10 Top-Performing US Stocks to Watch in 2026

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You can find some of the best companies to own in this list. We selected these ten stocks based on key 2026 themes like AI growth and biotech innovation. This list blends high-growth opportunities with top value stocks. It helps you decide what to buy or hold. You should watch each stock in USA carefully before you buy or hold it.

The 10 Stocks to Watch:

1. NVIDIA (NVDA)
2. Microsoft (MSFT)
3. AMD (AMD)
4. Eli Lilly (LLY)
5. Amazon (AMZN)
6. Meta Platforms (META)
7. JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
8. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)
9. MercadoLibre (MELI)
10. Broadcom (AVGO)

Key Takeaways

• NVIDIA and Microsoft lead in AI, with NVIDIA making powerful chips and Microsoft putting AI into its software.
• AMD is a strong challenger in AI chips, growing its share in data centers and offering diverse products.
• Eli Lilly is a top biotech company, leading in new diabetes and weight-loss medicines, and has a strong drug pipeline.
• Amazon uses its cloud service, AWS, to grow with AI demand and is improving its online shopping profits.
• JPMorgan Chase is a stable bank that benefits from market changes and grows its wealth management business.

1. NVIDIA (NVDA): The AI Chip Titan

NVIDIA stands as a central figure in the artificial intelligence revolution. You can see its influence across nearly every industry adopting AI. The company’s graphics processing units (GPUs) are the essential hardware powering complex AI models and massive data centers.

Dominating AI and Data Centers

NVIDIA’s market position is exceptionally strong. The company captured a staggering 92% market share for data center GPUs in 2024. This dominance translated into record annual revenue exceeding $115 billion. Its leadership is not just about powerful chips like the Hopper and Blackwell series. It also comes from a vast ecosystem that includes its DGX systems and deep partnerships with major cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft, and Google. This integrated approach makes NVIDIA the default choice for AI infrastructure.

Catalyst: Next-Gen Architecture

Looking toward 2026, you should watch the company’s relentless innovation cycle. The Blackwell platform already shows massive performance leaps.

• It delivers 10 times the throughput per megawatt compared to the previous generation.
• The Blackwell Ultra architecture set new records on the MLPerf Inference v5.1 benchmark.

The next major catalyst is the “Rubin” architecture, slated for a 2026 release. This rapid pace of innovation keeps competitors at bay.

My prediction is that the chipmaker will fulfill its promise of annual releases, bringing Rubin to market next year, and I say this because Rubin chips are on track to reach that goal. The company just announced that it has passed the “tape out” phase – when the final chip design is sent to a manufacturer for actual production.

Expanding Software Ecosystem

NVIDIA’s greatest long-term advantage may be its CUDA software platform. CUDA is a programming model that allows developers to use NVIDIA GPUs for general-purpose processing. Millions of developers have built applications on this platform. This creates a powerful competitive moat, as switching to a competitor would require rewriting years of code. This ecosystem makes it difficult for rivals to gain traction, giving you a compelling reason to evaluate whether to buy or hold the stock for the long term.

2. Microsoft (MSFT): The Enterprise AI Leader

While NVIDIA builds the engines for AI, Microsoft creates the applications that bring AI directly to businesses and consumers. You can see the company’s strategy clearly. It infuses artificial intelligence into its entire product ecosystem, positioning itself as the essential software partner for the modern workplace.

AI Monetization via Copilot

Microsoft’s primary tool for turning AI into revenue is Copilot. This AI assistant is deeply integrated into the software millions of people use daily. You can find it embedded within Windows and the Microsoft 365 suite, which includes Word, Excel, and Teams. This strategy allows Microsoft to directly charge for AI-powered features.

Copilot acts as a productivity multiplier for users. It helps you:

• Summarize long email threads and documents.
• Generate text, code, and presentation outlines.
• Analyze data and create charts in Excel.

This direct monetization path gives the company a clear and immediate return on its significant AI investments.

Azure’s Cloud Growth Engine

The demand for AI services directly fuels the growth of Microsoft’s cloud platform, Azure. Companies need massive computing power to train and run AI models, and Azure provides the necessary infrastructure. Projections show this trend continuing. Microsoft Azure is projected to hold approximately 25% of the global cloud market share by 2026. This represents an increase from its estimated 20% share in Q2 2025, driven by its strong enterprise relationships and AI capabilities.

