Many growth investors have shifted their focus to artificial intelligence (AI) stocks as they seek to outperform key benchmarks like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Despite all of the talk about this innovative technology, it is still in its early innings. Agentic AI is just starting to gain traction among consumers and businesses, and the possibilities of AI extend well beyond chatbots and ChatGPT.
Investors still have time to ride this megatrend, and these three AI stocks look poised to deliver gains for patient investors.
Image source: Getty Images.
The bullish thesis hasn't changed much over the past few months. Iren (IREN 0.78%) has been loading up on gigawatts and has more than doubled its total number of gigawatts from 2.9 to 5.8 year to date.
The gigawatt buildup lets Iren service more tech giants who need AI compute. It recently signed a five-year deal with Nvidia (NVDA 1.42%) that comes to $3.4 billion for 60 megawatts. It represents an average annual value of $11.3 million per megawatt.
Iren has built its AI data center pipeline faster than competitors like Nebius (NBIS 6.11%) and Cipher Mining (CIFR +1.01%). However, those two companies have so far run laps around Iren in terms of securing deals with hyperscaler tenants. Iren is borrowing billions of dollars to buy Nvidia chips and build AI data centers. It's expecting a big return on investment from those efforts that should start to materialize soon.
While Nebius and Cipher Mining are making more deals now, Iren has a higher ceiling, especially since it hasn't rallied like those two stocks year to date. Still, Iren raised its projected annualized run rate revenue from $3.7 billion to $4.4 billion, so it should see meaningful growth soon.
It's hard to go wrong with Alphabet (GOOG 2.15%) (GOOGL 1.73%). The company established itself as the search engine leader more than 20 years ago and turned that visibility into an advertising empire.
Google and YouTube are high-margin parts of Alphabet that contributed to 22% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 2026. Critically, these high-margin businesses have helped Alphabet explore new industries, even if its ventures were initially unprofitable. Google Cloud is a major testament to this, since it wasn't profitable for more than a decade. That same segment is now a major growth driver that was up by 63% year over year in Q1.
Google Cloud's revenue has accelerated significantly due to AI enterprise demand. It made up almost 20% of Alphabet's total business and was a key catalyst for Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai's remark on AI investments "lighting up every part of the business."
Alphabet's vast capital and high profits give it the resources to scale self-driving vehicle brand Waymo and AI model Gemini. If Alphabet wants to capitalize on a new AI opportunity, it is well positioned to do so.
Broadcom (AVGO 3.39%) specializes in customized AI chips. While Nvidia's chips perform general tasks, Broadcom's chips are custom-made for tech giants.
Demand has swelled for these chips, based on Broadcom delivering 48% year-over-year revenue growth in its fiscal 2026 second quarter. Its AI-related revenue increased by 143% year over year and made up almost half of the company's entire sales. That suggests AI-related semiconductors will make up a larger portion of future sales and have a stronger influence on upcoming revenue growth rates.
It's not just top-line growth that is exciting investors. Net income almost doubled year over year, resulting in a 42% net profit margin in the quarter. Revenue and earnings should continue to go up as demand for AI chips soars, especially as Broadcom continues to secure big wins.
The AI chip maker recently unveiled a custom AI chip that it designed for OpenAI. The chip, named Jalapeño, is an LLM-optimized inference chip. An OpenAI press release found in early testing that this chip "delivers performance per watt substantially better than current state-of-the-art."
If Broadcom can continue to make tech companies happy, the orders will continue to accumulate and potentially move Broadcom stock back to an all-time high.
Marc Guberti has positions in Broadcom, Cipher Mining, and Iren. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Broadcom, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.
Invest better with The Motley Fool. Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool's premium services.
Making the world smarter, happier, and richer.
© 1995 – 2026 The Motley Fool. All rights reserved.
Market data powered by Xignite and Polygon.io.
About The Motley Fool
Our Services
Around the Globe
Free Tools
Affiliates & Friends
Growth investors are prioritizing AI stocks for market-beating returns, and it's no wonder why that's the case.