Missed Nvidia? My Best AI Stocks to Buy and Hold

If you miss the glorious multi-year rise in the shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), it’s probably a better idea to focus your efforts on where the puck goes next. Nvidia may still have plenty of room to rise even further, but for a company that could flirt with a $5 trillion market cap, I think it’s safe to say the easy money has already been made. And, as might be expected with a company that has moved up the valuation ladder, the downside risks are notable, especially if demand for AI ultimately falls even slightly short of expectations.

It does indeed appear that Nvidia’s chips are not selling like hotcakes; there is potential for a drastic correction. If you think AI is in a bubble, there may be less risky places to grow your wealth. In this piece, we’ll look at two other AI stocks that I think are cheaper and worth buying right now.

Celestica

Celestica (TSX:CLS) is one of the biggest Canadian AI gainers of the past year, gaining more than 132% in the past year and around 730% in the past two years. Of course, this momentum is similar to Nvidia, but the big difference is that Celestica is a company worth just under $50 billion, leaving plenty of room for long-term growth.

With the rise of AI driving demand for all the stuff used in a data center (think powerful servers and network switches), Celestica will undoubtedly continue to rise through the ranks. While it’s hard to get behind the valuation with a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.1 times, I think the company is a standout first mover whose upside could unlock higher-level growth for a while yet.

Given all that, the apparently “overvalued” equipment maker could turn out to be cheap, especially if its earnings dictate the trajectory of its stock price. Of course, CLS stock won’t be for everyone, but if you can handle the volatility, I think it’s one of the better growth stocks in the country.

Apple

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock still isn’t getting much credit as the company looks to catch up and make progress in AI. In fact, I’d give the Mag Seven Titan more benefit of the doubt, as smaller language models seem to have been scaled down enough to run on a device without as many compromises. Of course, smaller models will not quickly take the place of large models, even for consumers with simple requests. I believe there are use cases for both. Either way, I think Apple is poised to dominate in AI because it unlocks the best of both worlds. For simpler, private requests, running on device is the way to go.

And whether a more capable model is needed? Sending the request to a private cloud (Private Cloud Compute) seems like the smart way to go. As we enter an era of AI advertising (have you seen those Claude Superbowl commercials?), we could see a huge shift towards privacy-focused AI.

Will ChatGPT with ads help the masses switch to Apple’s intelligence by the end of the year? Time will tell. But I’d give Apple the edge when it comes to AI in 2026. And for that reason, I think AAPL stock is a solid AI pick for the long term, even with a 35.2x trailing price-to-earnings ratio.