Yes, of course: the sector ofartificial intelligence It is dominated by the stars known as the “Magnificent 7”, with a huge market capitalization and massive investments. But as for stock market performance in the AI galaxy there are other starsand, although less visible, whose names have had exceptional performances since the beginning of 2026, in many cases significantly superior to those of the megacaps.
If in the previous two years the winning strategy was "buy the Magnificent Seven and sit back," the first part of the year rewards upstream sector rotation. Investors have understood that to make the AI work Rare metals, optical lasers, RAM memories, liquid cooling systems and dedicated power plants are needed. There are companies that represent the "pickaxe and shovel makers” during the gold rush, and the stock market is rewarding them much more than those who are trying to sell gold in the form of software.
The “tiredness” of the Magnificent Seven
While the Magnificent Seven (Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Tesla) have dominated the stock markets unchallenged in recent years, almost halfway through 2026 they show a clear paradigm shift in financial markets with a very clear trend: the leadership of Big Tech is fragmenting, and capital is moving from the "software and services giants" towards physical infrastructure and pure hardware, the basis that makes Artificial Intelligence possible.
The Magnificent Seven group, which is spending astronomical figures (estimated overall at over 640 billion dollars in the current year alone) to buy the necessary hardware, is travelling at a decidedly limited average year-to-date (YTD) earnings (around +8.8% overall), characterised by a very strong internal fragmentation: only Google Alphabet e Nvidia maintain leading growth rates, with Google soaring close to +22%. Instead, giants like ecosystem e Tesla they are even in negative territory since the beginning of the year (Microsoft records around -16%, weighed down by the enormous capital costs invested in AI that the market is starting to demand be monetized quickly).
At the base of the Pyramid are the "suppliers of suppliers": semiconductors and materials
For some time now, investors have realized that before even building a chip or a server for AI, they serve the raw materials and precision machinery. It is in companies of this type that the most astonishing growth is found, a sign that the industry is preparing for massive production and here are the emerging stocks that have literally made eyes pop on the stock market since the beginning of this year.
At the Base of the Pyramid: The “Suppliers of Suppliers” (Semiconductors and Materials)
Axt is one of the stocks that has seen a staggering performance since last January (+524,16%): producing advanced substrates such as indium phosphide and gallium arsenide, it supplies the raw material for photonics and data center lasers. Its monster growth demonstrates the market's desperate need for materials that surpass the physical limitations of traditional silicon.
Among machinery suppliers, while Dutch company ASML, a key player with its lithography business, which also serves Asian giants, is recording solid growth (+36%), but more mature given its enormous market capitalization (€523 billion), its suppliers of critical subsystems for the management of ultra-pure fluids and gases are literally soaring. Ultra Clean is up 193,63%, while Ichor Holdings is up 222,20%.
The Brain and Memory: Chip Makers
But without computing power e storage capacity, AI does not exist. The data shows a market that is rewarding massively both the chip architecture and the memoryAMD (+100,29%) and Intel (+202,08%) are testament to this. Intel in particular has made an impressive recovery, doubling AMD's already strong performance since the beginning of the year, a sign that its relaunch plans for foundries and data center chips are convincing Wall Street. Broadcom (+20,18%): More moderate growth but on a gigantic market capitalization of almost 2000 billion, confirming itself as the irreplaceable giant of chip connectivity. AI requires ultra-fast memory (HBM). +132% of micron Technology confirms that memory is no longer a cyclical “commodity,” but a critical bottleneck for AI hardware.
Like the nervous system: photonics and data transmission
Fast chips are useless if data doesn't move at the same time. speed of light between one server and another. The sector of the fiber optics and photonics is experiencing a real golden age, particularly in designing and manufacturing lasers and optical transceivers for AI data centers in-house. Applied Optoelectronics (+ 317,32%), lumentum (+124,82%) and the advanced optics of Corning (+99,28%), form the physical backbone that allows data centers not to be "suffocated" by data traffic. Even the capacity to store the infinite amount of data generated by AI (Hard Disks and SSDs) is running at perfect par with Seagate (+ 161,21%) and Western Digital (+ 144,87%).
