Seeking Alpha's Top 10 US Stocks: AI Infrastructure Plays with Triple-Digit Upside for 2026

Seeking Alpha's veteran quantitative analyst Steven Cress recently released his "Top 10 Stocks for 2026" list, generating significant discussion in the investment community.

The selections are heavily concentrated in AI infrastructure, spanning semiconductors, optical communications, specialty materials, and financial services.

Notably, most picks delivered triple-digit returns in 2025 and have maintained momentum into 2026.

Here’s a sector-based breakdown:

I. Semiconductors & Memory: The Bottleneck of Compute Infrastructure

$Micron Technology(MU)$ : Dominant in High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) with mass production of 9th-gen NAND technology. FQ1 2026 results beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, yet trades at ~30% discount to the SOX index. +239% in 2025, +20%+ YTD 2026 (4 sessions), reflecting valuation expansion amid earnings validation.
$Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)$ : Deepening partnership with OpenAI; MI300 series AI accelerators gaining traction in inference workloads. Server CPU market share continues expanding. +77% in 2025; positioned to benefit from sustained AI capex through H2 2026.

II. Optical Networking: The Neural Network of AI Clusters

$Ciena(CIEN)$ : Global leader in optical networking. Record orders of $7.8B in 2025 with $5B backlog. SDN revenue now 35% of total, showing customer mix shift toward cloud providers. +175% in 2025, +8.7% YTD.
$COHERENT(COHR)$ : Core supplier of 800G/1.6T optical transceivers for hyperscalers. 9 consecutive quarters of beats. Photonics platform moat strengthens amid "optical replacing copper" trend in data centers. +95% in 2025, still trading below industry-average forward P/E.

III. AI Hardware Integration & Edge Computing

$Celestica(CLS)$ : Transforming from EMS to AI server integration platform. Citi projects 40%+ CAGR for its Communications segment in 2025-2026. 15 analyst revisions upward in 90 days. +220% in 2025; potential for expectation-gap alpha in 2026.
$Willdan(WLDN)$ : Niche leader in AI infrastructure engineering services. $330M LADWP contract validates its utility-sector AI capabilities. 4 consecutive years of double-digit organic growth. +172% in 2025.

IV. Specialty Materials & Resource Hedging

$Barrick Mining Corporation(B)$ : +181% in 2025. Copper operations now 25% of revenue, aligning with energy transition. Q3 revenue $4.1B with industry-leading EBITDA margins. Offers both gold safety and copper growth optionality. +9.6% YTD 2026.
$ATI Inc(ATI)$ : Specialty titanium supplier to Boeing et al. Raised full-year guidance after Q3 beat. Zero analyst downgrades in 90 days— unanimous consensus upgrades. +109% in 2025; high earnings visibility.

V. Stable Growth Allocations

$Allstate(ALL)$ : AI-powered underwriting reduced policy inquiries by 45%. 32 consecutive years of dividend growth. ROE of 18% in 2025. Defensive anchor in the portfolio, +9.6% YTD (outperforming).
$Incyte(INCY)$ : Oncology pipeline delivering 18% YoY revenue growth (vs. sector median ~5%). Active share buyback program. +43% in 2025; lower volatility vs. tech peers.

Key Themes & 2026 Outlook:

The list reveals three patterns:

1) 70% allocation to AI infrastructure hard tech, focusing on compute, storage, and networking;

2) Proven earnings delivery with consistent outperformance;

3) Valuation dispersion—semiconductor names require sustained earnings beats to justify further expansion, while engineering services and specialty materials offer expectation-gap opportunities.

Discussion

What’s your framework for evaluating which of these names can sustain momentum vs. face multiple compression in 2026? Are you focusing on earnings revision velocity, order backlog quality, or valuation divergence from sector peers?
Feel free to share your highest-conviction thesis—technical, fundamental, or thematic.

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