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Best Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Now October 2026

Kevin Voigt Updated on October 2, 2026

DELLALABNVDAITTER

Since Chat GPT was released to the public in November 2022, the value of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks has skyrocketed.

The best example is the story of a once relatively unknown chipmaker, NVIDIA. Valued at just over $10 billion in early 2015, the company had just crossed the threshold as a Large Cap stock. In 2025, NVIDIA became the first company to cross a market value of $5 trillion, leap-frogging tech titans like Apple and Microsoft thanks to the AI wave.

Many more companies are investing heavily into supporting AI goods and services. Last year alone, US private AI investment grew to $109.1 billion, according to Stanford University’s 2025 AI Index Report.

But is the AI moving too fast? Some industry leaders think so. “We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models,” Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, maker of Claude AI, wrote in an open letter on Sept. 12. Amodei and others worry the pace of AI growth may outrace human ability to understand and control output. “Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain.”

Below, we analyze and rank the best AI stocks to buy now based on our proprietary Zacks Indicator Score (to see a full list of AI stocks, visit our Artificial Intelligence thematic stock screen).

5 Best AI Stocks to Buy Today

Company (Ticker)	12 Week Price Change	Forward PE	Price	Proj EPS Growth (1 Year)	Projected Sales Growth (1Y)	Research
Dell Technologies (DELL)	20.33%	20.76	$562.52	153.34%	72.35%	Free Research Report: DELL
Astera Labs, Inc. (ALAB)	-14.62%	89.69	$350.33	115.97%	122.02%	Free Research Report: ALAB
NVIDIA (NVDA)	13.85%	24.97	$233.95	93.85%	88.04%	Free Research Report: NVDA
Gartner (IT)	45.30%	13.40	$184.80	9.26%	-1.41%	Free Research Report: IT
Teradyne (TER)	14.62%	45.66	$449.04	129.94%	58.85%	Free Research Report: TER

*Updated on October 2, 2026.

Dell Technologies (DELL)

$562.52 USD +20.78 (3.84%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for DELL

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.86% 2 Buy 18.19% 3 Hold 10.28% 4 Sell 5.82% 5 Strong Sell 3.28% S&P 500 11.59% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Strong Buy 1

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.86%
2	Buy	18.19%
3	Hold	10.28%
4	Sell	5.82%
5	Strong Sell	3.28%
S&P	500	11.59%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 11% (26 out of 247)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 25% (4 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

D Value C Growth C Momentum C VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: 0.00%

Market Cap:$357.89 B (Mega Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:153.50%
Last Quarter EPS Growth:46.00%
Last EPS Surprise:41.65%
Next EPS Report Date:Nov. 24, 2026

Our Take:

Reasons to Buy

Dell Technologies sells PCs, servers, storage and services, with AI exposure centered on AI-optimized servers and supporting infrastructure. Its $95 billion AI-server backlog and Vera Rubin shipments indicate durable demand, while storage, networking and services can drive revenue per AI project. Fiscal second-quarter 2027 revenue rose 58% year over year, supporting raised full-year guidance and showing that AI growth is translating into broader infrastructure strength.

Potential Risks

AI orders remain concentrated among large customers, shipment timing can be uneven, and memory inflation is raising component costs and working-capital commitments. A demand slowdown could pressure margins and cash conversion.

Forecast

The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) reflects favorable estimate revisions. Momentum Score A and VGM Score B support the near-term setup, while Value D and Growth C temper it. The chart shows a steep price advance with rising 2026-2028 consensus EPS. Recent earnings surprises are predominantly positive, implying estimates have continued to chase execution rather than fully anticipate it.

Astera Labs, Inc. (ALAB)

$350.33 USD -6.09 (-1.71%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for ALAB

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.86% 2 Buy 18.19% 3 Hold 10.28% 4 Sell 5.82% 5 Strong Sell 3.28% S&P 500 11.59% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Strong Buy 1

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.86%
2	Buy	18.19%
3	Hold	10.28%
4	Sell	5.82%
5	Strong Sell	3.28%
S&P	500	11.59%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 37% (92 out of 247)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 25% (4 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

F Value D Growth B Momentum F VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: 0.00%

Market Cap:$63.26 B (Large Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:115.76%
Last Quarter EPS Growth:8.89%
Last EPS Surprise:15.94%
Next EPS Report Date:Nov. 3, 2026

Our Take:

Reasons to Buy

Astera Labs supplies connectivity semiconductors and software for rack-scale AI systems, giving it direct exposure to data movement inside AI infrastructure. Scorpio X-Series is ramping, while the expanded Leo memory-controller family targets agentic-AI workloads needing larger, faster memory pools. These broaden Astera’s content opportunity as AI clusters grow more complex. Management expects Scorpio X-Series fabric switches to become its largest product family in the third quarter, underscoring customer adoption.

