The stock market has, through geopolitical conflicts and jittery bubble-fearing uncertainties, once more proven its tenacity and resilience. 2026 has been anything but stable, yet the S&P 500 has clocked an almost 9% gain thus far.
Once again, artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are crushing it, with AI spending expected to hit $2.5 trillion -- roughly the GDP of Canada. The enthusiasm for AI has helped companies even remotely peripheral to the technology, from nuclear stocks supplying the energy to industrial stocks mining for the metals.
Looking ahead over the next 10 or so years, these trends suggest that the following two growth stocks have significant upside potential.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. A company with enough metals to make 280 million electric vehicle batteries
TMC The Metals Company (TMC +1.42%) is on the cusp of unlocking a multi-billion opportunity in the deep sea. The metal company and deep-sea miner has exploratory rights to the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, where a lode of roughly $24 billion sits in the form of polymetallic nodules.
NASDAQ: TMC
Key Data Points
Nodules -- rocks, bones, fragments of shells that have accumulated the ocean's natural elements over millions of years -- contain four metals crucial for making batteries, including nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese. Although the company has historically positioned itself as a metal supplier for electric vehicles, copper found in these nodules could be used for cables, transformers, and other parts in data center infrastructure.
TMC doesn't have regulatory approval to mine the nodules, but that may change soon. The U.S. government has been supportive of deep-sea mining, and it recently determined TMC's application was in full compliance. The company estimates it will begin operations in late 2027 -- a major advancement that could send this $5 stock soaring.
2. A truckload of nuclear power
Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE 5.88%) is essentially shrinking a nuclear power plant down to the size of a small garage to make it portable on the bed of a semitruck.
The start-up is one of several "novel" nuclear energy companies, including Oklo (OKLO 1.28%) and NuScale Energy (SMR 1.23%), that want to make nuclear power cheaper and faster to build, with far less footprint than the average nuclear power plant.
NASDAQ: NNE
Key Data Points
Deploying a mini nuclear power plant on a truck has obvious advantages for the AI era, specifically for data centers. These energy-guzzling facilities are popping up everywhere -- and not always where grid power is abundant. Even President Trump has told tech companies to build their own power plants to avoid raising energy prices for consumers.
Nano doesn't have regulatory approval to deploy reactors commercially, but it is participating in government programs that could speed up the process.
Nano and TMC are both speculative stocks, and neither has the fundamentals to support their current market valuations. For aggressive investors, however, both growth stocks have monster potential. Just understand what you're buying: High-risk, high-reward bets on two emerging markets.
