What are the big three cloud providers?

The big three cloud providers are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

Is it better to invest in individual cloud stocks or cloud ETFs?

For investors who want more concentrated exposure to a single business and are comfortable with greater risk, investing in an individual cloud stock is a smart idea. For investors looking to mitigate risk, a cloud computing ETF may be a better option.

What are the key financial metrics to evaluate a cloud stock?

There are a variety of financial metrics that cloud stock investors should use, but dollar-based net retention, gross margin, and customer acquisition costs are at the top of the list.

Can small-cap cloud companies offer high growth?

Small-cap cloud companies absolutely have the potential to offer significant growth. But investors considering these stocks should also recognize that, in addition to offering high growth, they're also likely to experience greater volatility.

How can investors stay updated on cloud computing trends?

In addition to monitoring the quarterly financial reports of cloud computing stocks, investors can keep tabs on the progress of the cloud computing industry by following The Motley Fool's coverage of these companies.

Which cloud technology is best in the future?

Opinions will vary regarding which cloud technology will reign supreme in the future. Still, it's safe to say that Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure will be major players.

7 Best Cloud Computing Stocks for 2026 and How to Invest

By Scott Levine – Updated Sep 15, 2026 at 7:42 PM EST | Fact-checked by Parker Hicks

Key Points

Cloud computing stocks offer a way to invest in digital transformation.
Key players include Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
Investing in cloud stocks comes with benefits and risks, requiring careful evaluation.

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Artist representation of the digital cloud. — Source: Getty Images.

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Top cloud computing stocks

To get started, these five public cloud giants offer exposure to the cloud computing industry:

Amazon (AMZN +2.45%) Web Services (AWS)
Microsoft (MSFT +1.41%) Azure
Alphabet's (GOOGL +1.35%) (GOOG +1.27%) Google Cloud
Oracle (ORCL +5.40%) Cloud
IBM (IBM +0.53%) Cloud

Although these companies aren't pure plays in the cloud industry, all five provide infrastructure and services to organizations undertaking digital transformation (a term that encompasses migrating to cloud-based operations). They have the most comprehensive software ecosystem and partnerships with third-party software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers.

Beyond those big five, here are seven additional companies that provide more direct exposure to the development of the cloud:

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Ticker Information Table
Name and ticker	Market capMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.	Current price	Industry
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)	$206.2 billion	$244.93	Software
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE)	$99.6 billion	$251.11	Software
Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW)	$116.8 billion	$341.96	IT Services
Zoom Communications (NASDAQ:ZM)	$26.8 billion	$93.20	Software
ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW)	$144.6 billion	$139.58	Software
The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD)	$6.8 billion	$14.46	Media
DigitalOcean (NYSE:DOCN)	$14.6 billion	$128.43	IT Services

Data as of Sep 17, 2026. Showing 7 of 7 total entries.

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1. Salesforce

Salesforce (CRM -2.00%) is a customer relationship management (CRM) specialist that pioneered cloud-based software in the late 1990s. Salesforce has since branched out to other areas of enterprise software via organic growth and a steady stream of acquisitions.

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NYSE: CRM

Salesforce

Premium Feature

Moneyball Superscore

83/100

Today's Change

(-2.07%) $-5.17

Current Price

$244.93

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$206B

Day's Range

$241.52 - $247.00

52wk Range

$146.32 - $269.11

Volume

6.5M

Avg Vol

14.9M

Gross Margin

74.69%

Dividend Yield

0.68%

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Offering a complete suite of software to help business teams manage data and get work done efficiently, Salesforce has become a full-blown tech platform for businesses of all types and sizes. Plus, it's a top way to play smaller cloud upstarts, as it often invests in or acquires stakes in its peers.

Salesforce fell on hard times in 2022 and faced activist investor pressure to boost profit margins. Founder and CEO Marc Benioff and the top team have made progress, though, and hope to become the world's largest and most profitable enterprise software company within the next few years.

It seems to be on the right track. Salesforce grew diluted earnings per share (EPS) in fiscal 2026 to $7.80 from $6.36 in fiscal 2025. On track to achieve management's fiscal 2027 diluted EPS forecast of $10.21 to $10.25, Salesforce reported Q2 2027 diluted EPS of $4.29, a 119% year-over-year increase.

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2. Adobe

Software company Adobe (ADBE +0.11%) got its start in an IT era that predates both the cloud and the internet. But it has transformed itself into a leader in cloud services by adapting its large and expanding platform to the cloud era. Adobe's core competencies in providing creativity software and document editing have made the company a staple of digital transformation.

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NASDAQ: ADBE

Adobe

Premium Feature

Moneyball Superscore

80/100

Today's Change

(0.24%) $0.61

Current Price

$251.11

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$100B

Day's Range

$245.40 - $251.99

52wk Range

$190.12 - $370.86

Volume

1.8M

Avg Vol

5.7M

Gross Margin

88.68%

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As a creative software specialist, Adobe is well-suited to tackle the new era of generative AI. Its work with top chip designer Nvidia helped it quickly release its Firefly suite of apps aimed at helping creatives increase their image and video creation and expand editing capabilities.

