervalued. Between its valuation and growth opportunities, Nvidia remains a top AI stock to buy.
Image source: Getty Images.
2. Alphabet
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Key Data Points
Alphabet's (GOOGL 1.38%) (GOOG 1.39%) biggest advantage is that it is the one hyperscaler (owner of large data centers) not beholden to Nvidia. The company developed its own custom chips over a decade and has closely woven them into its hardware and software ever since. So, while other companies are beginning to design their own custom AI chips, they are far behind where Alphabet currently sits.
By having its own custom AI chips designed specifically for its ecosystem, Alphabet has created a big cost advantage. Its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) are ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), which are pre-programmed chips created to handle specific tasks.
Due to this, TPUs cannot only be optimized for performance, but they also consume less energy. This lets the company train and run inference for its world-class Gemini AI model more cheaply than competitors. Its TPUs have become so well regarded that it's starting to let some of its big cloud computing customers deploy them for their own AI workload, which should be a big growth driver.
Meanwhile, Alphabet is incorporating Gemini throughout its product ecosystem to drive growth. This includes within Google Search, where it has introduced both AI Overviews and AI Mode.
AI Mode is essentially having an AI chatbot built inside of Google, and users can easily shift between traditional search and an AI chatbot without ever having to switch apps. This makes the process more frictionless for users.
In addition, Alphabet has a huge distribution advantage over competitors, as Google is essentially the default gateway to the internet for most people. The company controls both the world's most popular browser and smartphone operating system, and it has a search revenue-sharing deal with Apple to be the default search engine on its devices as well.
Alphabet is seeing strong growth in its cloud computing business, while search revenue growth is starting to accelerate. Meanwhile, with a forward P/E ratio of less than 25 times, the stock remains attractively valued. Given its current position as the company with the most comprehensive AI stack, this is a stock to buy for the long term.