Strong Productivity Suite Moat

Microsoft’s greatest strength is its powerful competitive moat. The company’s Windows operating system and Microsoft 365 productivity suite are standard in the corporate world. This massive, built-in user base gives Microsoft an unparalleled advantage. It can roll out new AI features like Copilot to a captive audience, making it difficult for competitors to gain a foothold. This durable advantage is a key factor you should consider when deciding whether to buy or hold the stock for the long term.

3. AMD: The AI Challenger

While NVIDIA dominates the AI space, you should not overlook its primary competitor, AMD. The company has successfully carved out a position as a formidable challenger, offering powerful alternatives in the high-stakes data center market.

Gaining Data Center Market Share

AMD has made impressive strides in the data center. The company is a leader in the server CPU market, capturing approximately 40% market share and aiming for over 50%. This success provides a strong foundation and crucial relationships with major cloud providers. Now, you can see AMD applying this strategy to the AI accelerator market. While it remains a distant second to NVIDIA, the company has a clear goal: to secure a double-digit share of the AI data center chip market, representing a significant growth opportunity.

Catalyst: MI Series Instinct Accelerators

AMD’s key to unlocking AI growth is its Instinct™ accelerator lineup. The company is executing a rapid, multi-year roadmap to challenge its competition on performance and efficiency. You can track its progress through its planned releases.

Major tech giants are already adopting AMD’s current MI300X accelerators, including Microsoft Azure, Meta, and Dell. This growing ecosystem signals market confidence in AMD’s capabilities.

Diversified Chip Portfolio

AMD’s strength extends beyond AI. You benefit from its diversified business, which includes leading positions in CPUs for personal computers and semi-custom chips for gaming consoles like the PlayStation and Xbox. This broad portfolio provides revenue stability, insulating the company from the volatility of a single market segment. This diversification makes a compelling case for you to evaluate whether to buy the stock for its growth potential or hold it for its balanced market position.

4. Eli Lilly (LLY): A Biotech Powerhouse

Eli Lilly has transformed into a dominant force in the biotechnology sector. You can see its success driven by a new class of blockbuster drugs. The company’s strategic focus on metabolic diseases and neuroscience positions it for significant growth leading into 2026.

Leadership in GLP-1 Medications

Eli Lilly is a leader in the rapidly expanding market for GLP-1 medications, used for treating diabetes and obesity. You can find immense growth potential in this area. The market is experiencing explosive demand that shows no signs of slowing.

• The global GLP-1 market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 14%.
• Analysts estimate a key competitor’s drug franchise could reach $36 billion in sales by 2026.

Eli Lilly’s own offerings, Mounjaro and Zepbound, are capturing a significant share of this market, making this a core pillar of the company’s value.

Catalyst: Robust Drug Pipeline

You should examine the company’s powerful drug pipeline as a primary growth catalyst. Eli Lilly has several potential blockbuster drugs advancing toward the market. The sales potential for its weight-loss and diabetes treatments alone is staggering.

The company expects to receive approval for orforglipron, an oral weight loss pill, around 2026. Another drug, retatrutide, showed a remarkable 28.7% mean weight loss in studies. This deep pipeline gives you a reason to evaluate whether to buy the stock for its future earnings power.

Alzheimer’s Treatment Potential

Eli Lilly is also on the verge of entering another massive market: Alzheimer’s disease. The global Alzheimer’s therapeutics market is projected to hit USD 6.2 billion by 2026. The company’s drug, Kisunla (donanemab), recently received marketing authorization in Europe. Eli Lilly plans to launch it across multiple European markets throughout 2026. Analysts estimate Kisunla could achieve nearly $5 billion in peak annual sales. This new revenue stream provides another compelling reason to hold the stock for its long-term potential.

5. Amazon (AMZN): The E-Commerce and Cloud Giant

Amazon presents a powerful two-part story for investors. You can see its dominance in both e-commerce and cloud computing. The company leverages its massive scale to drive growth in multiple high-margin business segments, making it a compelling stock to watch.

