Prediction: These Stocks Could Deliver Market-Beating Returns Over the Next Decade

Over the last 10 years, the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) and S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) have posted total returns of 415% and 297%, respectively.

^IXIC data by YCharts

As these trends illustrate, much of these gains occurred after 2020 -- on the backdrop of rising domestic infrastructure spend and, of course, accelerating investment in artificial intelligence (AI).

Over the next decade, I suspect that AI will remain a core driver of economic growth. While there are countless ways to gain exposure to the AI revolution, two names in particular stand out to me.

I'll break down why I think Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) could deliver market-beating returns over the next 10 years.

1. Tesla: Bringing autonomy to artificial intelligence (AI)

Tesla is a pioneer in the electric vehicle (EV) movement, as well as an early developer of next-generation green energy products. However, for the last several years, CEO Elon Musk has been outlining his vision for Tesla to become more of a tech-enabled services business.

Musk's ambition to evolve Tesla into a technology enterprise can be summed up in one word: autonomy.

Musk is laser focused on adding a new layer to Tesla's existing automotive footprint. Specifically, he has his eyes set on the ride-hailing and delivery services markets. Tesla's goal is to create a global fleet of self-driving vehicles -- a new business venture known as Robotaxi.

In theory, Robotaxi represents a transformative shift in Tesla's car business because it represents a high-margin, recurring revenue source of demand as opposed to one-time vehicle sales.

Beyond autonomous vehicles, Tesla is also building a line of humanoid robots -- dubbed Optimus. The goal of these robots is to assist the human labor force in areas such as logistics, warehousing, and potentially even in retail settings. Musk himself is incredibly bullish on Optimus, signaling that 80% of Tesla's future value could one day come from the robotics segment.

While Tesla is not the only company competing for market share in the autonomous vehicle and humanoid robotics industries, it stands out as one of the few big tech players developing both services internally. In the long run, this vertically integrated approach could translate to unparalleled competitive advantages over more fragmented systems.

It's this dynamic that has some on Wall Street saying Tesla has unmatched optionality as the company looks to commercialize its AI roadmap. If the company is able to execute on these endeavors, Tesla could be on the brink of a lucrative combination: accelerating sales from both consumers and enterprises, matched with widening profit margins.

As a longtime Tesla bull, I remain optimistic over Musk's ability to scale these new applications and usher in a wave of prolonged growth and industry-leading unit economics within the next decade.

Image source: Getty Images.

2. Nebius Group: Dominating the intersection of chips, cloud, and AI infrastructure

If you aren't familiar with Nebius Group, I wouldn't be surprised. The company only took to the Nasdaq exchange last year, following a spinoff from its parent company, Yandex.

Nebius operates across four areas: cloud infrastructure, autonomous vehicles, AI services, and educational technology. This diversification echoes that of Amazon, another technology darling whose ecosystem spans numerous end markets.

The company's core driver of growth, however, stems from its data center operation. Thanks to close ties with Nvidia, Nebius is able to procure high-performance GPUs and quickly outfit the hardware into data centers.

From there, the company rents access to its AI accelerators through a cloud-based platform. This business model is known as a neocloud -- it essentially offers companies the flexibility to use advanced chips on-demand without needing to invest in capital-intensive infrastructure up front.

Recently, Nebius signed a $17.4 billion cloud infrastructure deal with Microsoft -- signaling just how critical neoclouds are becoming as hyperscalers invest heavily to meet surging AI capacity demand.

As AI infrastructure spending accelerates and more advanced applications across robotics and autonomous systems are on the horizon, Nebius stands out as one of the few companies well-positioned to benefit from the tailwinds at this intersection. By the next decade, Nebius could easily be a household name and emerge as one of AI's next big superstars.

Adam Spatacco has positions in Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.