The supporting infrastructure: power and cooling
AI data centers consume amount of electricity unprecedented and generate a immense heatThe market is rewarding those who solve these two problems. cooling liquid cooling and thermal management from Vertiv Holdings/Emerson (+79,76%) for example have become mandatory in modern high-density AI data centers. Data centers need 24-hour energy, 7 days a week, preferably clean. Modular fuel cell platforms from Bloom Energy (+186%) answer this question exactly. Terawulf (+69,78%) fits in here: born for Bitcoin mining, it is converting its energy infrastructure for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI.
Side note: biotech and precision medicine
Looking at the best performances in the US since the beginning of the year, one cannot fail to notice those of companies outside the tech group, those of biopharmaceuticals. While I traditional pharmaceutical stocks or the historical giants of the stock market are struggling to keep up with inflation, the precision and computational medicine startups They are capturing the imagination of institutional investors, posting performances similar to those of semiconductors. They are only apparently unrelated to data centers: they share the same logical paradigm. Whether it's targeted oncology (via Ras/Mapk by Erasca, +209,75%) or genetically based immunotherapies, these companies apply computing power and advanced analytics to biology. ImmunityBio is almost +300%, demonstrating that “computational and precision medicine” is the other major pillar of capital growth alongside hardware.
Here are the most surprising performers from the beginning of this year in detail.
(*Names are in alphabetical order. Billions are in dollars. Stock market data is updated as of Thursday of this week. Companies are listed on Wall Street. Each name is listed for its market capitalization (the lower it is, the more subject it is to sudden fluctuations, even with little trading) and its main activity.)
Advanced Micro Devices. Market cap: $729,82 billion (up 100,29%) year-to-date. A world-leading semiconductor company that designs microprocessors, graphics cards, and artificial intelligence chips. Its components are the beating heart of PCs, gaming consoles (PlayStation and Xbox), data centers, and AI infrastructure.
Applied Optoelectronics Inc. Market cap: $13,26 billion. Up 317,32% year-to-date. It designs and manufactures fiber optic network components and equipment. The company manufactures lasers, optical modules, and transceivers in-house, providing the critical infrastructure for cloud computing, artificial intelligence data centers, telecommunications, and cable television.
Asml Holding, Market cap: $523,85 billion. It has gained 40% since the beginning of the year. A Dutch technology company, it is a world leader in the production of photolithography machines, used by microchip giants to etch microscopic circuits onto silicon wafers. It is a key supplier and de facto monopolist for the world's most advanced processors.
Axt Inc, Market cap: $6,93 billion, up 524,16% since the beginning of the year. It operates at the upstream end of the semiconductor supply chain. It designs and manufactures wafer substrates (compound and single-element semiconductors) used to create chips and advanced electronic components. The company specializes in the use of complex materials, including: Indium phosphide, critical for telecommunications, 5G, silicon photonics, and LiDAR sensors; Gallium arsenide, used for data centers, lasers, solar cells, and radio frequency electronics; and Germanium, used for specialized optical applications and infrared technologies.
Bloom Energy, capitalization 80,30 billion. +183,62 (186,06%) since the beginning of the year to date. Modular platforms that generate clean and continuous energy (24/7), without combustion, ideal for large complexes such as data centers, hospitals and industries.
Broadcom, market capitalization $2.000 trillion. Up 20,18% year-to-date. It is a global technology giant that designs, develops, and supplies a wide range of advanced semiconductors (chips) and enterprise software. The company specializes in the technology infrastructure that supports cloud computing, data centers, artificial intelligence (AI), and telecommunications networks.
Corning Corning Incorporated, Market cap: $155,51 billion, up 99,28% year-to-date. American multinational, a world leader in materials science, specializing in the production of advanced glass, ceramics, and optics for industrial, scientific, and technological applications.
FuelCell Energy Inc, market capitalization $1,07 billion, up 147,49% year-to-date. A global company that designs and installs large-scale fuel cell plants for clean energy generation. It converts fuels (such as hydrogen or biogas) into electricity and heat through electrochemical processes, offering low-emission power solutions for power grids, industries, and data centers.
Ichor Holdings, market capitalization $2,29 billion, up 222,20% since the beginning of the year. It designs, engineers, and manufactures critical fluid delivery subsystems and components. Its products precisely control and monitor gases and chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing machinery, serving the aerospace, defense, and medical sectors. Specifically, its modules enable the delivery, monitoring, and control of specific gases in semiconductor etching and deposition processes.