AWS Growth from AI Demand

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the company’s primary profit engine, and artificial intelligence is its new supercharger. The demand for AI model training and deployment directly fuels AWS’s expansion. You can see this momentum in its financial performance. AWS generated a record $33 billion in revenue in Q3 2025, a 20% year-over-year increase driven by AI. The future looks just as bright.

AWS currently has a massive $200 billion order backlog for data center capacity. This backlog signals strong, sustained customer demand. To meet this, Amazon plans to invest over $125 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, primarily for scaling its AI infrastructure.

Analysts expect this strategy to pay off. Some forecast AWS growth to accelerate to 24% as enterprise AI applications scale, strengthening investor confidence.

Catalyst: Retail Margin Improvement

You should also look at the improvements in Amazon’s original business: e-commerce. For years, the focus was on growth over profit. Now, the company is dedicated to improving its retail margins. It achieves this through:

• Regionalization: Fulfilling orders from nearby warehouses to cut shipping costs.
• Automation: Using robotics in fulfillment centers to increase efficiency.
• Logistics: Expanding its own delivery network to reduce reliance on third-party carriers.

These efforts are turning the massive retail segment into a more significant contributor to overall profitability, providing a key catalyst for the stock.

High-Growth Advertising Segment

Amazon’s advertising business is a rapidly growing, high-margin segment you cannot ignore. The company leverages its vast e-commerce platform, placing sponsored product listings directly in front of shoppers with high purchase intent. This makes its ad space incredibly valuable to sellers. This segment provides a third major growth pillar, diversifying revenue away from just retail and cloud. The combination of a rebounding AWS, improving retail margins, and a booming ad business gives you strong reasons to evaluate whether to buy or hold this tech giant.

6. Meta Platforms (META): The Social Media Innovator

Meta Platforms has evolved far beyond its social media roots. You can now see it as a technology giant using artificial intelligence to supercharge its core business and explore future frontiers. The company’s ability to integrate AI into its products makes it a powerful player in the digital advertising space.

AI-Driven Engagement and Ads

Meta’s primary strength lies in its sophisticated use of AI to drive user engagement and advertising effectiveness. The company’s AI engine processes immense amounts of data to personalize content feeds, keeping users on platforms like Instagram and Facebook for longer. This same technology powers its advertising systems, making them more efficient for businesses.

The financial results of this strategy are impressive. Meta’s AI-powered ad solutions, including Advantage+, have an annual revenue run rate surpassing $60 billion. In a recent quarter, the company’s revenue grew 26% year-over-year to $51.24 billion, with the average price-per-ad increasing by 10%.

This shows you how AI directly translates into higher revenue and better returns for advertisers.

Catalyst: Reels Monetization

A key catalyst you should watch is the successful monetization of Instagram Reels. Initially created to compete in the short-form video space, Reels has become a significant revenue generator. It now boasts an annual revenue run rate of over $50 billion. This proves Meta can identify new user trends, build a competitive product, and successfully turn it into a profitable business line. This ability to innovate and monetize is a critical factor for future growth.

Long-Term Metaverse Vision

While the AI-driven ad business powers today’s profits, you must also consider Meta’s long-term bet on the metaverse. The company is investing billions of dollars annually into its Reality Labs division to build the next generation of computing platforms. This is a high-risk, high-reward venture that does not currently contribute to earnings. However, if successful, it could unlock a market of immense size. This long-term vision gives you a reason to either buy the stock for its current AI dominance or hold it for its future metaverse potential.

7. JPMorgan Chase (JPM): The Financial Bedrock

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In a list dominated by high-growth technology companies, you find a pillar of stability in JPMorgan Chase. As the largest bank in the United States, it represents the foundation of the financial system. Its immense scale and diversified operations provide a defensive quality that can balance a growth-oriented portfolio.

A Premier Financial Stock in USA

JPMorgan Chase’s leadership in the financial sector is undisputed. The company stands as the largest bank in the world by market capitalization, dwarfing its closest competitors. Its total assets exceed an incredible $4 trillion, illustrating its systemic importance to the global economy. This massive scale gives it a significant competitive advantage.

You can see this dominance not just in its size but in its ability to navigate complex economic cycles. Its fortress-like balance sheet allows it to remain resilient during downturns and capitalize on opportunities when they arise, making it a premier financial stock in USA.