Potential Risks

Customer concentration, long qualification cycles and outsourced manufacturing can make results volatile. Competition from larger semiconductor vendors and a rich valuation leave little room for product-ramp delays or weaker hyperscaler spending.

Forecast

The Zacks Rank #1 signals favorable earnings revisions, but Value Score F, Growth D, Momentum D and VGM Score F show limited style support. The chart nevertheless shows a strong recent price surge, sharply rising 2026-2028 consensus estimates and predominantly positive surprises, reinforcing execution momentum.

NVIDIA (NVDA)

$233.95 USD +3.09 (1.34%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for NVDA

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.86% 2 Buy 18.19% 3 Hold 10.28% 4 Sell 5.82% 5 Strong Sell 3.28% S&P 500 11.59% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Strong Buy 1

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.86%
2	Buy	18.19%
3	Hold	10.28%
4	Sell	5.82%
5	Strong Sell	3.28%
S&P	500	11.59%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 11% (28 out of 247)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 25% (4 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

F Value C Growth B Momentum D VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: -0.37%

Market Cap:$5,424.19 B (Mega Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:93.92%
Last Quarter EPS Growth:18.72%
Last EPS Surprise:6.22%
Next EPS Report Date:Nov. 18, 2026

Our Take:

Reasons to Buy

NVIDIA supplies accelerated-computing hardware and software, making its GPUs, networking and platforms core infrastructure for generative and agentic AI. Demand for Blackwell remains strong, while Vera Rubin has entered production, with hyperscalers, AI clouds, and system makers preparing deployments. Expanding networking, CPUs and software increases NVIDIA’s revenue opportunity per AI factory, while CUDA supports customer retention. Latest-quarter Data Center revenue more than doubled year over year.

Potential Risks

Export controls effectively restrict NVIDIA from China’s data-center compute market, while customer concentration and rapid architecture transitions raise execution risk. Custom accelerators and rival chips could also pressure pricing or share.

Forecast

The Zacks Rank #1 signals favorable estimate revisions. Momentum Score B offers support, but Value F, Growth C, and VGM D point to valuation and style trade-offs. The chart shows shares near highs alongside rising 2026-2028 consensus EPS. Repeated positive surprises indicate earnings have outpaced estimates, supporting revisions but also elevating expectations.

Gartner (IT)

$184.80 USD -8.00 (-4.15%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for IT

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.86% 2 Buy 18.19% 3 Hold 10.28% 4 Sell 5.82% 5 Strong Sell 3.28% S&P 500 11.59% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Strong Buy 1

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.86%
2	Buy	18.19%
3	Hold	10.28%
4	Sell	5.82%
5	Strong Sell	3.28%
S&P	500	11.59%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 31% (77 out of 247)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Bottom 31% (11 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

A Value C Growth F Momentum B VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: -2.35%

Market Cap:$11.87 B (Large Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:9.26%
Last Quarter EPS Growth:31.63%
Last EPS Surprise:15.92%
Next EPS Report Date:Nov. 3, 2026

Our Take:

Reasons to Buy

Gartner sells subscription research, conferences and consulting, with AI exposure through enterprise AI advisory work and its proprietary AskGartner AI tool. Rising AI spending should increase client needs around vendor selection, governance and implementation, while AskGartner can improve access to Gartner’s research base. Second-quarter contract value grew modestly and adjusted EPS rose faster than revenue, showing that cost discipline and buybacks can support per-share growth in a softer demand environment.

Potential Risks

Weak technology-sales contract growth, consulting softness and tighter client budgets remain constraints. Generative AI also creates substitution risk if customers increasingly use lower-cost tools instead of paid research.

Forecast

The Zacks Rank #1 indicates favorable estimate revisions, while Value Score A is a strength; Growth C, Momentum F and VGM C are more mixed. The chart shows a partial price recovery from a deep decline. Consensus EPS for 2026-2027 appears restrained, while 2028 improves more clearly. Consistently positive surprises provide evidence of execution resilience.

