Top 10 semiconductor stocks to watch in 2026

Semiconductors are the chips inside virtually every electronic device – from smartphones and cars to the servers running AI models. This list covers different roles in the chip industry: ASML Holding N.V. ($ASML) makes the machines used to manufacture chips, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ($TSM) produces chips designed by others, and NVIDIA Corporation ($NVDA) is among the designers building AI accelerators and GPUs.

How we built this list: We selected these companies based on their industry and ordered them by market capitalisation. Prices are updated daily, and the list and supporting content are reviewed roughly every quarter. All data is sourced from Stake. This list isn't a recommendation and isn't ordered by suitability.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Source: Stake market data. Figures in US$. Data updated as of 6 October 2026.

✅ Learn more: Top 10 semiconductor equipment stocks to watch in 2026→

1. NVIDIA ($NVDA)

NVIDIA (NVDA) share price over the last year: started at US$185.54, ended at US$239.24, a change of +28.9%. Range over the period: high US$239.24, low US$165.17. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$239.24 · Daily: 0.1% · Market cap: US$5.76T · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

NVIDIA Corporation ($NVDA) builds the graphics processing units (GPUs) that power AI workloads in data centres, along with chips for gaming and professional visualisation. The company's Compute & Networking segment covers data centre platforms, AI software and automotive systems, including software for autonomous vehicles. Its Graphics segment produces GeForce GPUs for gaming PCs and Quadro/NVIDIA RTX cards for enterprise workstations.

Underlying all of it is CUDA – $NVDA's core development platform that runs across its entire GPU lineup and supports hundreds of software libraries, frameworks and tools. That software layer is what connects the company's four end markets: data centre, gaming, professional visualisation and automotive. Jensen Huang serves as chief executive, and the company employs 42,000 people.

2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ($TSM)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) share price over the last year: started at US$302.40, ended at US$482.30, a change of +59.5%. Range over the period: high US$485.80, low US$275.06. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$482.30 · Daily: -0.7% · Market cap: US$2.11T · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Chip design is one business; chip manufacturing is another. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ($TSM) sits firmly in manufacturing, producing integrated circuits for companies that bring their own designs but don't operate their own factories. Its services include advanced process technologies, photomask and silicon stacking solutions, and packaging-related technologies. The company also says it supports a comprehensive design ecosystem for the designers it works with.

The sectors $TSM's output feeds into cover a wide spread of modern electronics. Artificial intelligence and high-performance computing are among them, alongside wired and wireless communications, automotive and industrial equipment, personal computing, information applications, consumer electronics, smart internet of things, and wearable devices.

3. Broadcom ($AVGO)

Broadcom (AVGO) share price over the last year: started at US$335.49, ended at US$375.81, a change of +12.0%. Range over the period: high US$481.57, low US$293.41. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$375.81 · Daily: 3.7% · Market cap: US$1.73T · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Broadcom Inc. ($AVGO) designs and supplies semiconductor chips and infrastructure software, with the two sides of the business serving quite different purposes. On the chip side, its products go into AI data centres, networking gear, broadband equipment, wireless base stations, factory automation systems and electronic displays – a wide spread of industrial and consumer applications. The infrastructure software segment is aimed at enterprises managing complex IT environments, helping them run and secure private cloud, hybrid cloud and edge setups.

Under chief executive Hock Tan, $AVGO employs around 33,000 people globally. The combination of hardware design and software puts it in a different position from pure-play chipmakers – its software customers tend to be large enterprises already embedded in its ecosystem.

4. Micron Technology ($MU)

Micron Technology (MU) share price over the last year: started at US$190.96, ended at US$1,045.56, a change of +447.5%. Range over the period: high US$1,213.56, low US$181.60. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$1,045.56 · Daily: -1.7% · Market cap: US$1.20T · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Micron Technology ($MU) makes memory and storage chips – the components that determine how much data a device can hold and how fast it can move around. Its products fall into three main types: DRAM (dynamic random-access memory), NAND, and NOR, sold under the Micron and Crucial brands.

The business is organised around where those chips end up. One unit focuses on hyperscale cloud customers and high-bandwidth memory for data centre AI workloads, another targets mid-tier cloud and enterprise storage, and separate units cover mobile, automotive, industrial and consumer applications. With around 53,000 employees and Sanjay Mehrotra as chief executive, $MU is a substantial manufacturer across a wide range of compute-intensive end markets.

5. AMD ($AMD)

AMD (AMD) share price over the last year: started at US$203.71, ended at US$649.42, a change of +218.8%. Range over the period: high US$649.42, low US$190.95. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$649.42 · Daily: 2.8% · Market cap: US$1.03T · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) designs semiconductors across three segments: data centres, consumer computing and embedded systems. The data centre lineup includes EPYC server processors, AI accelerators and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) – products built for cloud and AI infrastructure. The Ryzen processor family sits on the consumer side, covering desktops, laptops and gaming hardware. CEO Lisa Su oversees a workforce of 31,000 people spread across those product lines.

6. ASML Holding N.V. ($ASML)

ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) share price over the last year: started at US$1,043.30, ended at US$1,834.10, a change of +75.8%. Range over the period: high US$1,989.44, low US$936.19. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$1,834.10 · Daily: -1.4% · Market cap: US$721.34B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

ASML Holding N.V. ($ASML) makes the machines that chipmakers use to print microscopic circuits onto silicon wafers – a process called lithography. Its TWINSCAN systems come in different configurations depending on the resolution required: some use mercury lamps, others use krypton fluoride or argon fluoride light sources, while immersion variants are designed for the finest detail. $ASML also produces metrology and inspection systems, used to check wafer quality during manufacturing. CEO Christophe Fouquet leads a workforce of 43,520 people, with operations in the Netherlands, the U.S., South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and a range of other countries.

