2 AI Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist

AI revolution meets crypto convergence—these picks aren't just riding the wave, they're building it.

Why AI plus crypto equals alpha

Forget chasing meme coins—real gains come from infrastructure plays. These AI stocks are positioned to capture value from blockchain integration, smart contract automation, and decentralized compute networks.

The institutional adoption catalyst

Major financial players are quietly backing AI-driven crypto solutions. These companies already have contracts with top-tier banks and hedge funds—because apparently even Wall Street wants in on tech that actually works.

Execution over hype

While retail traders fight over dog-themed tokens, these firms are deploying AI that processes blockchain data at institutional scale. They're not talking about the future—they're building revenue streams today.

Because sometimes the smartest trade is buying the picks and shovels instead of digging for gold yourself—especially when the gold rush is mostly fueled by hopium and leverage.

Image source: Getty Images.

The AI infrastructure disruptor nobody saw coming

(NBIS -4.57%) might be the most underappreciated AI story in the market. The Amsterdam-based company is building full-stack infrastructure for AI workloads, and its second-quarter 2025 results show it's executing far faster than expected. Revenue surged 625% year over year to $105.1 million, more than doubling from Q1, while the Core business turned positive on adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) months ahead of schedule.

What makes Nebius compelling isn't just the growth rate -- it's the trajectory. Management raised 2025 guidance for annualized run rate revenue to between $900 million and $1.1 billion, implying the company will exit the year approaching a $1 billion annual recurring revenue (ARR) run rate.

To meet surging AI compute demand, Nebius is scaling aggressively, securing over 1 gigawatt of power capacity by the end of 2026. With property and equipment nearly doubling to $1.8 billion and the company adding nearly $1 billion in debt to fund expansion, Nebius is betting everything on becoming a major AI infrastructure player.

Since quarter end, Nebius has announced a multiyearAI infrastructure deal worth an estimated $17.4 billion, creating another major tailwind for shareholders. While the stock has surged year to date, the tech pioneer still trades at a significant discount to pure play AI leaders, suggesting potential upside if it executes.

The legacy giant that became an AI powerhouse

(ORCL -6.33%) spent decades as a database company, but its transformation into an AI infrastructure giant has Wall Street doing double takes. Oracle is reshaping enterprise cloud through a multicloud strategy that competitors can't easily replicate. The company's cloud infrastructure revenue is projected to hit $18 billion in fiscal 2026, up 77% year over year, with management guiding to an astronomical $144 billion by fiscal 2030.

These projections are backed by substance. Oracle's remaining performance obligations exploded 359% year over year to $455 billion, with multibillion-dollar AI contracts from OpenAI andalready locked in.

Rather than fightingand Microsoft head-on, Oracle's multicloud play turned competitors into distribution channels, with database revenue up 1,529% year over year. The company is committing $35 billion in capital expenditures for fiscal 2026, building AI-ready infrastructure that customers are already lining up to use.

In short, Oracle is now front and center in the AI infrastructure build-out, making its stock a compelling buy-and-hold.

The risk-reward setup looks compelling

Both stocks carry risks. Nebius remains unprofitable on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, posting an adjusted net loss of $91.5 million in Q2 despite the positive adjusted EBITDA. Oracle faces different challenges -- using stable database profits to fund its AI build-out only works if the boom continues. Yet the opportunity dwarfs these risks. Nebius offers pure play exposure to AI infrastructure at a fraction of established players' valuations, while Oracle provides a safer path backed by half a trillion dollars in committed contracts.

For growth investors seeking AI exposure beyond semiconductor stocks, Nebius and Oracle offer compelling alternatives. Both companies are building the picks and shovels for the AI Gold rush, positioning themselves as essential infrastructure regardless of which AI models ultimately win.

In the AI gold rush, the picks-and-shovels providers often win the biggest -- and Nebius and Oracle are two of the sharpest tools on the shelf.