3 Under-the-Radar Tech Stocks That Could Outperform the Nasdaq in 2026

Many big tech stocks have performed well this year, with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) being the only "Magnificent Seven" stocks down during the past year. Those seven stocks heavily influence the Nasdaq Composite, but finding under-the-radar tech stocks can produce much higher returns.

The three stocks on this list aren't brand names, and most investors aren't paying much attention to them. However, these same growth stocks have outperformed the Nasdaq Composite this year and look poised to continue that trend.

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1. Iren

Iren (NASDAQ: IREN) is a neocloud provider that produces artificial intelligence (AI) data centers for hyperscalers. Tech companies need AI data centers and energy to scale their AI ambitions, and IREN checks off both boxes. That value proposition helped Iren land a five-year deal with Microsoft for $9.7 billion in exchange for 200 megawatts of capacity.

Investors had to wait a few months for another deal, but people accumulated Iren shares shortly after the company announced a deal with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) for $3.4 billion over five years. This deal includes access to 60 megawatts. Iren recently bought software company Mirantis to help with the deal. This software acquisition should attract more customers and help Iren secure higher margins in the long run.

Megawatts are the name of the game, and since Iren has a 5-gigawatt pipeline, it can generate substantial annual recurring revenue once its sites are energized and ready for business. The company anticipates $3.7 billion in contracted annual recurring revenue by the end of the year, showing that some of the momentum is taking place right now.

Iren recently penetrated European markets with a new AI data center and has also set its sights on the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

2. MaxLinear

MaxLinear (NASDAQ: MXL) provides optical interconnect solutions for AI infrastructure. The company's technology helps AI chips communicate with each other and move data seamlessly. It's a better solution than traditional copper wires, which are limited in how much data they can transfer. Data transfer speed is also enhanced with optical interconnects over copper wires.

This technological advantage is fueling growth for MaxLinear. Its first-quarter results hint at the arrival of sequential growth that helped Micron (NASDAQ: MU) and Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) trounce the stock market. I saw this pattern in Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ: SIMO) before it reported Q1 earnings. That stock has tripled year to date.

MaxLinear is exhibiting the same patterns. Although the company's 43% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 was impressive, that wasn't the most important number. Its infrastructure segment, which is mostly optical interconnects, surged 35% sequentially and jumped 136% year over year.

MaxLinear Chief Executive Officer Kishore Seendripu viewed these results as "the start of a multi-year growth phase" and said that infrastructure has become its "largest end market." He wrapped up his commentary by saying that MaxLinear is positioned for profitability in 2026 and beyond.

That's the same type of language I have heard from multiple AI companies before their shares took off a few months later, including Silicon Motion Technology. MaxLinear's Q2 guidance even offers optimism in this regard, with revenue projected to be $165 million at the midpoint. That's 20% sequential growth if MaxLinear sees its projection through.

MaxLinear is just starting to deliver high sequential growth and it's a key part of the opening the AI bottleneck. It would not shock me if the company exceeds the high end of its forecast in Q2.

3. Innodata

Innodata (NASDAQ: INOD) is a data engineering company that collects and organizes all the data used to train AI models. ChatGPT was the first mainstream AI model in 2022, but several hyperscalers have since released their own AI models.

Innodata works with multiple big tech companies and announced in its Q1 earnings press release that it had secured a new deal with another tech giant. Although the customer wasn't indentified, Innodata said that it could generate as much as $51 million in revenue this year, compared with no revenue from this same customer just one year ago.

That addition is a big deal since Innodata earned $90.1 million in Q1, which was up by 54% year over year. If you spread the $51 million contract over four quarters, it comes to $12.75 million per quarter. Innodata used this contract and its existing customer relationships to raise its forecast. The company now expects 40% revenue growth in 2026.

Innodata's growth is accelerating while diversifying its customer base. The company's CEO, Jack Abuhoff, hinted at this in the Q1 press release.

"For full year 2026, we expect our largest customer to represent a smaller percentage of total revenue even though we expect our absolute dollar revenue with that customer to increase. In Q1, revenue from our other Big Tech customers, in the aggregate, grew 453% year-over-year," Abuhoff said.

Marc Guberti has positions in Iren and Silicon Motion Technology. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.