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NVIDIA & 2 Profitable AI Stocks to Buy Now for Big 2026 Gains

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Key Takeaways

  • NVIDIA posts a 12-month net profit margin of 53%, highlighting strong AI-driven profitability.
  • MU delivers a 22.9% net profit margin, supported by higher-than-industry sales and income growth.
  • VRT records a 10.7% net profit margin as demand for digital infrastructure boosts performance.

As the new year approaches, investors should look for companies that generate strong returns after all operating and non-operating expenses are paid. Therefore, it’s better to invest in a profitable business rather than one that is losing money. Here, we utilize the concept of accounting ratios to assess a company’s profitability. Among various profitability ratios, we choose the most effective and widely used metric to determine a firm’s bottom-line performance. 

With the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), we’ve also narrowed our search to strong AI-focused companies positioned for long-term growth. It’s worth noting that the global AI market is projected to surge from $371.71 billion in 2025 to $2,407.02 billion by 2032, suggesting a robust CAGR of 30.6%, according to MarketsandMarkets.

To that end, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) , Micron Technology, Inc. (MU - Free Report) and Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT - Free Report) have been selected as top AI picks for next year due to their high net income ratios. 

Net Income Ratio Explained

The net income ratio gives us the exact profitability level of a company. It reflects the percentage of net income to total sales revenues. Using the net income ratio, one can determine a firm’s effectiveness in meeting operating and non-operating expenses from revenues. A higher net income ratio usually implies a company’s ability to generate ample revenues and successfully manage all business functions. 

Screening Parameters Using Research Wizard: 

The net income ratio is not the only indicator of future winners. So, we have added a few more criteria to arrive at a winning strategy. 

Zacks Rank Equal to #1: Whether the market is good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

Trailing 12-Month Sales and Net Income Growth Higher than X Industry: Stocks that have witnessed higher-than-industry sales and net income growth in the past 12 months are positioned to perform well. 

Trailing 12-Month Net Income Ratio Higher than X Industry: A high net income ratio indicates a company’s solid profitability. 

Percentage Rating Strong Buy greater than 70: This indicates that 70% of the current broker recommendations for the stock are Strong Buy. 

These few parameters have narrowed the universe of more than 7,685 stocks to only 11. 

Here are three of the 11 stocks that qualified for the screening: 

NVIDIA

NVIDIA is a computing infrastructure company that provides graphics, compute, and networking solutions worldwide. The 12-month net profit margin of NVDA is 53% (read more: SoundHound Vs. NVIDIA: Which AI Stock Should You Buy Before 2026?). 

Micron

Micron designs, manufactures, and sells memory and storage products across the United States, Asia and other global markets. The 12-month net profit margin of MU is 22.9% (read more: 2 Fast-Growing AI Stocks That Could Become the Next NVIDIA).

Vertiv

Vertiv provides critical digital infrastructure and lifecycle services for data centers, communication networks, and industrial environments worldwide. The 12-month net profit margin of VRT is 10.7%.  

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge. 

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out. 

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. 

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance


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