Nvidia and Broadcom are making huge sums of money from the AI build-out.
The AI hyperscalers look like compelling investments.
There are several smaller companies that could make investors a fortune if their products pan out.
Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) has been the backbone of the stock market during the past few years, and several exciting investment opportunities have emerged. I think there are several AI stocks that are worth buying right now, although there are likely many more available.
These are my top-10 AI stocks to buy right now, and I think that these make for an excellent starting point for anyone looking to get going in AI investing.
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Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been the top AI stock pick for a long time and for good reason. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) are the go-to computing unit for AI training and inference, and are seeing incredible growth as a result. In the fourth quarter (Q4), its revenue rose 73% year over year, and in Q1, the company expects 77% growth.
Despite those strong projections, the stock has been a bit lackluster lately, which means now is a top buying opportunity.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a new player in the AI computing units segment, but it's making a huge splash. Nvidia is tackling the general-use-case portion of the AI computing market, while Broadcom is taking a more specialized approach. AI hyperscalers are partnering with Broadcom to design custom AI chips that can deliver better performance at a lower price point, at the cost of flexibility.
Broadcom believes there's a huge market for these chips and projects sales rising to more than $100 billion by the end of 2027, up from less than $8.4 billion per quarter right now. That's huge growth, and makes Broadcom a top AI stock pick.
Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) is a logic chip manufacturer and produces chips for companies like Nvidia, Broadcom, and others. Taiwan Semiconductor is a neutral party in the AI arms race and will benefit from increased AI spending. Taiwan Semiconductor is in a league of its own in its industry, making it a no-brainer AI buy.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is one of the primary AI hyperscalers and is spending a ton of money building out its AI computing footprint so that it can run internal AI workloads and also rent out that computing capacity via cloud computing. This is a rapidly growing business unit for Microsoft and revenue rose 39% year over year during its latest quarter.
Despite Microsoft's success, the stock is down 35% from its all-time high, making now an opportune time to buy the stock.
Sticking with the AI hyperscaler theme, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is another compelling company. Similar to Microsoft, it has a booming cloud computing division that just posted its best quarter in more than three years. It also has a thriving e-commerce business that has become a staple in many households. Amazon's stock is also down more than 22% from its all-time high, making it a smart buying opportunity right now.
A year ago, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was in last place in the AI arms race, but now it has rocketed itself into a leadership position. Its generative AI tools are among the best available, and it also has a thriving cloud computing division like Microsoft and Amazon. Alphabet has cemented itself as a top option in the AI sector, proving its relevance and making it a great stock to buy and hold onto as this technology develops.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is the last of the big four AI hyperscalers, and it is down about 34% from its all-time highs. Despite being well off its all-time high, Meta is actually thriving and posted revenue growth of 24% during its most recent quarter, showing that its social media platforms are still relevant and cash-generating machines.
Meta is spending a ton on AI capabilities, and if any of those pan out, the stock could rocket higher. This gives Meta a very high ceiling and also a high floor, making it a no-brainer AI stock to buy.
Switching gears a bit, IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) is a bit more of a long-shot AI play. It's actually a quantum computing company, but quantum computing could become a huge part of the AI investing thesis during the next few years as the technology develops and becomes more accurate.
IonQ is one of the leading pure plays in this segment, and I think it's an excellent investment to make as a long shot that has enormous upside.
Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS) is another cloud computing company, but it's focused on providing the best AI solutions possible. It has a partnership with Nvidia to obtain cutting-edge products first, making it a popular company to partner with. Nvidia is so confident in Nebius that it's actually a shareholder.
This strikes me as a huge vote of confidence in Nebius, and I think it's an excellent addition to any AI investor's portfolio.
Last on the list is SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN). SoundHound AI is an AI software play and makes audio recognition software that pairs with AI. This has a huge market opportunity, especially if it can replace some roles that require human-to-human interaction. Time will tell how successful SoundHound AI becomes, but it is already winning contracts with several companies in the banking, insurance, and healthcare industries.
SoundHound AI already dominates the restaurant industry, and if some larger companies deploy SoundHound AI's products in the previously mentioned sectors, the stock could be a major winner.
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Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Broadcom, IonQ, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nebius Group, Nvidia, SoundHound AI, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, IonQ, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, SoundHound AI, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.