Teradyne (TER)

$449.04 USD +33.25 (8.00%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for TER

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.86% 2 Buy 18.19% 3 Hold 10.28% 4 Sell 5.82% 5 Strong Sell 3.28% S&P 500 11.59% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Hold 3

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.86%
2	Buy	18.19%
3	Hold	10.28%
4	Sell	5.82%
5	Strong Sell	3.28%
S&P	500	11.59%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 25% (61 out of 247)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 25% (4 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

D Value A Growth F Momentum C VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: 0.00%

Market Cap:$62.28 B (Large Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:130.05%
Last Quarter EPS Growth:-3.52%
Last EPS Surprise:21.08%
Next EPS Report Date:Oct. 27, 2026

Our Take:

Reasons to Buy

Teradyne makes semiconductor test equipment and industrial robotics, with AI exposure through compute, high-bandwidth memory, and DRAM testing. Complex AI processors and HBM should raise test intensity, while new UltraFLEXplus instruments broaden its capability for high-power AI and data-center chips. Robotics is also rebuilding sequentially, offering another growth vector. Second-quarter semiconductor-test revenue more than doubled year over year, confirming AI demand is translating into sales.

Potential Risks

Semiconductor test remains cyclical and concentrated among a few customers, so spending pauses can quickly affect orders. Memory volatility and execution on new test platforms add risk.

Forecast

The Zacks Rank #1 signals favorable estimate revisions, while Growth Score B is constructive; Value D, Momentum D and VGM D are less supportive. The chart shows a sharp price breakout alongside upward 2026-2028 consensus EPS revisions. Positive recent surprises suggest earnings have outpaced expectations, although the rapid rerating raises sensitivity to moderation in AI test demand.

Methodology

The Zacks Rank is a proprietary stock-rating model that uses trends in earnings estimate revisions and earnings-per-share (EPS) surprises to classify stocks into five groups: #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy), #3 (Hold), #4 (Sell) and #5 (Strong Sell). The Zacks Rank is calculated through four primary factors related to earnings estimates: analysts' consensus on earnings estimate revisions, the magnitude of revision change, the upside potential and estimate surprise (or the degree in which earnings per share deviated from the previous quarter).

Zacks builds the data from 3,000 analysts at over 150 different brokerage firms. The average yearly gain for Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks is +23.80% per year from January, 1988, through Aug. 3, 2026.

Selections for Best AI Stocks are based on the current top ranking stocks based on Zacks Indicator Score. For this list, only companies that have average daily trading volumes of 100,000 shares or more and at least five analysts covering the stock were considered. All information is current as of market open, Sept. 28, 2026.

Guide to AI Stocks

The classification of “AI Stocks” is actually quite broad, ranging from companies that provide the essential hardware, companies that create the software to run Large Language Models, and a whole host of other industries and companies that are creating the Artificial Intelligence ecosystem. All stand to gain – or lose – depending on the fortunes of AI tech.

Types of AI Stocks

Hardware (GPUs, Chips) Stocks – NVIDIA, AMD, TSMC, Broadcom

The backbone of AI is raw computing power, and this comes primarily from specialized chips like graphics processing units (GPUs) and AI-focused accelerators. NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) is the undisputed leader in GPUs used for training large language models.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) is a rising competitor, with its MI300 series targeting data center AI workloads. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC - Free Report) doesn’t make its own chips but manufactures advanced nodes for nearly every big tech firm—including Apple, Nvidia, and AMD—making it critical to the global AI supply chain. Broadcom (AVGO - Free Report) has carved a niche in custom ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) for hyperscale cloud providers, which value tailored chips that reduce energy use and maximize throughput.

These companies benefit from structural demand for more computing capacity, but they also face geopolitical risks such as U.S.-China export restrictions and cyclical swings in semiconductor demand.

AI Cloud & Infrastructure – Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet

Building AI applications at scale requires massive computing infrastructure. Azure from Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) has become a leader by integrating OpenAI’s models directly into its cloud offerings, giving it a first-mover advantage in AI enterprise adoption. Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) is deploying its in-house Trainium and Inferentia chips, aiming to lower costs for AI workloads while retaining dominance in cloud services. Alphabet’s (GOOG - Free Report) Google Cloud is leaning heavily on its proprietary Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and Gemini AI models to differentiate itself.

Investing in these players is less about speculative growth and more about diversified tech giants whose AI investments bolster an already profitable core business.