Paired with the organic growth that Adobe's legacy offerings continue to generate, this firm is a strong cash flow generator. In Q3 2026, Adobe reported a company record $2.52 billion in operating cash flow. It's also a top free cash flow generator in the cloud industry. For fiscal years 2021 to 2025, Adobe averaged a free cash flow margin (free cash flow divided by revenue) of 39.9%.

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3. Snowflake

The cloud increases a company's flexibility, unlocking cost savings and helping it get more done with its operational and customer data. Managing the substantial data that comes with cloud adoption, however, is a complex task. That's where Snowflake (SNOW +3.50%) comes in.

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NYSE: SNOW

Snowflake

Premium Feature

Moneyball Superscore

81/100

Today's Change

(3.30%) $10.94

Current Price

$341.96

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$117B

Day's Range

$328.77 - $344.66

52wk Range

$118.30 - $384.56

Volume

Avg Vol

5.5M

Gross Margin

66.00%

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Snowflake is an important business that has pioneered new ways for businesses to store, migrate, and process massive amounts of digital information.

Consistently generating strong cash flow, Snowflake reported free cash flow of $884.1 million and $1.1 billion in fiscal years 2025 and 2026, respectively. Through the first two quarters of fiscal 2027, Snowflake has generated $357.8 million, a 31% increase over the same period last year.

Snowflake is a young company, though, and the stock will likely be highly volatile for some time. It's all about growth for this business right now. Management, for example, sees the company's total addressable market growing from $225 billion in 2026 to $460 billion in 2031. While small changes in management's expectations can cause some wild fluctuations in share price, Snowflake could nevertheless be a very promising long-term investment.

4. Zoom Video Communications

Few companies have skyrocketed out of obscurity and into household-name status as quickly as Zoom (ZM +1.32%), which became a household name when the videoconferencing service helped family members and business teams stay in touch from afar during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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NASDAQ: ZM

Zoom Communications

Premium Feature

Moneyball Superscore

73/100

Today's Change

(1.37%) $1.26

Current Price

$93.20

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$27B

Day's Range

$90.62 - $93.30

52wk Range

$70.70 - $114.74

Volume

414.7K

Avg Vol

3.4M

Gross Margin

77.30%

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Poised to remain a basic necessity of corporate communications services for the foreseeable future, Zoom is eyeing a bigger share of the massive global telecom industry by targeting large business communications accounts.

While Zoom struggled with many individual and small-business subscribers canceling their service in the wake of the pandemic, it has improved its financials over the past couple of years. Zoom grew its free cash flow by 6.4% year over year to $1.9 billion in fiscal 2026. Through the first half of fiscal 2027, Zoom has generated free cash flow of $972.9 million -- slightly better than the $971.3 million it reported during the same period during the prior year.

The company is still benefiting from changes in communications, but it's no longer a growth company. Zoom's top priority now is managing modest revenue expansion while figuring out how to steadily increase earnings for shareholders.

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5. ServiceNow

There are greater complexities involved in managing large-scale cloud computing infrastructure, but the cloud also enables continuous streamlining and automation of operations. That's ServiceNow's (NOW -0.20%) software specialty.

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NYSE: NOW

ServiceNow

Premium Feature

Moneyball Superscore

86/100

Today's Change

(-0.17%) $-0.24

Current Price

$139.58

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$145B

Day's Range

$136.00 - $140.54

52wk Range

$81.24 - $194.73

Volume

4.1M

Avg Vol

20.9M

Gross Margin

74.77%

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ServiceNow helps about 8,800 companies worldwide identify chokepoints in their digital customer experiences, employee workflow management, or software development operations. Once these pain points are found, ServiceNow can help suggest and automate fixes.

In a new era of artificial intelligence (AI), ServiceNow could be a big winner, building on its recent success. After growing subscription revenue 21% year over year to $12.9 billion in fiscal 2025, management projects subscription revenue will grow more than 22% this year and total about $15.77 billion in fiscal 2026.

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In addition to steady growth, ServiceNow recently turned profitable across all metrics. This could be a great stock holding for the next decade and beyond as the cloud continues to infiltrate more of the world's corporate operations.

6. The Trade Desk

After Netflix (NFLX -0.75%) made streaming TV from the cloud an everyday staple, many new internet-based services have come to market. This has been a boon for digital advertising technologists. Among the successes has been The Trade Desk (TTD -0.24%), a cloud-based offering that helps marketers automate the purchase of digital advertising (known as programmatic advertising). In fact, the company now ranks as the largest independent digital ad management software company.

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NASDAQ: TTD

The Trade Desk

Premium Feature

Moneyball Superscore

76/100

Today's Change

(-0.21%) $-0.03

Current Price

$14.46

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$6.8B

Day's Range

$14.25 - $14.87

52wk Range

$12.83 - $56.39

Volume

8.2M

Avg Vol

21.3M

Gross Margin

76.87%

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And its rapidly escalating top-line growth further reflects the massive success it has achieved. From 2015 through 2025, when it reported sales of $2.9 billion, the company has increased revenue at a massive 38% compound annual growth rate.

