Since I first appeared on CNBC decades ago to discuss technology stocks, I have learned: When a company grows faster than investors expect and raises its growth forecast, its stock price usually goes up.
That’s what we’re likely to see in 2026 with the AI chip designer Nvidia; another company called Iren, which is a former bitcoin miner turned AI cloud services provider; and quantum computing service provider IonQ.
Here’s why buying shares of these growth stocks could help your portfolio — and the associated risks:
Examining Growth Stocks In 2026
A growth stock is a share of a company that is expected to grow at a faster rate than the average company in the market. These companies often reinvest their earnings back into the business to fund expansion, so they do not pay dividends. Investors buy growth stocks for their potential for high capital gains, based on the expectation that the company’s future earnings will drive a significant increase in share price.
Prospects for growth stocks in 2026 are positive due to strong earnings expectations and continued investment in areas like artificial intelligence. Analysts anticipate growth for the broader market and specific sectors, supported by rising AI-related capital expenditures. However, volatility for companies without strong fundamentals remains a risk.
How These Top Stocks Were Picked
I picked these stocks because of their high anticipated growth rates and their stock-price performance in 2025. Two of these companies – Nvidia and Iren – are also highly profitable. IonQ is growing rapidly and losing money. However, the stock prices of all of these companies have appreciated in 2025.
3 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In 2026
The three best growth stocks to invest in for 2026 may be Nvidia, Iren, and IonQ. Nvidia’s growth is high, but slowing down, and the company is highly profitable. Iren’s growth has accelerated tremendously after pivoting to provide AI computing services, and IonQ is growing rapidly by making quantum computing a practical alternative for large organizations and government agencies.
1. Nvidia (NVDA)
Business Overview
- Stock Price (Nov. 17, 2025): $190.17
- Stock price change year-to-date: 37.5%
- Revenue (Q2 2025): $46.7 billion
- Revenue growth (Q2 2025): 55.6%
- Net margin: 56.53%
Nvidia — along with OpenAI — is a leader in the generative artificial intelligence value chain. The AI chip designer continues to grow rapidly because of strong demand for its high-performance graphics processing units. The company’s products are central to the development and operation of large AI models, and analysts expect its growth to continue at a 56.3% rate through 2026, Yahoo Finance reported.
Why $NVDA Is A Top Choice
Reasons to buy NVIDIA stock include its 90% position in the rapidly-growing AI and data-center markets, strong profitability, and its “CUDA moat,” which creates a competitive advantage.
What is the CUDA moat? Since the mid-2000s, Nvidia has been building CUDA, a software platform that “allows customers to fine tune the performance of its processors,” The Economist wrote. By encouraging developers to use CUDA to build and test AI applications, the platform has become “the de facto industry standard.”
“Nvidia has done just a masterful job of making it easier to run on CUDA than to run on anything else,” Edward Wilford, an analyst at tech consultancy Omdia, told Fortune. “CUDA is hands down the jewel in Nvidia’s crown. It’s the thing that’s gotten them this far. And I think it’s going to carry them for a while longer,” Wilford added.
Reasons to maybe avoid Nvidia include its high valuation (a price/earnings ratio of 54), the risk of an AI bubble bursting, and the potential for competition or a slowdown in AI spending.
Will the AI bubble burst?
Despite a projected $1.5 trillion debt for AI data centers by 2028 and a high failure rate (95%) for enterprise AI pilot projects, the AI bubble is likely to continue expanding for years before it begins deflating.
2. Iren Limited (IREN)
Business Overview
- Stock Price (Nov. 6, 2025): $46.37
- Stock price change year-to-date: 343%
- Revenue (Q3 2025): $240.3 million
- Revenue growth (Q3 2025): 355.4%
- Net margin: 160%
Iren Limited, originally a Bitcoin miner, is shifting its strategy. In response to high demand, the company is adapting its computing resources to provide data-center capacity for high-performance computing and AI applications. Wall Street analysts expect Iren’s revenue to increase 126% in 2026 due to the high demand for AI infrastructure and computing.
Why $IREN Stock Is A Top Choice
Reasons to buy $IREN include its new focus on AI infrastructure, strong partnerships with Nvidia and Microsoft, and high growth potential due to the currently high demand for AI computing resources.
Reasons to avoid this stock: volatility (a beta of 4.21 – compared to the market’s 1.0, according to Google Finance); execution and competition risks; and a high valuation (a forward price-earnings ratio of 60.7x), according to GuruFocus.
Iren faces execution challenges in completing its large-scale construction projects, competition from rival data-center operators, such as Applied Digital, and potential supply constraints for GPUs. The company’s legacy operations also face the risks of declining cryptocurrency prices.
3. IonQ (IONQ)
Business Overview
- Stock Price (Nov. 17, 2025): $47.18
- Stock price change year-to-date: 9.5%
- Revenue (Q3 25): $40 million
- Revenue growth (Q3 25): 222%
- Net margin: -2,646%
IonQ is a leader in the market for quantum computing. Analysts estimate that IonQ revenue will grow about 87% in 2026 as the company continues to develop and offer quantum computing systems as a service through Microsoft Azure and other cloud platforms, The Motley Fool reported.
Why $IONQ Stock Is A Top Choice
Reasons to buy IonQ stock include the company’s strong market position, revenue growth, expanding list of enterprise and government customers, and its strong cash position to fund growth — $346 million in September 2025.
IonQ reported rapid revenue growth in Q3 2025 while adding major customers like AstraZeneca, Airbus and the U.S. Department of Energy, the company said.
One analyst took heart from IonQ’s “full stack quantum platform.”
“This has helped increase IonQ’s portion of revenue that is recurring while IonQ noted it can now pursue large contracts, particularly in the federal space, that are potentially nine-figures in size though will take multiple years to close,” D.A. Davidson analyst Alexander Platt wrote in a report featured by Investor’s Business Daily.
However, reasons to avoid $IONQ include the company’s lack of profitability, the speculative and early-stage nature of quantum computing, the stock’s high valuation (price-to-sales ratio of 148.6 according to Yahoo Finance), and tough competition from major tech companies such as Google, IBM and Microsoft.
IonQ reported a nearly $1.1 billion net loss in the third quarter. This included an $882 million loss on warrant liabilities – a non-cash accounting adjustment. The estimated fair value of warrants, which are marked as balance-sheet liabilities, went down when the company’s stock price went up more than six-fold in the year ending Sept. 2025, Nasdaq reported.
Risks to Consider When Buying Growth Stocks
The main risks of owning growth stocks are high volatility, elevated valuations and lack of dividends. Growth stocks are sensitive to market sentiment and economic conditions, and if they fail to meet high growth expectations, their prices can drop sharply. Rather than pay dividends, these companies reinvest profits to fuel expansion, so investors receive no regular income from these stocks.
Bottom Line
Nvidia, Iren and IonQ could make your portfolio more valuable – but weigh the opportunity against the considerable risks facing these companies.