Key Points

After a short-lived rotation into value stocks, it didn’t take long for artificial intelligence (AI) stocks to regain their momentum. Ultimately, this makes sense. AI is shaping up to be one of the most impactful technological innovations of our time, and it still appears to be in the very early innings.

Top tech companies are set to spend massively on AI infrastructure this year, with growth capital expenditure (capex) from five of the largest hyperscalers (owners of large data centers) alone set to exceed $700 billion. Meanwhile, don’t expect this spending to slow down, as these companies view this as an important race they cannot afford to lose.

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One of the best ways to invest in AI this year is finding companies that are benefiting from long-term trends while reaping the benefits of near-term bottlenecks. Against that backdrop, let’s look at two unstoppable AI stocks to buy for 2026.

AMD: The CPU leader

An early laggard in the AI race, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) is set to come on strongly this year due to the rise of agentic AI and inference. The company has established itself as a leader in the data center central processing unit (CPU) market, and that market is set to explode.

Rival Intel recently noted that the ratio of graphics processing units (GPUs) to CPUs was quickly tightening. For AI model training, the ratio was 8-to-1, but for inference, it shrinks to 4-to-1, and for agentic AI, it could move to 1-to-1, or even start to favor CPUs. Right now, a lack of high-performance CPUs is becoming one of the biggest AI infrastructure bottlenecks, which is also lifting prices and will be a gross margin driver for the company. Meanwhile, AMD is looking to remain at the forefront of data center CPU technology by introducing high-core CPUs specifically designed for use with agentic AI.

At the same time, the company is also well positioned with its GPUs to take some share in the inference market. Its new chips use a chiplet design that packs more high-bandwidth memory (HBM) onto its chips, making them ideal for inference. It also has signed GPU deals with OpenAI and Meta Platforms that should help drive growth this year and beyond.

Between its CPU and GPU opportunities, this is a top stock to own for 2026.

Image source: Getty Images.

Micron: A memory winner

One of the other big bottlenecks in AI infrastructure right now is with memory, particularly HBM, which is a high-end form of DRAM (dynamic random access memory). Meanwhile, the shortage of HBM is leading to supply demand imbalances throughout the entire DRAM supply chain, leading to surging prices.

To perform optimally, GPUs and other AI chips need to be packaged with HBM to quickly offload and retrieve data. As such, as AI accelerators continue to grow, so does the need for more HBM, which is already in short supply. To make things even more complicated, HBM can require more than 3 times the wafer capacity of ordinary DRAM, making it more difficult to scale up.

One of the companies benefiting from these current industry dynamics is Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU). It is one of the big three DRAM makers, along with its Korean counterparts Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The supply-demand environment in the DRAM market has led its revenue to skyrocket and its gross margin to balloon.

The memory market has historically been highly cyclical, with large boom-and-bust cycles. However, the DRAM market now has a powerful headwind behind it with the rise of AI, which shows no end in sight. Meanwhile, Micron and its competitors are smartly starting to sign long-term deals (three to five years) to lock in minimum HBM commitments, which should also help reduce some of the cyclicality of this business.

With a forward P/E of just 5 times fiscal 2027 estimates, the stock has plenty of upside potential this year and beyond.

Should you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices right now?

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Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Advanced Micro Devices and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, Meta Platforms, and Micron Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.