Enterprise AI Software & Analytics – Palantir, C3.ai, Adobe, Snowflake

AI isn’t just about hardware; software platforms are where businesses actually apply machine intelligence. Palantir (PLTR - Free Report) powers decision-making for defense and large corporations with its Foundry and Gotham platforms. C3.ai (AI) focuses specifically on AI-driven applications across industries like energy, finance, and manufacturing. Adobe (ADBE - Free Report) has integrated AI across its creative suite (e.g., Firefly in Photoshop), while Snowflake (SNOW - Free Report) has added AI-enabled analytics to its cloud data warehousing business.

These stocks tend to have higher growth potential but also higher risk, as adoption timelines and customer budgets can vary widely.

Cybersecurity AI – CrowdStrike

The rise of AI also heightens cyber risks. CrowdStrike (CRWD - Free Report) leads in AI-powered threat detection, using machine learning to flag suspicious behavior across millions of endpoints in real time. With ransomware and nation-state attacks increasing, demand for AI-driven security remains strong. Cybersecurity names often benefit from recurring revenue models, which may help smooth out volatility compared to hardware peers.

Benefits and Risks of AI Stocks

Benefits:

Secular Growth: AI adoption is still in early innings, with enterprise use cases expanding rapidly.
Diversified Exposure: Investors can target infrastructure, software, or services depending on risk tolerance.
First-Mover Advantage: Leaders like NVIDIA and Microsoft are shaping the ecosystem, creating strong economic moats.

Risks:

Valuations: Many AI leaders are priced for perfection, leaving little margin of safety.
Hype Cycle: Investor enthusiasm may outrun near-term fundamentals, creating bubble risk.
Regulation: Governments are exploring AI rules around privacy, bias, and national security, which could reshape business models.
Competition: Barriers to entry are high, but fast innovation means today’s leader can quickly lose ground.

How to Choose AI Stocks

When evaluating AI stocks, consider:

Revenue Mix: How much of the company’s growth is truly driven by AI vs. traditional segments?
Moat & Differentiation: Does the company control unique technology (like NVIDIA’s CUDA software ecosystem)?
Customer Adoption: Look for companies with recurring contracts or wide adoption across industries.
Financial Health: Strong balance sheets matter in a capital-intensive industry.
Valuation Metrics: Compare price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, and forward growth projections to industry peers.

How to Invest in AI Stocks

There are multiple entry points depending on your goals:

Direct Stock Picks: Best if you want concentrated exposure to specific company leaders or disruptors.
AI Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs): ETFs such as Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) or iShares Robotics and AI ETF (IRBO) provide diversification by investing in a broad range of companies in the AI space.
Broad Tech ETFs: Like Invesco QQQ (QQQ) or Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT), offering AI exposure as part of a bigger tech basket.
Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA): A strategy to smooth price volatility by buying at regular intervals AI stocks or funds.
Long-Term Holds: Since AI is a multi-decade trend, investors who can weather short-term swings may see the best results.

AI Stocks Alternatives

If you want exposure to AI without betting on a single stock:

ETFs: Offer diversification and reduce single-company risk.
Private Markets: Startups in robotics, generative AI, and enterprise AI could offer upside, though access is limited to accredited investors, which face income or licensing limitations (such as a net worth of $1 million, excluding primary residence, plus a high annual income – $300,000 if married.
Picks-and-Shovels Plays: Companies supplying infrastructure, like power management (e.g., Eaton) or data center REITs (e.g., Equinix), benefit indirectly from AI growth.

Strategies for AI Stocks Moving Forward

Barbell Approach: Combine stable mega-caps (Microsoft, Nvidia) with speculative names (Quantum Computing Inc., Credo) for balanced exposure.
Rebalancing: Trim positions after strong rallies to lock in gains and redeploy into underweighted sectors.
Monitor Earnings: Focus on whether AI adoption translates into sustainable revenue growth.
Look Beyond the U.S.: Consider emerging AI leaders in Europe and Asia for diversification.
Stay Agile: AI is evolving rapidly; reassess holdings every quarter as new winners emerge.

Frequently Asked Questions About AI Stocks

Are AI stocks overvalued?

Many AI leaders are priced at steep multiples compared to the broader market. That doesn’t mean all are bubbles, but investors should separate hype from earnings-driven growth.

What is the forecast for AI stocks?

Most analysts expect AI demand to expand through at least the next decade, with data center spending, AI-as-a-service, and AI-enabled enterprise tools driving revenue.