The market is starting off 2026 with some modest gains, indicating that so far, the upward trend continues. It's still the first month of the year, and anything can happen over the next 12 months. Last year, the S&P 500 notched a new high in January before plummeting in April.
But patterns emerge over time, and there are always dips and rises along the market's journey higher. Tech stocks are generally more volatile as a group than other types of stocks, but over time, their gains as a category tend to outdo their losses. If you're looking for excellent tech stocks that can drive growth but are lower-risk, I recommend Alphabet (GOOG +1.05%)(GOOGL +1.02%), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM +1.77%), and Apple (AAPL +0.19%).
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1. Alphabet
Alphabet is the parent company of the better-known Google, the largest internet search engine in the world, by far. That gives it access to billions of users around the world, and it monetizes that access through its competitive advertising platform.
Analysts predicted trouble for Google when artificial intelligence (AI) came onto the scene a few years ago, but instead of upending Google's business, AI has become an integral piece of how the company operates. AI has, in fact, been a boon for Google, which uses AI to create results, and Google's fairly new AI summaries and AI mode have made the search engine that much more powerful.
NASDAQ: GOOG
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Alphabet has its own large language model (LLM) called Gemini that drives its AI, and it's become one of the most popular LLMs. In addition to using Gemini for its own purposes, Alphabet also offers Gemini to business clients and individual users.
Alphabet also has a large range of interconnected and separate businesses that generate revenue and create a robust ecosystem of products. It owns powerful businesses like YouTube and Android, in addition to others, that are used globally every day by millions of customers.
It's well-positioned to keep benefiting from trends in AI, but it has several healthy businesses that should keep growing whether AI tailwinds keep blowing or not.
2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC, is a semiconductor foundry, which means that it manufactures the semiconductors designed by its clients. It's been at the forefront of semiconductor production for several decades, riding the waves of new trends as they come and go, giving it tremendous staying power.
Even though it's already been through several iterations of semiconductor technology, it's still reporting high growth; sales increased 41% year over year in the 2025 third quarter. It's also incredibly profitable, with a 51% operating margin in the quarter.
NYSE: TSM
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It felt some pressure from new tariffs last year, but it had been working on a U.S. facility for several years already, and its first U.S. location opened in April in Arizona. It produced its first Nvidia Blackwell architecture chips in October. It's building out a huge campus in the area, and it's expecting to reach production volume by the end of the decade.
High-performance computing, which includes AI chips, accounts for more than half of the total business these days, but it also has a large smartphone business, in addition to other types of chips. That gives it strong long-term growth drivers.
3. Apple
Apple has a large, interconnected business with devices that users love. Customers typically buy into the entire Apple ecosystem, using its computers, iPhones, and related gadgets, and once they're in, they typically stay in and upgrade to the latest technology. That creates a strong moat and a recurring-revenue-like revenue stream to keep it growing.
NASDAQ: AAPL
Key Data Points
However, it also has a robust, high-margin services business that has recurring revenue. Total revenue increased 8% year over year in the 2025 fiscal fourth quarter (ended Sept. 27), but services revenue increased 16%.
iPhones are still its core business, accounting for about half of total revenue, and so long as nothing is replacing it, Apple should continue to enjoy a thriving business. If iPhones do eventually get subsumed into the next big thing, Apple itself is likely to be at the head of the next technology, too.
