By Daniel Foelber
Publication Date: 2026-10-11 10:17:00
Even near an all-time high, Nvidia (NVDA -0.52%) remains one of the best artificial intelligence (AI) growth stocks. It’s evolved from a chip company that primarily made graphics processing units (GPUs) for data centers into an AI infrastructure linchpin. Its rack-scale solution goes far beyond GPUs to capture a larger share of the data center market.
Hyperscalers continue to turn to Nvidia to address their compute needs. On its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +1.25%) noted that Nvidia’s Vera Rubin architecture is so advanced that it warrants SpaceX building exclusively on Nvidia.
SpaceX is working with financial institutions to raise $40 billion to fund its AI build-out. And Nvidia is making compute demands more affordable for AI start-ups, labs, and enterprises by partnering with a consortium of six financial institutions to build $500 billion in AI infrastructure.
Vera Rubin and financing options for compute pave the way for Nvidia’s growth runway. But ASML (ASML +0.60%) could be an even better AI stock for investors to buy in October. Here’s why.
Image source: Getty Images.
The first stop along the AI value chain
ASML sits upstream along the AI value chain. It makes deep-ultraviolet (DUV) and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines for chip manufacturing. Lithography is arguably the most important step, and although other companies compete with ASML on DUV, no company in the world comes close to EUV, especially with its…
