If I Could Tell All Investors 1 Thing About the Stock Market Right Now, It's This

One of the biggest debates among stock market investors in 2026 has been: "Is there an AI bubble?" Some investors are worried that tech stock valuations are too high, that the S&P 500 index is too top-heavy with artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, and that AI hyperscalers are spending too much on AI data centers.

But here's one thing I wish all investors knew about the stock market: Instead of an AI bubble, we might be seeing the beginnings of a widespread AI boom.

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AI is creating profit growth for S&P 500 companies, not just tech stocks

This might be the biggest piece of good news I've seen about the economy in 2026. According to a new report from 22V Research LLC reported in Bloomberg last Friday, a growing list of S&P 500 index companies are seeing specific, meaningful gains in profitability from AI tools.

But these aren't just tech companies benefiting from AI. They're in a wide range of industries like garbage removal, trucking, corporate consulting, and financial services. And they're reporting profit margin gains of 1.5% to 1.8% directly linked to AI tools and automation.

Even if some AI stocks are overvalued and even if some AI capex turns out to be a mistake, the broader U.S. economy seems to be picking up steam due to efficiency and productivity gains from AI tools. This is good news for investors and, ideally, for everyone in America.

We don't know what the future holds. But it seems as if the future of AI is less likely to lead to a busted bubble or to just a few major tech companies owning the entire economy. Instead, AI tools seem to be offering a more hopeful future of broadly shared innovation and prosperity across all kinds of industries, not just tech. Buying an S&P 500 ETF could be a smart move for long-term investors.

Ben Gran has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.