Survey: 41% Think AI Stocks Are in a Bubble, but Investors Keep Buying Anyway. Here Are 3 That Could Weather the Storm.

Considering the extraordinary returns that some artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have provided in recent years, it's unsurprising that concerns about a potential AI bubble are running rampant in investment circles.

According to research from The Motley Fool's 2026 AI Investor Outlook Report, for example, 41% of survey respondents said they suspect that AI stock prices have reached speculative levels that are untethered from the companies' fundamentals, with only 26% of investors believing that current stock valuations are sustainable.

Only time will tell if an AI bubble has actually formed, but one thing is for sure: There are some stalwart AI stocks that will likely thrive even during tumultuous times.

Image source: Getty Images.

A semiconductor stalwart to provide safety in the storm

It would be hard to argue that there's a more formidable force in the AI industry than Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). The company's graphics processing units (GPUs) are in extraordinarily high demand as companies strive to equip data centers to meet the massive computing demands of AI applications. According to research from the Dell’Oro Group, data center investments are expected to grow from $430 billion in 2024 to $1.1 trillion by 2029.

Should AI spending dwindle, Nvidia would still be well positioned to endure that downturn. As of Oct. 26 (the end of its fiscal 2026 third quarter), it had a robust net cash position of $52.1 billion. It's also important to remember that a pullback in AI infrastructure spending wouldn't mean that its data center revenue would plummet to zero. Even if it at some point it's no longer selling its chips faster than it can produce them, Nvidia's industry-leading architectures are likely to remain in high demand.

This unique equipment maker provides an investment opportunity

It's not often that investors come across an opportunity as significant as the one that ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) presents. The company is the world's sole manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. This equipment is essential for customers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Intel to achieve large-scale fabrication of high-end microchips for AI computing. And the company isn't resting on its laurels. It partnered with Mistral AI in September, stating that the collaboration will "benefit ASML customers with faster time to market and higher performance holistic lithography systems."

Like Nvidia, ASML has a strong balance sheet that could help it endure an AI market downturn. As of the end of the third quarter, ASML had a net cash position of 2.4 billion euros.

Sound financial health makes Amazon a compelling stock

At one time, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) was a mere bookseller. Now, it's an AI dynamo. Its cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), provides the backbone for a large share of AI computing around the globe. It offers a variety of AI-related services on AWS, including Amazon Bedrock, which is used in the development of generative AI applications. AWS revenues totaled $93.1 billion through the first three quarters of 2025.

Amazon is well-positioned financially to withstand an AI spending downturn. As of the end of September, it had $67 billion in cash and cash equivalents on its books, and a strong interest coverage ratio of 44, according to Morningstar.

Three AI titans to withstand a tempest

The prospect of an AI bubble bursting is unsettling, but if that happens, Nvidia, ASML, and Amazon are all in strong enough financial positions that they could be expected to weather the volatility.

Scott Levine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Amazon, Intel, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.