2 Top AI Stocks to Buy in 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) is still driving market gains, and the eight highest-value stocks on the market are all AI-related companies. All of them are upgrading their platforms and technology to reflect progress in AI, and it looks like there are still massive ongoing opportunities.

So if you're looking for ways to cash in on the trend and buy stocks that have solid, long-term potential, I recommend two in particular: Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM). Here's why.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Alphabet

Alphabet is the parent company of the better-known Google, but in addition to the world's top search engine, Alphabet owns a portfolio of businesses, including Android and YouTube. It has a near-monopoly in several spaces, giving it a dominant position in areas everyone is using, as well as the diversification to make it a low-risk play.

It's using AI in several ways, starting with the AI summaries you see on top of your Google searches. Investors had been worried at a certain point that Google would lose traffic to AI large-language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, but Google has flipped the script by incorporating summaries from its own LLMs onto its search pages. AI mode now has 75 million active daily users. It also offers the LLMs, under the Gemini name, to its massive advertising base as well as to individuals, and it has 650 million monthly active users.

Revenue growth accelerated in the 2025 third quarter to 16%, and management said that AI revenue was a key growth driver. Alphabet said that it would up its capital expenditure (capex) spend in 2026 from about $92 billion in 2025. It's also developing its own semiconductors called TPUs, or tensor processing units, which are fielding tremendous demand.

But all of its businesses are thriving, including cloud, which had a $155 billion backlog in the third quarter, up 46% from last year, and advertising revenue, which increased 15%. There's a lot more to expect from Alphabet this year and in the future.

3. Taiwan Semiconductor

Taiwan Semiconductor provides key components for AI development as the fabricator of AI chips. It works with companies like Nvidia and Alphabet, and AI is the driving force behind its recent incredible performance. High-performance computing (HPC) revenue, which includes AI, represented 58% of total revenue in 2025, and it increased 48% over the previous year. Total revenue increased 26%, and management is guiding for a compound annual growth rate of at least 25% through 2029.

Like its clients, the company is investing in growing its business to meet rising demand. Management noted that historically, when it builds out, that has preceded a period of increasing opportunities.

Taiwan Semiconductor also recently opened its first facilities in the U.S., and it said it would open 12 plants in its Arizona location in the coming years. That takes the edge off tariffs and brings the company closer geographically to many of its top clients.

This makes it an ideal buy for 2026, but since it works with technology in many industries, it's less prone to fads or trends and has robust long-term opportunities.

Jennifer Saibil has positions in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.