History Says the Nasdaq Will Soar in 2026: 2 AI Stocks to Buy Now, According to Wall Street

Core Insights - The Nasdaq Composite briefly entered bear market territory last year but quickly transitioned into a bull market driven by excitement around artificial intelligence [2] - Historically, the Nasdaq has experienced six bull markets since 1990, averaging five years in duration with an annual return of 31%, suggesting potential upside for investors by 2026 [3] Company Insights: Meta Platforms - Meta Platforms has a 29% upside potential based on Wall Street's median target price and owns three of the four most popular social media networks, providing deep consumer insights for ad targeting [5][9] - The company is heavily investing in AI product development, utilizing custom chips to reduce reliance on Nvidia GPUs and employing proprietary machine learning models to enhance user experience and ad performance [6] - Meta's conversational assistant has over 1 billion monthly active users, offering additional data for content recommendations and ad targeting, with integration into smart glasses presenting future opportunities [7] - In Q3, Meta reported a 26% revenue increase to $51 billion and a 20% rise in GAAP net income to $7.25 per diluted share, although the stock fell due to plans for increased AI spending in 2026 [8] Company Insights: Datadog - Datadog is recognized as a leader in observability software, essential for AI applications, with a median target price on Wall Street indicating a 62% upside potential [9]