Benefiting from Market Volatility

Unlike many companies that suffer during uncertain times, you will find that JPMorgan Chase can actually benefit from market volatility. Its massive investment banking and markets divisions thrive on activity.

• Increased trading volumes in stocks, bonds, and commodities directly translate to higher revenue.
• Corporate clients turn to JPM for strategic advice on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising during economic shifts.

This “best-in-class” status means the bank is well-positioned to perform in various market environments. Its diversified business model allows one segment to perform strongly even if another faces headwinds, providing a layer of stability for investors.

Growth in Wealth Management

You should also look to the company’s Asset & Wealth Management division as a key long-term growth engine. This segment provides a steady, reliable stream of fee-based income that is less sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates. As global wealth continues to grow, so does the demand for professional financial management. JPM is perfectly positioned to capture a larger share of this expanding market. This consistent growth, combined with its overall stability, gives you a reason to either buy the stock for its defensive characteristics or hold it as a core position in your portfolio.

8. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY): One of the Top Value Stocks

After reviewing several high-growth technology names, you can now turn your attention to a different kind of opportunity. Bristol-Myers Squibb represents a classic value play in the pharmaceutical sector. For investors looking for stability and income, BMY is one of the top value stocks to consider, offering a compelling contrast to high-valuation growth companies.

Strong Oncology Portfolio

You can see the foundation of BMY’s business in its powerful oncology franchise. The company is a leader in cancer treatments, with several blockbuster drugs generating billions in revenue. Its flagship immunotherapy drug, Opdivo, continues to be a significant contributor to its financial strength. The company is also successfully launching new combination therapies that are quickly becoming major products.

Catalyst: New Product Launches

A common concern for pharmaceutical investors is the “patent cliff,” where older drugs lose exclusivity. You should know that BMY is actively addressing this by executing a strong pipeline of new product launches. These new drugs are poised to become the company’s next generation of revenue drivers.

The company’s portfolio of new products is expected to generate over $25 billion in revenue by 2030. This growth is crucial as it will help offset the eventual revenue loss from drugs like Opdivo and Eliquis as they come off patent. This makes the success of these launches a key catalyst to watch.

Attractive Dividend and Valuation

The main reason BMY stands out as one of the top value stocks is its attractive valuation and shareholder returns. You can see this clearly in its dividend yield, which provides a steady income stream for investors. The company offers a higher yield than many of its large-cap pharmaceutical peers.

Furthermore, its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 8.9 suggests the stock may be undervalued compared to its future earnings potential. This combination of a low valuation and a high dividend gives you a reason to buy the stock for its potential price appreciation or hold it as a core income-generating asset in your portfolio.

9. MercadoLibre (MELI): The Latin American E-Commerce Leader

You can think of MercadoLibre as the Amazon and PayPal of Latin America, rolled into one powerful company. It has established an unparalleled ecosystem for commerce and digital payments across the region, making it a dominant force in one of the world’s fastest-growing internet markets.

Dominating E-Commerce and Fintech

You can see MercadoLibre’s leadership in its impressive operational scale. The company is the undisputed leader in Latin America’s e-commerce sector. It serves over 54 million active buyers and handles more than $13.4 billion in products sold. Its revenue distribution highlights its dominance in key markets, with 55% coming from Brazil, 22% from Mexico, and 19% from Argentina.

In the fintech space, its financial arm, Mercado Pago, is equally dominant.

• It processed nearly $200 billion in payments across the region in 2024.
• It serves over 60 million active monthly users.
• It has extended $24 billion in credit to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

This dual-engine model creates a powerful, self-reinforcing ecosystem.

Catalyst: Untapped Market Growth

The primary catalyst for MercadoLibre is the immense, untapped growth potential within Latin America. You are looking at a region with a rapidly growing middle class and increasing internet and smartphone penetration. E-commerce and digital payments are still in their early stages compared to more developed markets.

This gives you a clear picture of the opportunity. Latin America has a population of over 650 million people, but e-commerce penetration is still below 15%, compared to over 25% in the United States. This gap represents a massive runway for future expansion.

