Prediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Outperform Alphabet in 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a major catalyst for Alphabet over the past couple of years, as the company's chatbot, Google Gemini, has gained popularity and as it invests heavily in new AI data infrastructure.

But one company, Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), is reaping even more rewards from AI than Alphabet and could outperform the tech giant this year. Here's why.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alphabet is no AI laggard

Alphabet has gained a lot of ground in the AI race lately, especially given that Gemini now has 750 million monthly active users -- a nearly 88% increase from just nine months ago. And it's not just that Gemini is popular. The company said that in the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue from products built on its generative AI models grew by nearly 400% year over year.

And more AI wins are likely on the way. Alphabet recently entered into a collaboration with Apple, in which the iPhone maker will reportedly pay Alphabet $1 billion a year to use Gemini as the underlying model for the latest iteration of Siri.

Alphabet benefits from artificial intelligence mostly through its Google Cloud services, and its fourth-quarter results showed just how well this segment is doing, with cloud sales rising 48% to $17.7 billion.

Micron is doing even better

As good as Alphabet has been doing over the past year, Micron Technology has it beat -- and the pattern will likely continue this year. Micron makes memory chips that are a critical part of AI data centers, and demand has been off the charts recently.

Micron's Chief Business Officer, Sumit Sadana, recently said that it was "sold out" of memory for 2026 -- and that was before Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Amazon said they would increase their capital expenditure spending (mostly for data center infrastructure) to up to $650 billion this year.

To ensure that it can meet the demand, Micron will spend $200 billion to build new manufacturing facilities across the U.S., with the factories coming online over the next several years. And it should help the company build on its current success. Micron's sales spiked 56% to $13.6 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings surged 167% to $4.78 per share. Analysts' consensus estimates are for Micron's sales to more than double from 2025 and reach $97.6 billion in 2027.

With big tech companies like Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and others competing for the top spot in AI, Micron is well positioned to continue benefiting from their intense need for memory demand, giving Micron's stock the potential to outpace Alphabet shares this year.

Chris Neiger has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.