The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Everyone's Ignoring That Could Soar in 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have collectively defied fears of a bubble this year and continued growing, regardless of what anyone in the financial media has to say about it.

But some AI stocks have been ignored even as most of them seem to be on an unbreakable bull run. Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is one such company. It's down almost 19% year to date, but I think it's set for a reversal this summer and some serious growth through the end of 2026.

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Not all who wander are lost

Samsara is a Sanskrit word that means "wandering." It's a fitting name for what the company helps its customers to do: namely, optimize their wandering.

The company offers hardware and software suites designed to track and optimize a business or government's vehicle fleet.

It allows the customer to track and manage hundreds or even thousands of vehicles and keep them up to date on maintenance, sell underutilized vehicles, and optimize routes and fuel consumption.

With some AI programs, it can be difficult to actually quantify how they can improve a business's or government's operations. Samsara does not have that problem, and, in fact, it's the best way to illustrate what the company's products can do.

In Kansas, the Garden City Public School district transports 2,000 students to school daily across 50 routes. Using Samsara, the district was able to cut maintenance costs on its school bus fleet by 66%, which amounts to $150,000 in annual savings.

Coach USA, a major bus company in the U.S. and Canada, uses its fleet of 1,000 buses to transport 100,000 passengers daily. The company equipped its fleet with Samsara's AI multicam and dashcams to give its bus drivers 360-degree visibility around their vehicles. That allowed the company to reduce its preventable accidents by 92% and cut claim costs by 75%.

Despite the obvious and easily quantifiable difference Samsara makes for its customers, the stock doesn't get a lot of attention.

It's likely one of the main reasons for that is that the company is not profitable yet. Per its full fiscal 2026 results, it operates a -0.56% net profit margin. However, the company has moved closer and closer to profitability for years.

In 2024, it ran a -30.59% net margin, which it more than halved to -12.4% for 2025. Now, with its current margin, I think it's likely Samsara achieves profitability this year, maybe even as soon as the end of Q2 (when it will report its Q1 fiscal 2027 results).

Aside from profitability, its other metrics look good. It has a very healthy balance sheet with a total debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, and for its full year 2026, it recorded a 30% increase in its annual recurring revenue (ARR). The company's overall revenue has been growing steadily for years and was up 29.57% for Samsara's fiscal 2026.

When this company achieves profitability, I anticipate its shares will pop. That makes now a decent time to get in. Consider it if you're looking for an under-the-radar AI play.

James Hires has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Samsara. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.