We're in a new year, but some of the investing themes from the past continue to drive the markets. Tech stocks have been a consistent winner in the last three years, outperforming the market by a wide margin.
The S&P 500 has gains of 81% in the last three years, which is an excellent return by any measure. But that's dwarfed by the returns of two popular tech exchange-traded funds -- the Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund ETF is up a whopping 144%, and the State Street Technology Select SPDR ETF is up 139%.
As we swing into 2026, the investment thesis hasn't changed. Technology stocks, fueled by the massive build-out of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and machine learning, will likely continue to be a powerful tailwind for the stock market. Here are four excellent stocks that will benefit from that trend.
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Nvidia
The top semiconductor company in the world, Nvidia (NVDA 1.53%), should continue to drive the market in 2026. Nvidia makes the top-of-the-line graphics processing units (GPUs) that data centers bundle by the hundreds to train and run advanced AI programs.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
CEO Jensen Huang points out that Nvidia's chips are ideally suited to respond to what he calls three "massive platform shifts" in computing -- the shift from CPU general-purpose computing to GPU-accelerated computing, the rise of generative AI, and the growth of agentic AI.
That's why analysts are expecting Nvidia to generate an incredible $213.3 billion in revenue this calendar year, and for that to increase to $319.8 billion in 2027.
Palantir Technologies
As dramatic as Nvidia's run has been, Palantir Technologies' (PLTR +1.25%) is even more impressive. Nvidia is up 1,240% in the past three years, but that pales in comparison to Palantir's 2,710% advance.
NASDAQ: PLTR
Key Data Points
Palantir's success is based on its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which integrates with its Foundry and Gotham platforms to deliver real-time intelligence and insights to both government agencies and commercial clients.
AIP has been a game changer for Palantir, and profits are rolling in quickly. Palantir disclosed that it closed 204 deals in the third quarter alone, each valued at more than $1 million. Its U.S. commercial revenue increased 121% from a year ago to $397 million and its U.S. government revenue jumped 52% to $486 million.
As Palantir continues to close million-dollar deals at a pace of more than one per day, those revenue numbers will continue to climb in 2026.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
If you're looking for a cheat code for the build-out of AI, then you need Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 4.96%). The company is the biggest chip foundry in the world, which means that it manufactures the chips that are designed by Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom, Qualcomm, and others.
NYSE: TSM
Key Data Points
Chipmakers flock to TSMC, as it's called, because it can make high-quality chips with smaller transistors -- and the smaller the transistor, the better the chip performs.
TSMC is expanding its operations to diversify from Taiwan -- a smart move considering the geopolitical pressures and tariff battles on the global stage today. It's investing $165 billion to build out operations in Arizona, where it's already making Nvidia Blackwell chips.
Alphabet
Alphabet (GOOG 1.69%) (GOOGL 1.66%) is an advertising powerhouse that is arguably the most important internet company in the world. Who else can say that it has an overwhelming market share in internet search (Google, 90.8%) and also the top browser (Chrome, 71.2% market share)?
While that translates to a powerful advertising division that brought in $74.1 billion in revenue in the third quarter, the company's cloud computing division cannot be overlooked. Google Cloud is the No. 3 cloud company in the world by market share and is rapidly growing. Revenue of $15.15 billion in the third quarter was up from $11.35 billion a year ago.
On top of that, Alphabet's Waymo division is live in the Phoenix metro area, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco, with plans to roll out the service in Miami and Washington, D.C. -- an investment that Alphabet expects will lead to even more long-term profits.
