As artificial intelligence<\/a> (AI) stocks soared higher and higher throughout 2025, more and more voices sounded warnings of an “AI bubble” that was about to pop. Concerns about the valuation of some of the biggest AI players like Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)<\/a> and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)<\/a> likely contributed to November’s market slump.<\/p>\n But according to new research by The Motley Fool, a majority of Americans aren’t buying it. In fact, over 60% of them believe that AI stocks will instead deliver strong long-term returns. The reason why may surprise you.<\/p>\n Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n Image source: The Motley Fool.<\/p>\n Younger investors see AI’s potential<\/p>\n According to The Motley Fool’s 2026 AI Investor Outlook Report<\/a>, which was just released, it’s younger investors who are most confident in AI companies’ ability to produce strong, long-term returns, with 67% of Gen Z investors and 63% of Millennial investors optimistic about the sector’s potential. Meanwhile, older investors remain far more skeptical, with just 50% expressing confidence that the AI investments of companies investing heavily in the technology will pay off.<\/p>\n As you’d expect, the most confident AI investors have, largely, already put their money where their mouths are, with 93% of Americans who already own AI stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs)<\/a> expressing confidence in the technology’s ability to produce long-term returns.<\/p>\n But is this just a case of younger investors being attracted to the shiny new technology, regardless of its merits? Motley Fool AI Stock Analyst Asit Sharma, CPA<\/a>, doesn’t think so. Here’s what he thinks is really going on.<\/p>\n A game-changing technology<\/p>\n Many younger Americans have already had the opportunity to create content using AI technology tools, either at work or on social media, and so they’ve seen firsthand the game-changing potential of the technology, and how much it’s improved over the past few years. Sharma believes that younger investors have recognized AI’s ability to fundamentally alter the way businesses and the overall economy function.<\/p>\n “As reasoning models become more powerful, the companies that benefit from AI-driven optimization will produce superior returns on capital, and the businesses that support this infrastructure will thrive from sustained demand,” Sharma says in the report.<\/p>\n Younger investors are also less concerned about AI being a bubble<\/a>, but more likely to say that an AI stock correction would impact their personal finances. Ultimately, though, AI stocks<\/a> could be affected by near-term price corrections<\/a> and still go on to outperform the market. Sharma, for one, believes that’s a distinct possibility.<\/p>\n “AI is a generational investment opportunity,” he said. “Consistent, rational buying will help most investors tap into the industry’s long-term potential while maintaining the peace of mind that comes from a strategic or even opportunistic approach to volatility.”<\/p>\n You can read more about investors’ attitudes toward AI stocks, including their top concerns about AI-focused companies, in The Motley Fool’s 2026 AI Investor Outlook Report.<\/p>\n Should you buy stock in Nvidia right now?<\/p>\n Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:<\/p>\n The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks<\/a> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Nvidia wasn\u2019t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.<\/p>\n Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $490,703!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $1,157,689!*<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s worth noting Stock Advisor\u2019s total average return is 966% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 194% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.<\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2026. <\/p>\n John Bromels<\/a> has positions in Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key Points The Motley Fool has released a new 2026 AI Investor Outlook Report. It finds that 62%…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-388457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767565989_326_.jpeg\"\/)
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