{"id":297544,"date":"2026-02-23T03:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/297544\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T03:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:53:11","slug":"this-artificial-intelligence-ai-stock-will-outperform-alphabet-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/297544\/","title":{"rendered":"This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Outperform Alphabet in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a major catalyst for Alphabet\u00a0over the past couple of years, as the company&#8217;s chatbot, Google Gemini, has gained popularity and as it invests heavily in new AI data infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">But one company, Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), is reaping even more rewards from AI than Alphabet and could outperform the tech giant this year. Here&#8217;s why.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">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.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/api.fool.com\/infotron\/infotrack\/click?apikey=35527423-a535-4519-a07f-20014582e03e&amp;impression=8271d528-c8eb-42ac-9a25-fa17fb58a986&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-sa-bbn-bn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0001095%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_veh%3Dtop_incontent_pitch_feed_yahoo%26ftm_pit%3D17546&amp;utm_source=yahoo-host-full&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=e12a24f1-6971-4776-af61-0ec6d267f017\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:See the stocks \u00bb;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">See the stocks \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2e3651a80af64fc201d754b48ef28e8a.jpeg\" alt=\"A person and a dog looking at a computer.\" loading=\"eager\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" class=\"yf-lglytj  loaded\"\/> Image source: Getty Images.         <\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Alphabet has gained a lot of ground in the AI race lately, especially given that Gemini now has 750 million monthly active users &#8212; a nearly 88% increase from just nine months ago. And it&#8217;s not just that Gemini is popular. The company said that in the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue from products built on its generative AI models grew by nearly 400% year over year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">And more AI wins are likely on the way. Alphabet recently entered into a collaboration with Apple, in which the iPhone maker will reportedly pay Alphabet $1 billion a year to use Gemini as the underlying model for the latest iteration of Siri.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Alphabet benefits from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/stock-market\/market-sectors\/information-technology\/ai-stocks\/?utm_source=yahoo-host-full&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=e12a24f1-6971-4776-af61-0ec6d267f017\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:artificial intelligence;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">artificial intelligence<\/a> mostly through its Google Cloud services, and its fourth-quarter results showed just how well this segment is doing, with cloud sales rising 48% to $17.7 billion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">As good as Alphabet has been doing over the past year, Micron Technology has it beat &#8212; and the pattern will likely continue this year. Micron makes memory chips that are a critical part of AI data centers, and demand has been off the charts recently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Micron&#8217;s Chief Business Officer, Sumit Sadana, recently said that it was &#8220;sold out&#8221; of memory for 2026 &#8212; and that was before Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Amazon said they would increase their capital expenditure spending (mostly for data center infrastructure) to up to $650 billion this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">To ensure that it can meet the demand, Micron will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/02\/18\/why-did-micron-stock-pop-today\/?utm_source=yahoo-host-full&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=e12a24f1-6971-4776-af61-0ec6d267f017\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:spend $200 billion;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">spend $200 billion<\/a> to build new manufacturing facilities across the U.S., with the factories coming online over the next several years. And it should help the company build on its current success. Micron&#8217;s sales spiked 56% to $13.6 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings surged 167% to $4.78 per share. Analysts&#8217; consensus estimates are for Micron&#8217;s sales to more than double from 2025 and reach $97.6 billion in 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">With big tech companies like Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and others competing for the top spot in AI, Micron is well positioned to continue benefiting from their intense need for memory demand, giving Micron&#8217;s stock the potential to outpace Alphabet shares this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Before you buy stock in Micron Technology, consider this:<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/api.fool.com\/infotron\/infotrack\/click?apikey=35527423-a535-4519-a07f-20014582e03e&amp;impression=30947971-dec9-4413-9129-651983c00148&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-sa-bbn-dyn-headline%3Faid%3D11234%26source%3Disaeditxt0001181%26company%3DMicron%2520Technology%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_veh%3Darticle_pitch_feed_yahoo%26ftm_pit%3D18781&amp;utm_source=yahoo-host-full&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=e12a24f1-6971-4776-af61-0ec6d267f017\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:10 best stocks;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">10 best stocks<\/a> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Micron Technology wasn\u2019t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004&#8230; if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation,\u00a0you\u2019d have $424,262!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005&#8230; if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $1,163,635!*<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Now, it\u2019s worth noting\u00a0Stock Advisor\u2019s total average return is 904% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 194% for the S&amp;P 500.\u00a0Don&#8217;t miss the latest top 10 list, available with\u00a0Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\"><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/api.fool.com\/infotron\/infotrack\/click?apikey=35527423-a535-4519-a07f-20014582e03e&amp;impression=30947971-dec9-4413-9129-651983c00148&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-sa-bbn-dyn-headline%3Faid%3D11234%26source%3Disaeditxt0001181%26company%3DMicron%2520Technology%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D18781%26ftm_veh%3Darticle_pitch_feed_yahoo%26company%3DMicron%2520Technology&amp;utm_source=yahoo-host-full&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=e12a24f1-6971-4776-af61-0ec6d267f017\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:See the 10 stocks \u00bb;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">*Stock Advisor returns as of February 22, 2026. <\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/author\/2065\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Chris Neiger;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Chris Neiger<\/a> has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/legal\/fool-disclosure-policy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:disclosure policy;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">disclosure policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/02\/22\/prediction-this-artificial-intelligence-ai-stock-w\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Prediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Outperform Alphabet in 2026;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Prediction: This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Outperform Alphabet in 2026<\/a> was originally published by The Motley Fool<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a major catalyst for Alphabet\u00a0over the past couple of years, as the company&#8217;s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[365,1796,363,364,97833,35953,111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-297544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-alphabet","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence","11":"tag-artificialintelligence","12":"tag-data-infrastructure","13":"tag-micron-technology","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}