The Best Stocks to Invest $10,000 in to Start 2026
Key Points
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's operations sit at the heart of the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure buildout.
The Trade Desk's stock is too cheap to ignore.
Nebius expects huge growth in 2026.
- 10 stocks we like better than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ›
If you've got $10,000 ready to invest -- or any amount of money, for that matter -- the time is right to start trying to determine what stocks you think will be great buys for 2026. Another earnings season is just starting, and no doubt several companies' shares will catch fire after they discuss their guidance for 2026.
I've got a list of a few stocks to get you started, and I think investors can be confident in these picks performing well over the next few years, not just in 2026.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks »
Image source: Getty Images.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) has already reported its Q4 2025 earnings, and they were outstanding. However, its quarterly numbers were overshadowed by management's guidance that overall revenue will grow by nearly 30% in 2026, and its longer-term forecast that its artificial intelligence (AI) chip revenue will grow at a compound annual rate of nearly 60% from 2024 to 2029.
Based on those projections, we're still in the early innings of the AI infrastructure spending spree, and Taiwan Semiconductor is a great way to play the AI buildout neutrally.
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) has fallen from grace. While the demand-side advertising platform operator used to be a high-flying, fast-growing tech company, its shares are now down by 75% from their all-time high. However, things aren't as dire as the stock price suggests.
The Trade Desk is still a top ad platform, and it grew revenue by 18% in the third quarter. Wall Street analysts are expecting 16% growth for 2026, which is far from slow. Despite that, you can buy shares for 15 times expected forward earnings. It's a steal at this price, and I think investors should highly consider buying shares now.
Nebius
Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS) is a fairly unknown stock, but it's primed for huge upside. The company operates data centers, which it fills with cutting-edge graphics processing units (GPUs) to power AI workloads. It offers this as a full-stack setup, so all clients need to do is pay Nebius for access to its servers, and developers have access to everything they need to train and run artificial intelligence models.
Management is forecasting monstrous growth in 2026. Right now, its annual revenue run rate is $551 million. By the end of 2026, it expects that figure to be between $7 billion and $9 billion. That sets it up as one of the best growth stocks in the market right now.
Should you buy stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing right now?
Before you buy stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $450,256!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,171,666!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 942% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 196% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of February 2, 2026.
Keithen Drury has positions in Nebius Group, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
