If you are shopping for tech winners in 2026, you don't have to chase the buzziest names or the hottest charts. Sometimes the best opportunities show up when the market decides a solid business is "over." The bears aren't always right, you know.
Two leaders look especially interesting right now. The gig economy is not going away, and AI can make established business plans stickier, not shakier. Here are two stocks that look worth a closer look in early 2026.
NYSE: FVRR
Key Data Points
Don't call it a Fiverr comeback; the growth never stopped
Fiverr International (FVRR 4.43%) was a market darling during the COVID-19 lockdown era. When people returned to work, Wall Street suddenly assumed that Fiverr's freelance services were obsolete. The stock price peaked at $323 in the spring of 2021, fell below $100 a year later, and kept on sliding. On top of the faded coronavirus booster, artificial intelligence (AI) is supposed to do what Fiverr does, but cheaper and faster.
You know what moved in the opposite direction? Fiverr's business results.
With the exception of an inflation-based dip in 2022, Fiverr's revenue and profits have been soaring consistently. Top-line sales rose 21% over the last three years, while net income multiplied sixfold.
And the AI threat isn't playing out as Fiverr's critics expected. AI-related services have become a leading growth driver, as professional-grade digital content and services still require a human touch. Last night, for example, I installed a new disk in the desktop system I'm using to write these words. A large language model (LLM) helped me move my data and operating system to their new home, but the seemingly simple process took hours of failed attempts. If I didn't know what error reports to send back for a deeper LLM analysis, I'd still be fighting that upgrade. Making the Grub bootloader work properly on a new SSD should be easy, but it's not. Or maybe I'd call a human PC expert with recent experience in this area.
That's just a simple example. Human insight is even more valuable in large, creative projects. That's exactly what Fiverr sells, and even the latest agentic AI systems are a long way away from replacing those freelancers.
As of this writing on Jan. 19, Fiverr's stock is down 49% over the last year. It trades at just 5.6 times forward earnings estimates or 5.3 times trailing free cash flows. And the revenue is still rising.
Whether you're looking for a powerful cash machine or a high-octane growth stock, Fiverr delivers. Put these qualities together, and you get a fantastic stock to buy in January 2026.
NASDAQ: DUOL
Key Data Points
Duolingo's AI advantage
Stop me if you just heard this one, but AI isn't killing Duolingo (DUOL 3.79%).
In fact, the language-learning veteran is using AI to its advantage, adding helpful features to its premium subscription plan and entirely new course types to its catalog.
Wall Street got a little twitchy after Duolingo's latest earnings report. Why? Because management had the nerve to focus on long-term user growth instead of wringing out every possible subscription dollar this quarter. The stock continued its nearly year-long slide. Some folks can't help but grade everything on a one-quarter report card.
Here's what that bearish reaction misses: Duolingo isn't a cash-burning science project waiting for "someday" to arrive. The company expects nearly $1.2 billion in bookings this year with a 29% adjusted EBITDA margin. More than 50 million people use the app every day. That is not a cute little side hustle; it is a full-blown habit.
The gamified learning experience may not be every student's cup of chai latte, but it can be addictive for some people. For example, my streak of daily Duolingo lessons is 3,494 days long today, stretching back to June 2016. Deeply committed users like yours truly are likely to pay for premium services and spread the word on Duolingo's behalf.
Image source: Getty Images.
CEO Luis von Ahn isn't pressing the user-growth button because things are shaky. He's doing it because he thinks AI-powered education is having a seminal moment, and he wants Duolingo in the driver's seat. Setting up a strong leadership position today should pay great dividends in the long run.
Also, the stock now trades around 19 times earnings after falling 72% from its 52-week high. Chess has become the app's fastest-growing course and is already bigger than math and music in terms of daily users. China is Duolingo's second-largest market these days, and the Middle Kingdom is still growing fast.
Duolingo's green owl mascot is not hiding from the AI revolution; it's out there recruiting robots to build a better learning platform. And Wall Street slapped a fire-sale price tag on the stock for the wrong reasons.