7. Intel ($INTC)

Intel (INTC) share price over the last year: started at US$36.59, ended at US$112.50, a change of +207.5%. Range over the period: high US$140.94, low US$33.62. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$112.50 · Daily: -3.2% · Market cap: US$614.07B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Intel Corporation ($INTC) both designs and manufactures its own semiconductors, which puts it in a structurally different position to chip companies that focus on one or the other. Its Client Computing Group makes the processors inside PCs and edge devices, while the Data Center and AI division handles x86 chips, AI accelerators and network processors for cloud, enterprise, telecom and high-performance computing customers. A third segment, Intel Foundry, develops new process technologies and produces chips for external customers. CEO Lip-Bu Tan leads the business, which employs 85,100 people and also holds Mobileye – an automotive chip operation – within its wider portfolio.

8. Texas Instruments ($TXN)

Texas Instruments (TXN) share price over the last year: started at US$181.81, ended at US$297.23, a change of +63.5%. Range over the period: high US$332.28, low US$153.33. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$297.23 · Daily: 0.8% · Market cap: US$269.32B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Texas Instruments ($TXN) focuses on the less glamorous but essential side of chip-making: the analog and embedded semiconductors that manage electrical energy inside virtually every piece of electronic equipment. Its Analog segment covers power conversion, signal amplification, data conversion and sensing – the circuitry that keeps voltage stable and signals clean. The Embedded Processing segment produces chips designed to handle specific computing tasks, tuned for different combinations of performance, power consumption and cost.

Under chief executive Haviv Ilan, $TXN employs around 33,000 people. The company designs and manufactures its own chips, which puts it in a different position from fabless designers that outsource production.

9. Qualcomm ($QCOM)

Qualcomm (QCOM) share price over the last year: started at US$168.62, ended at US$181.03, a change of +7.4%. Range over the period: high US$251.02, low US$124.07. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$181.03 · Daily: 0.1% · Market cap: US$189.83B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Qualcomm Incorporated ($QCOM) sits at the foundation of how wireless devices communicate. Through its QCT segment – Qualcomm CDMA Technologies – the company designs integrated circuits and system software built around 3G, 4G and 5G standards. Those chips turn up across a wide range of hardware: consumer electronics, industrial IoT devices, edge networking products, and automotive systems covering digital cockpit displays and driver assistance technology.

A second segment, Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL), licenses portions of $QCOM's patent portfolio to other companies manufacturing wireless products. That licensing business reflects decades of foundational research – the company's patents touch much of what makes modern wireless communication work. More recently, $QCOM has been extending into on-device artificial intelligence, embedding AI processing into its chip designs rather than relying on cloud connectivity. Cristiano Amon leads the company, which employs around 52,000 people worldwide.

10. Analog Devices ($ADI)

Analog Devices (ADI) share price over the last year: started at US$242.50, ended at US$420.55, a change of +73.4%. Range over the period: high US$445.48, low US$225.20. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$420.55 · Daily: 0.3% · Market cap: US$203.08B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Analog Devices ($ADI) designs and manufactures integrated circuits and subsystems built around high-performance analog, mixed-signal and digital signal processing. Its product range includes data converters, amplifiers, power management chips, radio frequency ICs and edge processors. $ADI pairs these with software and integrates AI into its technology stack, extending what its chips can do at the system level.

Those components reach into industries including automation and robotics, healthcare, mobility, energy and data centres. $ADI employs 24,500 people and is led by CEO Vince Roche. Its catalogue covers both general-purpose products used across many applications and more specialised solutions built for particular industries.

➡️ Top 9 robotics stocks to watch in 2026→

Common questions

How do I invest in semiconductor stocks in New Zealand?

All ten stocks in this list trade on U.S. exchanges, so New Zealand investors can reach them through a share trading platform that supports U.S. markets. You'd search by ticker, place an order in USD, and the shares settle in your account like any other U.S. stock. Some platforms also offer fractional shares, which means you can buy a slice of a stock rather than a full unit.

What are the key risks of semiconductor stocks?

Some of the key risks include the industry's cyclicality – chip demand can swing sharply as customers build or draw down inventory. Concentration is another factor, with many companies relying on a small number of end markets or large customers. The supply chain crosses multiple jurisdictions, and trade restrictions or export controls can disrupt it quickly. For New Zealand investors, movements in the NZD against the USD affect what purchases cost and what any proceeds are worth when converted back.

This list covers several different types of semiconductor business – how do they differ?

The companies here sit at different points in the semiconductor supply chain. Some describe themselves primarily as designers and developers of chip products, while others – including $TXN, $INTC and $ADI – explicitly design and manufacture their own chips. $TSM is a contract foundry: it makes chips for other companies rather than developing its own branded chip products. $ASML sits one step back from chip-making itself, producing the lithography machines that manufacturers use to fabricate chips. $MU focuses on memory and storage, a corner of the market that runs on its own distinct supply-and-demand cycle.

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Disclaimer

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. When you invest, your capital is at risk. You should consider your own investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs before making an investment decision. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may receive back less than your original investment. As always, do your own research and consider seeking appropriate financial advice before investing.

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