Expanding Logistics Network

A key part of MercadoLibre’s competitive advantage is its expanding logistics network, Mercado Envios. The company has invested heavily in building its own warehouses, fulfillment centers, and delivery fleet. This allows it to offer faster, cheaper, and more reliable shipping to its customers. This control over the entire user experience, from purchase to delivery, creates a significant barrier for competitors. The strength of this integrated network gives you a compelling reason to evaluate whether to buy the stock for its long-term regional dominance.

10. Broadcom (AVGO): The Diversified Tech Leader

You can see Broadcom as a critical supplier powering the infrastructure behind the digital world. The company designs and manufactures a wide range of semiconductor and software products, making it a diversified leader in the technology sector.

AI and Networking Chip Demand

Broadcom is a key beneficiary of the artificial intelligence build-out. You will find its custom AI accelerators and high-performance networking chips inside the data centers of the world’s largest technology companies. The demand for its products is accelerating rapidly.

• Broadcom has secured multi-year contracts for custom AI silicon with major hyperscalers like Google and Meta.
• Analysts estimate the company’s AI revenue could grow 103% year-over-year to $40.4 billion for fiscal year 2026.

Its Tomahawk switch chips are essential for connecting thoUSAnds of GPUs together, capturing over 80% of the high-end Ethernet switching market. This dominance in both custom AI chips and networking hardware places Broadcom at the center of AI infrastructure growth.

Catalyst: VMware Integration

A major catalyst you should watch is the company’s integration of VMware. This massive acquisition transformed Broadcom, adding a significant enterprise software business to its portfolio. This move diversifies its revenue streams beyond the cyclical semiconductor industry.

The strategy is to cross-sell Broadcom’s software solutions to VMware’s large enterprise customer base. Success here would create a more stable, subscription-based revenue model and increase the company’s overall profitability.

Strong Cash Flow and Dividends

Broadcom’s financial strength is a core part of its investment appeal. The company is a cash-generating machine, reporting a total free cash flow of $26.9 billion for the full fiscal year 2025. It consistently maintains a high free cash flow margin, which stood at 41% in the fourth quarter of 2025. You can see this financial discipline directly benefit shareholders. The company has a strong track record of dividend growth, with an average compound annual growth rate of 30% between fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2026. This powerful combination of growth and shareholder returns gives you a compelling reason to evaluate whether to buy the stock.

This list presents a diverse range of opportunities. You saw high-growth AI players like NVIDIA and AMD alongside top value stocks like Bristol-Myers Squibb. The 2026 market will likely reward the best companies to own, especially those with strong free cash flow and successful product rollouts. You should watch each stock in USA and consider how it fits your personal investment strategy. Continue to watch every potential stock in USA to make informed decisions for your portfolio.

Treat this watchlist as a candidate pool: standardize the same set of datapoints first, then decide whether each name stays on your radar or earns a position. For example, you can use BiyaPay’s Stock info lookup to quickly verify range context, trading activity, and valuation signals, and then cross-check those numbers against the themes highlighted here (AI adoption, pipeline execution, free cash flow). If you also need to sanity-check FX costs before staging entries, BiyaPay’s Fiat exchange rate converter helps you compare real-time quotes and spreads across currencies; to get started, use Sign up. BiyaPay is a multi-asset trading wallet for cross-border payments, investing, trading, and fund management, operating under relevant licensing/registration frameworks in places such as the U.S. and New Zealand—keeping “check data → price costs → act” in one flow fits how an annual watchlist is typically used.

FAQ

Why does this list include both tech and pharma stocks?

You find a mix of industries to show a balanced approach. High-growth tech stocks like NVIDIA offer significant potential. Stable value stocks like Bristol-Myers Squibb provide income and defensiveness. This diversity helps you build a well-rounded investment watchlist for different market conditions.

Are these stocks guaranteed to perform well in 2026?

No stock offers a guaranteed return. You should view this list as a starting point for your own research. Market conditions can change quickly. Your due diligence is essential before you decide to buy or hold any security.

How important are dividends for these stocks?

Dividends are a key factor for value-oriented stocks like Bristol-Myers Squibb and Broadcom. They provide you with a steady income stream. For growth stocks like MercadoLibre, the focus is on reinvesting profits to fuel expansion rather than paying dividends.