3 Top Stocks to Buy in 2026

With 2025 beginning to wind down, it's time for investors to start looking toward what could be the best stocks to buy for next year. Here are three stocks that have real potential to outperform in 2026 and beyond.

Nvidia

Where Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) goes, the market is likely to follow. The maker of graphics processing units (GPUs) has grown to become the largest company in the world and is the poster child of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Its chips are the backbone of AI data centers, and right now, there appears to be no let-up in AI infrastructure spending.

Large language models (LLMs), such as OpenAI, as well as cloud computing companies and other tech giants have all committed to increasing their AI spending in the coming years, which bodes well for Nvidia. The company has a tight grip on the GPU market, which involves the chips most commonly used to provide the muscle to train AI models and run inference. Nvidia's edge comes from its CUDA software platform, which is the platform on which most developers learned to program GPUs and on which most foundational AI code is written.

With AI set to lead the market higher again in 2026, Nvidia is a stock to own.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alphabet

Another big potential AI winner next year is Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG). The company has established itself as a cloud computing leader, being the only company with a complete stack of leading solutions. It has everything from a top AI model in Gemini to world-class software solutions to its own custom AI chips. This vertical integration gives it a cost advantage that should become even more pronounced in the years ahead.

At the same time, AI is helping transform its search business and drive growth. AI-powered features such as AI Overviews, Circle to Search, and Lens are all driving more search queries. Meanwhile, it has seamlessly incorporated its Gemini chatbot into its search offering, letting users easily switch from traditional search to an AI chatbot and back with just a click of a button. Given the big distribution edge Alphabet has through owning both the market-leading browser and smartphone operating system, together with a search revenue-sharing agreement to be Apple's default search engine, the company is well-positioned for the future of search and AI discovery.

It's notable that its stand-alone Gemini app has also been gaining traction, helped by its popular AI image editing tool Nano Banana. It also recently won a deal for Gemini to be the AI model to power Apple's Siri AI assistant.

Given its AI-fueled growth both in the cloud and with search, together with its expanding Waymo robotaxi business, Alphabet is a stock to own in 2026.

Dutch Bros

Outside of the tech sector, I think one of the best growth stocks to own for next year is Dutch Bros (NYSE: BROS). The company has been delivering strong results, with solid mid-single-digit same-store sales growth throughout 2025, including a 5.7% increase in the third quarter. Company-owned stores have been performing even better, with comparable-store sales up 7.4% in Q3 on the back of 6.8% growth in transactions. The growth has been driven by drink innovation and its relatively recent introduction of order-ahead mobile ordering.

Meanwhile, the company should see a nice lift in same-store sales next year from the introduction of hot food items. Dutch Bros has been testing the items at several locations and has seen a 4% uplift in sales at those shops. While it won't be able to add these items to all of its shops due to how some are configured, this is still a big opportunity for the company, especially when considering that rival Starbucks gets nearly 20% of its sales from food versus less than 2% for Dutch Bros.

On top of that, Dutch Bros has one of the best expansion stories of any company in the restaurant space. With fewer than 1,100 stores, it is looking to grow to more than 2,000 by 2029 and eventually 7,000. Next year, it plans to open around 175 new locations. The combination of same-store sales and expansion growth makes Dutch Bros a stock to own in 2026.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet and Dutch Bros. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Nvidia, and Starbucks. The Motley Fool recommends Dutch Bros. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.