The calendar may have flipped to 2026, but artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are still leading the way, just as they did in 2025 (and 2024 and 2023). Let's look at two top AI stocks to buy right now.
1. Nvidia
As the AI infrastructure buildout continues, Nvidia (NVDA +2.56%) remains one of the top stocks to own.
Image source: Getty Images.
While the company is best known for its graphics processing units (GPUs), the company has really evolved into an end-to-end AI infrastructure solution. Its newest Vera Rubin platform consists of six chips, including its GPUs, central processing units (CPUs), data processing units (DPUs), and networking components. Meanwhile, its Vera CPUs have been designed specifically for agentic AI reasoning, as AI moves beyond generative AI.
Nvidia has combined these components to form the Vera Rubin NVL72 rack, which it says can train AI models with one-fourth the number of GPUs and run inference at one-tenth of the cost of its Blackwell platform. These racks can also be joined to form the Nvidia DGX SuperPOD, which is a full-stack data center platform.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
As companies continue to race to build out AI infrastructure, Nvidia is offering them simple turnkey solutions, which are helping it capture more revenue opportunities within the data center and drive revenue growth. Even before the introduction of Vera Rubin, the benefits of this strategy were evident in Nvidia's results, as its networking revenue surged 162% year over year last quarter, while its GPU compute revenue climbed 56%.
Meanwhile, the company has recently made acquisitions to further strengthen its position. One of the biggest reasons behind Nvidia's dominance has been its CUDA software platform, which is where most foundational AI code has been written. It recently expanded its software edge by acquiring SchedMD, which operates an open-source platform called Slurm that helps manage and schedule GPUs. It also licensed the technology and acquired employees from Groq, which makes chips specifically for AI inference.
All this should continue to build on Nvidia's already strong position in the data center space and help drive growth for many years to come. Meanwhile, the stock is still inexpensive, trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of approximately 24 times next year's analyst estimates and a price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of less than 0.7 times, with PEGs below 1 typically being considered undervalued.
2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Another company well-positioned to keep benefiting from the ongoing AI data center buildout is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM +6.35%). The company is the primary manufacturer of Nvidia's GPUs, as well as other advanced chips.
Manufacturing advanced semiconductors like GPUs is a complicated task, and no other foundry has shown the technical expertise of TSMC to make these chips at high yields (few defects) at scale. This has left it with a virtual monopoly in the space and a close partner to top chip designers. It has also given it strong pricing power, with reports that the company has already laid out a four-year price hike schedule to its customers.
NYSE: TSM
Key Data Points
Where TSMC really shines is in pushing down chip node sizes, which is the density of a chip. The smaller and more advanced the node, the more powerful and energy efficient the chip, which is vital for companies as they continue to advance their chip architecture. Yields for its newest 2-nanometer processing technology have been reported to be better than expected, and demand for the technology is reportedly through the roof, despite pricing reported to be 50% higher than its 3nm technology.
Soaring demand and strong pricing power bode well for the stock moving forward. Meanwhile, it's still attractively priced, trading at a forward P/E of around 19.5 and a PEG of below 0.65.
