Wall Street's Favorite Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bargain Stock for 2026 Is Hiding in Plain Sight

Wall Street analysts offer one-year price targets on the stocks that they cover, and these projections can give investors an idea of what the experts' general sentiment about a stock is. While I wouldn't advocate for a strategy of simply picking the stock that analysts think has the most upside potential and buying it without doing further research, you can use these forecasts to find some stocks where there are meaningful mismatches between current prices and medium-term expectations.

One of the stocks with the most expected upside according to analysts is hiding in plain sight: Its current price is about $178 per share, while its average price target is $265. If it hits that level, it would amount to a nearly 50% rise in just one year. But what stock is it? The largest company in the world by market cap: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA).

Image source: Getty Images.

Why is Nvidia's upside so high?

The larger a company becomes, the harder it is for that company to keep growing at a rapid percentage rate. This makes sense logically, because the bigger the revenue base, the more new revenue it takes to increase the top line by the same increment. So, for example, if a company increases its sales by 100% from $50 billion to $100 billion, its next 100% gain will require twice as much actual additional revenue.

But Nvidia defies logic. The reality is that demand for artificial intelligence (AI) computing hardware is insatiable, and hyperscalers and other tech companies are willing to buy up as many of Nvidia's processors as it can produce. While there are alternatives to its architectures, the GPU leader has a host of competitive advantages. Because of this, Nvidia has extraordinary pricing power.

With hyperscalers announcing plans for record-setting data center capital expenditures in 2026, it's no wonder Wall Street analysts believe Nvidia's stock will soar higher. Furthermore, the high spending isn't expected to end in 2026.

Data centers don't go up overnight. The projects that have been announced over the past 12 months may not be operational for years down the road. Computing units are among the last things to go into these facilities, so Nvidia's growth will likely last for years. Additionally, management has predicted that capital expenditures on data centers globally will rise to between $3 trillion and $4 trillion by 2030. This projection isn't far off from a third-party market analysis by McKinsey & Company, which estimated that cumulative data center spending will reach $7 trillion by 2030.

We're still in the early stages of the AI infrastructure buildout, and if Nvidia's growth continues at its current pace, the stock should be far higher at this time next year.

Nvidia's upside is tied to both growth and valuation

Currently, on a forward earnings basis, Nvidia is trading at one of its cheapest valuations since the AI buildout spree began in 2023.

NVDA PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts.

If 21.6 times forward earnings sounds cheap, that's because it is. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) trades for 21.7 times forward earnings, so Nvidia is actually slightly cheaper than the average large-cap company. Now, it's important to remember that this metric utilizes forward expected earnings, so the figures are speculative. But a valuation at this level essentially assumes that Nvidia will have another strong year in 2026, then be an average performer after that.

We know from the hyperscalers' already-announced plans, Nvidia's projections, and third-party projections that this is unlikely to be the case. There's plenty of growth available for the chipmaker beyond 2026. For now, though, the stock is a better bargain than normal because of the market's shortsightedness.

Based on Wall Street's price targets, Nvidia has more one-year upside potential than most large tech companies. As such, investors should consider adding to their positions or initiating new ones in it. AI spending doesn't appear likely to slow down anytime soon, and Nvidia continues to be one of the top AI chip options in the market. If you buy soon, I think you'll look back a year from now and be happy with your decision.

Keithen Drury has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.