AI, Clean Energy & Health Stocks: The Big Winners in a Multipolar 2026
According to the United Nations’ January 2026 forecast, global GDP growth is expected at 2.7–2.8%, below pre-COVID averages. However, growth is uneven. Advanced economies are expanding modestly, while Asia-Pacific remains comparatively resilient, with India projected near 6.6% and parts of East Asia around 4.4%, creating a “two-speed” global economy.
IMF’s January 2026 projections also reflect this pattern. Advanced economies are expected to grow at around 1.8%, while emerging market and developing economies are projected to grow above 4% in 2026. This widening gap is translating into a multidimensional market split between sectors benefiting from capital concentration and those experiencing earnings compression.
Equity markets are showing clear signs of polarization, with a handful of megatrends, particularly AI investment, clean energy and healthcare, capturing major capital flows.
Artificial intelligence investment is the core driver of market polarization in 2026, with hyperscalers and chip makers pushing record capital spending and production growth.
Going by a recent Bloomberg report and multiple other sources on hyperscaler capex plan, major technology companies, including Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta, are projected to spend roughly $650 billion on AI-related infrastructure this year, up about 67% from 2025 levels, with vast sums allocated to data centers and compute capacity.
Image Source: Bloomberg
Semiconductor foundries are expanding accordingly. Taiwan Semiconductor TSM, a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock, has raised its 2026 capex target to $52-$56 billion, significantly above 2025, reflecting strong AI demand. Global semiconductor revenues are forecast to exceed $1 trillion in 2026, driven by memory and logic ICs for AI workloads (February 2026 Semiconductor Industry Association report).
AI & Technology Infrastructure: Companies that build the core tools behind AI, spanning advanced semiconductors, data-center systems, networking and cloud platforms, remain directly leveraged to the AI capital-expenditure cycle. NVIDIA NVDA, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, continues to dominate AI accelerators powering hyperscale data centers, while Vertiv Holdings VRT, a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock, benefits from rising demand for cooling and power systems essential for high-density AI workloads. NVDA is projected to report earnings growth of 57.7% in fiscal 2027 (ending January 2027). VRT is expected to report earnings growth of 46.9% in 2026.