Intel, market capitalization $597,89 billion, up 202,08% since the beginning of the year. A leader in the design and manufacture of semiconductors, microprocessors (CPUs), and computer and server hardware. Its technologies are key components for personal computers, data centers, artificial intelligence, and global network infrastructure.
Cosmos Energy Ltd., capitalization $1,79 billion, up 238,20% since the beginning of the year. An independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company, focused on deepwater operations along the Atlantic Rim. Its core activities are offshore extraction and development.
Lumentum Holdings Inc, Market cap: $67,54 billion, up 124,82% since the beginning of the year. A global leader in optical and photonic components, it produces technologies that enable high-speed data transmission, powering the core infrastructure for artificial intelligence, data centers, telecommunications, and advanced industrial laser systems.
micron Technology, market capitalization $825,49 billion, up 132,07% since the beginning of the year. A US multinational company, one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers, specializing in the design and production of memory and data storage solutions. Its chips are essential components for computers, smartphones, data centers, artificial intelligence, and automotive systems.
Nokia, market capitalization $67,10 billion, up 111,78% since the beginning of the year. No longer directly producing smartphones, it provides equipment, software, and services for cellular networks, including 5G infrastructure and the future development of 6G. It also manages a vast intellectual property portfolio and invests heavily in research and development. The company is also active in Italy: one of its most important research and development centers worldwide, focused on optical transport technologies, is located in Vimercate (Milan).
Plug Power Plug Power, Market cap: €4,62 billion, up 48,43% since the beginning of the year. It designs, develops, and manufactures hydrogen fuel cell systems. The company provides complete clean energy solutions, including green hydrogen generation, storage, and distribution to power industrial logistics (e.g., forklifts), electric vehicles, and stationary power.
Rocket Lab Corp, Market cap: $77,71 billion. Up 76,71% since the beginning of the year. A global aerospace company that designs and builds rockets, spacecraft, and satellite components. It is best known for its lightweight Electron rocket, which offers cost-effective and frequent launch services for small satellites for commercial, scientific, and defense markets.
Seagate Technology, Market cap: $168,41 billion, up 161,21% since the beginning of the year. Specializes in data storage systems and technologies. It primarily produces hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and storage systems for computers, enterprise data centers, and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Terawulf Inc, Market cap: $10,72 billion, up 69,78% since the beginning of the year. Specializes in the development and management of high-performance data center infrastructure, primarily focused on Bitcoin mining and, more recently, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.
Ultra Clean Holdings Inc, market capitalization $3,60 billion, up 193,63% since the beginning of the year. It designs and manufactures critical components, precision subsystems, and high-tech purification services primarily for the semiconductor industry.
Emerson Network Power, now Vertiv Holdings, market capitalization $121,25 billion, up 79,76% since the beginning of the year. It designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure, including power systems, liquid cooling and thermal management, rack solutions, and monitoring software. The company ensures the uninterrupted operation and energy efficiency of data centers, communications networks, and global industrial environments. In 2016, Emerson Network Power was spun off and became an independent company called Vertiv.
Western Digital, market capitalization $158,42 billion, up 144,87% since the beginning of the year. It develops, manufactures, and markets data storage and management solutions. Its technologies support consumer computing, enterprise systems, and cloud infrastructure.
The biopharmaceutical chapter
Alumis Inc, Market cap: $2,81 billion, up 145,98% since the beginning of the year. Clinical biopharmaceutical company developing targeted therapies for patients with immune-mediated diseases. The company's primary goal is to redefine the treatment of autoimmune and neuroinflammatory diseases through precision medicine.
Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc, market capitalization $1,03 billion, up 66,53% since the beginning of the year. Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer and immunological diseases. Its work focuses primarily on inhibiting specific proteins (such as the ITK enzyme) to modulate the immune system's response.
Erasca Inc, Market cap: $3,46 billion, up 209,75% since the beginning of the year. Precision oncology biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of innovative therapies to eliminate tumors caused by mutations in the Ras/Mapk signaling pathway, considered a major cause of solid tumors.
Immunitybio Inc, Market cap: $8,43 billion, up 298,51% since the beginning of the year. This American biotechnology company develops next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines, aiming to enhance a patient's natural immune system to recognize and defeat tumors and infectious diseases.