Despite massive internet growth over the past decade, just over half of marketing spending is in digital formats. Digital ads will remain a fast-growing industry over the next decade as streaming services add millions of new household subscribers and deliver billions of additional viewing hours. That creates a significant opportunity for The Trade Desk as it manages connected TV advertising.

7. DigitalOcean

A public cloud infrastructure and software provider similar to AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, DigitalOcean (DOCN +3.77%) targets the massive yet underserved community of small businesses and start-ups, while the big three focus on large enterprises.

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NYSE: DOCN

DigitalOcean

Premium Feature

Moneyball Superscore

88/100

Today's Change

(3.77%) $4.67

Current Price

$128.43

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$15B

Day's Range

$128.12 - $134.43

52wk Range

$33.69 - $187.50

Volume

820.9K

Avg Vol

3.2M

Gross Margin

57.22%

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Besides offering cloud infrastructure for small businesses to test and host web-based services and apps, it also offers services for the non-tech-savvy outfit. It acquired Cloudways, a company that offers website building and hosting.

Despite its tiny size, DigitalOcean operates efficiently. It generates healthy, growing free cash flow, and net income. The company reported 2025 diluted earnings per share of $2.52.

Projecting year-over-year sales growth of 30% in fiscal year 2026 and 50% in 2027, DigitalOcean could be a quality small- to mid-cap stock worth investing in for the long haul.

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How to buy cloud computing stocks

If you think you're ready to start investing in cloud computing stocks, there are a few basic steps you must take.

Open your brokerage app: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments. If you don't have one yet, take a look at our favorite brokers and trading platforms to find the right one for you.
Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.

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Benefits and risks of investing in cloud computing stocks

Investing in cloud computing stocks may be a compelling opportunity for some, but investors must examine both the benefits and risks before proceeding.

Benefits

Global cloud spending is expected to grow considerably, the industry is projected to grow from about $752 billion in 2024 to $2.4 trillion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.
More efficient than legacy IT, cloud computing enhances technology such as AI, machine learning, and gaming.
Cloud computing stocks can help investors diversify their portfolios.

Risks

There's intense competition, and smaller cloud computing stocks may struggle if larger players become too dominant.
Leading cloud computing stocks may suffer if companies fail to innovate.
Many cloud computing stocks trade at high valuations, and if the companies fail to deliver on the lofty expectations baked into their prices, the market may punish them.

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Methodology: How these stocks were chosen

There are many stocks that provide investors with cloud computing exposure, but these names offer the most compelling opportunities. Besides representing industry leaders in the various niches they operate in, many of these companies feature strong financial health in various regards such as revenue growth, profitability, and free cash flow generation.

Essentially, these stocks provide a balance of growth opportunities and established industry leaders for investors looking for seeking different sorts of industry exposure.

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Should you invest in cloud computing stocks?

Cloud computing picked up steam during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained an enduring growth story since.

As with all high-growth stocks, though, investing in cloud companies will have its bumps in the road. Investors should stay focused on the long-term potential, not just on stock price performance over a year or two.

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Investing in Cloud Computing Stocks FAQ

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About the Author

Scott Levine is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst covering energy, industrials, technology, and materials. He is also a high school English teacher and a small business owner. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing from Binghamton University, a master’s degree in secondary education from Adelphi University, and an advanced certificate in school building leadership from CUNY Queens College. A crossword puzzle enthusiast, he has solved more than 3,100 New York Times puzzles with a 97% solve rate.

TMFProudMonkey

@TMFProudMonkey

Scott Levine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Adobe, Alphabet, Amazon, DigitalOcean, International Business Machines, Microsoft, Netflix, Oracle, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Snowflake, The Trade Desk, and Zoom Communications. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2028 $330 calls on Adobe and short January 2028 $340 calls on Adobe. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

7 Best Cloud Computing Stocks for 2026 and How to Invest

Key Points

Top cloud computing stocks

1. Salesforce

Key Data Points

2. Adobe

Key Data Points

3. Snowflake

Key Data Points

4. Zoom Video Communications

Key Data Points

5. ServiceNow

Key Data Points

6. The Trade Desk

Key Data Points

7. DigitalOcean

Key Data Points

How to buy cloud computing stocks

Benefits and risks of investing in cloud computing stocks

Benefits

Risks

Methodology: How these stocks were chosen

Should you invest in cloud computing stocks?

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How to buy cloud computing stocks

Benefits and risks of investing in cloud computing stocks

Benefits

Risks

Methodology: How these stocks were chosen

Should you invest in cloud computing stocks?

Related investing topics

Key Data Points

Investing in Cloud Computing Stocks FAQ

What are the big three cloud providers?

Is it better to invest in individual cloud stocks or cloud ETFs?

What are the key financial metrics to evaluate a cloud stock?

Can small-cap cloud companies offer high growth?

How can investors stay updated on cloud computing trends?

Which cloud technology is best in the future?

Top cloud computing stocks

1. Salesforce

2. Adobe

3. Snowflake

4. Zoom Video Communications

5. ServiceNow

6. The Trade Desk

7. DigitalOcean

Key Data Points

Key Data Points

Key Data Points

Key Data Points

Key Data Points

Key Data Points