Got $3,000? 3 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Long Term

Spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is not expected to slow down anytime soon, much less in 2026. AI hyperscalers have all informed investors that they expect data center spending to increase in 2026. As a result, several companies currently look promising.

I think these three stocks are great places to invest $1,000 each, and investors should act quickly before the market decides to give these stocks a higher premium than they currently enjoy.

1.Nvidia

Nvidia (NVDA 0.29%) has topped almost every AI investment list since 2023 for good reason: it’s well-positioned to capture huge growth. Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) are the primary computing units used to train and run AI models, and its rise to becoming the world’s largest company by market capitalization can be directly linked to the development of generative AI.

Although Nvidia has been an extremely successful investment over the past few years, I think 2026 will be even better than 2025. Nvidia enters the year with a lower valuation than 2025 at this point. Last year, Nvidia shares traded at 50 times forward earnings – a steep price. Right now, at 40 times forward earnings, I think Nvidia remains a little expensive, but the premium is well worth the growth it generates.

PE NVDA ratio (forward) data by Y Charts

For fiscal 2027 (ending January 2027), Wall Street analysts expect revenue growth of 50%. This is a strong performance after several good results the previous year, and it shows that AI spending is not slowing down or going anywhere.

As a result, Nvidia will continue to be a leading investment option in the world of AI, and I believe any growth investor should have some exposure to Nvidia stock.

2. AMD

AMD (AMD +1.79%) hasn’t had nearly the same success as Nvidia in the AI ​​space. It has struggled to compete with Nvidia’s ecosystem, although there are signs of improvement. Its control software, ROCm, has always been considered an inferior version of Nvidia’s software, CUDA. However, AMD reported that ROCm downloads increased tenfold year-over-year in November 2025, demonstrating that AMD’s software is starting to become more popular. This could indicate that AI companies are researching how AMD products work and could begin to capture some of Nvidia’s emerging market share.

Management believes it can do just that and has asked investors to expect a 60% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from its data center business through 2030. This is a huge acceleration from where AMD has been in recent years, and if management can meet these expectations, AMD is in good shape to soar throughout 2026.

3. Broadcom

Broadcom (AVGO +2.53%) doesn’t approach the world of AI computing in the same way that AMD or Nvidia do. These two both offer GPUs, which excel in large computing environments. However, most AI workloads are quite established and could use some optimization. This is the area that Broadcom is pursuing, partnering with AI hyperscalers to design custom AI chips, known as ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits). These computing devices are designed with an end workload in mind, so they are much more optimized than a GPU. This can lead to better performance at a lower price, all at the expense of flexibility.

Broadcom’s products won’t entirely replace GPUs, but they will complement them, and we’re already seeing some of the effects of the popularity of these cheaper alternatives to Broadcom’s business. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 (ending November 2), its AI semiconductor revenue increased 74% year-over-year to $6.5 billion. For the first quarter, the company expects that revenue to double year over year to $8.2 billion.

This is massive growth and shows how Broadcom can benefit from these custom devices in the future. Broadcom is working with several other hyperscalers to design their own chips, so this growth is just the beginning. I think Broadcom is a great investment to make alongside Nvidia and AMD, and these three stocks are expected to significantly outperform the market over the next five years due to the massive spending on AI.