What Should Tech Investors Be Excited About in 2026?

2025 showed how concentrated markets have become, with the 10 largest stocks accounting for nearly 40% of the S&P 500 by year-end. As 2026 begins, technology investing is shifting from broad participation to selective exposure.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will remain a clear priority for tech investors in 2026, notwithstanding mounting concerns around valuations and crowding. As JPMorgan noted in its 2026 outlook, “the biggest risk is not having exposure to this transformational technology.”

Here, we focus on AI and four other tech sectors with clear structural demand and policy support going into the new year.

Memory and AI Chip Makers

AI optimism is carrying over from 2025 as continued capital expenditure supports revenue growth for so-called “pick-and-shovel stocks.” Chip designers such as Nvidia [NVDA] and Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] remain at the forefront of the AI infrastructure buildout, as computing capacity is expected to stay constrained into 2026.

Research firm CreditSights sees capital expenditures from the top five hyperscalers increasing from about $443bn in 2025 to about $602bn in 2026. Hyperscaler spending is expected to shift toward short-lived assets such as GPU and CPU chips, as companies look to reduce upfront cash outlays by leasing data centers instead of owning them.

2026 is also expected to mark a shift in AI models, from training toward inference. This transition would further boost demand for AI chips, as “reasoning AI” is estimated to consume up to 100 times more compute than “non-reasoning AI,” according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

The most prominent narrative heading into 2026, however, is growing bullishness around memory chipmakers, which outperformed the broader market last year.

“For an industry that has long been characterized by boom-and-bust cycles, this time is different. The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and workloads is exerting significant pressure on the memory ecosystem… Instead of expanding conventional DRAM and NAND used in smartphones, PCs and other consumer electronics, major memory makers have shifted production toward memory used in AI data centers,” noted International Data Corp in a research note.

According to research firm Counterpoint, memory chip prices could increase 20% in early 2026, on top of the 50% price increase experienced last year.

For investors looking to express a broader view on the AI infrastructure cycle, semiconductor-focused ETFs such as the VanEck Semiconductor ETF [SMH] and the iShares Semiconductor ETF [SOXX] offer diversified exposure across both compute and memory segments.

Clean Energy and Renewables

2025 was a difficult year for clean energy stocks in the US, as federal policies shifted away from supporting wind, solar and related incentives. Several renewable energy tax credits and funding mechanisms established under the Biden administration were rolled back or narrowed, weighing on investor sentiment.

Despite these policy headwinds, rising electricity demand from AI data centers is emerging as a powerful structural tailwind for the sector.

Renewables remain the fastest way to deploy new capacity, particular as alternatives face constraints. Natural gas power generation is limited by shortages of gas turbine engines, while long-term options such as small modular reactors remain years away from commercial deployment.

“We believe a disconnect exists between the narrative and reality. We observe increased power demand from both developed and emerging markets. This is driving prices and catalyzing investment across asset classes. Backlogs and rising natural gas turbine prices make renewables attractive due to their cost-competitiveness and shorter deployment timelines,” said Goldman Sachs in a note.

According to the International Energy Agency, solar power will account for around 80% of the global increase in renewable power capacity over the next five years.

Investors looking for a targeted view on solar may focus on solar module maker First Solar [FSLR] and renewable power utility NextEra Energy [NEE], while broader exposure can be achieved through large, liquid ETFs such as the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF [ICLN] and the Invesco Solar ETF [TAN].

The renewables growth story outside the US could not be more different. Across the Atlantic, a “roadmap to fully end dependency on Russian energy” has prompted the EU to increase the share of renewables in the bloc’s overall energy consumption with a view to reaching 42.5% by 2030. Meanwhile, in China, wind and solar have become the country’s largest sources of new power, in line with goals to reduce carbon emissions and power economic growth.

Defense and Space Technology

Looking forward to 2026, the defense sector is expected to be supported by rising budgets. Technological transformation is further seen pushing governments to prioritize defense readiness in an era of drone warfare and AI-enabled systems.

Last year, President Donald Trump pressed NATO members to more than double their defense spending targets from 2% to 5% of GDP by 2035. Leading the charge was Germany as Berlin pledged to raise the “strongest conventional army in Europe” and loosened its fiscal constraints to unlock hundreds of billions of euros in additional defense borrowing.

In the US, the Senate approved a record $900bn defense policy bill in December 2025. According to the New York Times, the bill modernizes military procurement by reducing regulatory hurdles to arms procurement and technological developments, while also blocking the Trump administration from withdrawing US troops from Europe.

Space exploration ambitions have seen a resurgence in the US. President Trump signed an executive order in December calling for the return of Americans to the Moon by 2028, development of space-stationed missile defense technologies by 2028, and the establishment of a lunar outpost by 2030. The order also outlined ambitious plans to place nuclear power reactors on the Moon.

