By Sean Williams, The Motley Fool
Publication Date: 2026-01-06 09:26:00
The people who know Nvidia and Palantir best are speaking volumes with their actions.
For only the third time in the S&P 500‘s existence, Wall Street’s benchmark index has rallied at least 15% for three consecutive years. These outsize returns for Wall Street from 2023 through 2025 come courtesy of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
Empowering software and systems with the ability to make split-second decisions without the need for human oversight is a technological leap forward that can eventually add trillions to global gross domestic product (GDP). From a hardware and applications standpoint, no two AI stocks are leading the charge quite like Nvidia (NVDA 0.43%) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR +3.64%).
During Wall Street’s three-year, AI-driven bull market, Nvidia has added more than $4.2 trillion in market value, while shares of Palantir have skyrocketed by more than 2,500%! They’ve arguably become the faces of the AI movement.
Image source: Getty Images.
But while their respective growth rates would suggest a fourth year of jaw-dropping gains may be in the cards, the actions of those who know Nvidia and Palantir best point to a different outcome in the new year.
Nvidia and Palantir possess sustainable moats
However, before making predictions about the future, it’s important to understand how we got to the point where Nvidia and Palantir are, essentially, at or near the center of the AI universe on Wall Street.
The outperformance of both companies can be…