3 Dividend-Paying AI Stocks for 2026

Most investors considering artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are looking for growth rather than income. Nevertheless, people looking for a new AI holding are coming across a surprising number of solid dividend payers. Here's a closer look at three of these names that can handle this double duty quite nicely.

Qualcomm

Yes, Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) is in the artificial intelligence business. While it's not nearly the AI hardware powerhouse that Nvidia or Broadcom are, Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon mobile processors are purpose-built to make smartphones and laptops stand-alone, AI-capable devices. Interest has been tepid. A survey performed by CNET in the middle of last year indicates only 11% of smartphone owners living in the United States are upgrading their devices to gain access to new AI features, down from 2024's figure of 18%.

Give it time, though, just as you should give time to Qualcomm's move into the data center processor space with Snapdragon's power-efficient architecture. It won't easily push its way onto Nvidia's turf, but the industry is always looking for ways to lower its costs.

And this is no minor initiative. Continued penetration of the nascent mobile AI processor market, along with its move into the AI data center business, puts Qualcomm into an AI processor industry that Precedence Research expects to grow an average of more than 26% per year through 2034.

This tailwind should extend Qualcomm's near streak of 23 consecutive years of dividend growth. (Although it didn't stop paying it then, the company didn't raise its dividend payment in 2019.) Newcomers will be plugging into a trailing dividend yield of 2.9%.

Oracle

It's been a miserable past few months for Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) shareholders. The stock's now down more than 50% from its September peak.

Some of that sell-off is the response to the company's plan to spend $50 billion on capital expenditures this year, versus expected revenue of $67 billion. Much of this weakness, however, just reflects the malaise that most artificial intelligence stocks have suffered of late, now that once-euphoric investors are starting to question the actual marketable value of AI solutions.

There's an ultimate upside to this pullback, though. That is, it's pumped Oracle stock's forward-looking dividend yield up to 1.4%. That's not huge. It's significant by technology stock standards though, and even more significant given that the company's quarterly per-share dividend payment has grown more than 130% over the course of the past 10 years.

Given the company's expectation that its annual top line will grow from $67 billion this fiscal year to $225 billion by fiscal 2030 -- with most of that growth being driven by its AI cloud infrastructure business -- the stock's previous red-hot dividend growth streak should remain similarly hot for the foreseeable future.

Image source: Getty Images.

Yes, Oracle is spending a fortune on infrastructure this year, with no guarantee it will achieve an adequate return on its investment -- particularly if the appeal of AI continues to lose its luster; it's not the panacea it was once believed to be.

Have some faith in the industry's designers and developers, though. Over time, they'll figure out how to best utilize its potential, and get more meaningful performance out of its underlying platforms.

Black Hills

Last but not least, add Black Hills (NYSE: BKH) to your list of dividend stocks that have moved into the spotlight specifically because of the advent of artificial intelligence. It's a utility name, like Constellation Energy and Vistra, both of which have taken center stage because they're positioned to meet the rapidly growing electricity demand of AI data centers.

Black Hills is different in one key respect, though. That is, this stock hasn't soared -- at least not yet – in anticipation of uncharacteristically strong growth due to the rapid proliferation of data centers. This ultimately means its yield is still surprisingly high, currently near 4% on a forward-looking basis.

What gives? Much of this lack of investor interest can be chalked up to a sheer lack of awareness. With a market value of only a little over $5 billion, this small-cap name just doesn't get much attention.

Don't be deterred by its small size, though. This company's got what it needs to be a reliable dividend stock for a somewhat unusual reason: its location. Its strong regional presence in Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, and a handful of surrounding states means it's ideally positioned geographically speaking.

The area has access to plenty of fiber-optic connectivity, energy sources, and relatively cool ambient air that makes the massive amount of heat artificial intelligence data centers produce not quite so much of a problem. That's why so many data center owners and operators are now choosing to establish sites served by Black Hills. This should certainly help the company extend its 56-year streak of uninterrupted annual dividend increases.

Just a heads-up here -- Black Hills and rival utility name NorthWestern Energy are going to be merging soon. This won't change the investment thesis, except perhaps to improve it by creating more scale, which tends to improve fiscal efficiency.

James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Constellation Energy, Nvidia, Oracle, and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.