The administration additionally set a goal of attracting at least $50bn in new private investment into US space markets by 2028 and supporting commercial solutions to replace the International Space Station by 2030.

Key players in the space exploration sector include satellite firms Planet Labs [PL] and Viasat [VSAT], spacecraft maker Rocket Lab [RKLB] and Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, which is widely expected to pursue an IPO in 2026.

Broader exposure to defense and aerospace themes can be accessed through ETFs such as the iShares US Aerospace and Defense ETF [ITA] and the State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace and Defense ETF [XAR].

Robotaxis

2026 is shaping up to be a breakout year for robotaxis. After years of pilot programs, commercial deployment accelerated in 2025, with Tesla [TSLA] debuting its autonomous taxi fleet in the US and Alphabet-owned [GOOGL] Waymo expanding its fleet to more than 2,500 vehicles by year-end.

Tesla has a lot riding on the launch of its Cybercab, which is expected to enter commercial production in 2026. S&P Global estimates Cybercab revenue could reach $1bn in 2026, representing about 1.3% of Tesla’s total automotive sales, placing the robotaxi program at the center of the company’s near-term growth narrative.

Rivaling Tesla’s robotaxi business in the US were Amazon’s [AMZN] Zoox and Waymo, which has emerged as an early leader.

A key differentiator among the robotaxi contenders is their business model strategy. Tesla is pursuing a vertically integrated approach, producing and operating its robotaxi fleet. Amazon-backed Zoox is going for a similar approach. Waymo, by contrast, has partnered with automakers such as Jaguar Land Rover and Stellantis [STLA] to integrate its autonomous technology into their vehicles.

According to a report by S&P Global, Waymo remains the only robotaxi operator offering fully driverless services in the US, as of December 2025, while Tesla remains in “earlier stages” of deployment, with a small operating fleet in Austin that still relies on a safety monitor.

The research firm added that the robotaxi business is rapidly expanding in China thanks to establishment of pilot zones and the issuance of autonomous vehicle testing licenses. Key players in the region are Pony AI [PONY], WeRide [WRD], Xpeng [XPEV] and Baidu’s [BIDU] Apollo Go.

Ride-hailing platform Uber [UBER] is another notable participant with global ambitions. Uber has partnered with Baidu and WeRide to deploy robotaxi services in Asia and the Middle East, and has also teamed up with Lucid [LCID] to roll out at least 20,000 robotaxis over the next six years.

Crypto and Tokenization

2025 was a mixed year for cryptocurrencies. It began on a strong note amid optimism around favorable US crypto regulation, which helped push bitcoin [BTC] to an all-time high of $126,000. However, sentiment reversed in Q4, with BTC falling nearly 23% to end the year in negative territory, while other major tokens such as ethereum [ETH] followed a similar path.

Heading into 2026, the key takeaway is that the Q4 selloff reflected risk-aversion and a “leverage reset” within the crypto market, rather than a fundamental breakdown.

Still, many investors see 2025 as a year of partial progress. For example, while the US created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, it focused on managing existing holdings rather than active accumulation. Broader regulatory action remains pending, including the CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, both of which were under Senate consideration in early 2026.

Beyond price action, the underlying blockchain technology continues to gain traction as a disruptive force in traditional finance.

Tokenization of financial instruments has emerged as one of the first blockchain applications to demonstrate clear product-market fit. Data from rwa.xyz showed the tokenized asset market more than tripled in 2025, growing from $5.55bn to $18.88bn, as US treasuries, corporate bonds, commodities, private credit, equities and market funds moved to blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana [SOL].

Note that this figure does not include stablecoins — a tokenized form of fiat currencies — whose total supply exceeded $298bn by the end of 2025.

Crypto-native firms such as Coinbase [COIN] and Circle [CIRCL] are emerging as core facilitators of tokenization, while banks and asset managers, including JPMorgan Chase [JPM] and Franklin Resources [BEN], are positioning themselves as early adopters.

“Stablecoins, tokenized deposits, tokenized treasuries and onchain bonds allow banks, fintechs and financial institutions to build new products and serve new customers. More importantly, they can do this without forcing these organizations to rewrite their legacy systems — systems that, while aging, have run reliably for decades,” said a16z crypto in a note.

Overview of Tech Sectors to Watch in 2026

Conclusion

Despite strong structural tailwinds, these sectors are not without risk.

Valuations in AI-linked stocks remain elevated and sensitive to any slowdown in capital spending and supply cyclicity. Clean energy faces ongoing policy uncertainty. Defense budgets depend on political continuity and space exploration results remain uncertain at high capital expenditures. Robotaxis could face regulatory and safety hurdles, and crypto markets remain exposed to regulation and volatility.