Mizuho Names Nvidia, Broadcom, Lumentum as Top AI Picks

Key Moments

AI Momentum Seen Extending Into 2026

Mizuho expects the U.S. semiconductor industry to maintain robust expansion in 2026, underpinned by ongoing investment in artificial intelligence. The firm highlighted three semiconductor names it views as best positioned to ride this theme, citing sustained demand from AI infrastructure buildouts.

According to the brokerage, sector valuations remain appealing, even after strong performance driven by AI. While AI-related gains are anticipated to continue into 2026, Mizuho cautioned that the pace of outperformance could be slower than in 2025.

Mizuho sees chipmakers and server manufacturers as primary beneficiaries of the AI wave, with data center and network infrastructure providers also expected to participate in the upside.

Nvidia: Mizuho’s Top Semiconductor Pick for 2026

Nvidia leads Mizuho’s semiconductor rankings for 2026. The firm pointed to Nvidia’s ongoing strength in AI servers at major cloud service providers, supported by expanding production at neocloud players and emerging business in sovereign and enterprise segments.

Mizuho noted that Nvidia trades at a discount relative to its peer group, despite expectations for stronger growth over the coming year. This perceived valuation edge, combined with the company’s entrenched leadership in AI acceleration, underpins its selection as Mizuho’s highest-conviction semiconductor idea for 2026.

Lumentum Holdings: Capitalizing on Optical Transition

Lumentum Holdings takes the second spot in Mizuho’s ranking. The brokerage cited an acceleration in optical deployments at key hyperscale customers Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services.

The firm also highlighted Lumentum’s exposure to growth in optical circuit switch (OCS) and co-packaged optics (CPO) at Nvidia, one of its major customers. In Mizuho’s view, Lumentum stands to benefit as AI data centers shift from copper to optical interconnects across both scale-up and scale-out configurations.

Broadcom: ASIC and Networking Strength

Broadcom is placed third in Mizuho’s 2026 semiconductor lineup. The company is seeing robust ramps in application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), particularly those supporting Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) at Google.

Mizuho highlighted Broadcom’s networking segment as an additional growth engine, while emphasizing that its software franchise generates substantial free cash flow. The brokerage added that the onboarding of major AI customers such as OpenAI and Anthropic provides further potential upside for Broadcom.

Honorable Mentions: Microchip Technology and Lam Research

Beyond its top three, Mizuho also pointed to Microchip Technology and Lam Research Corporation as honorable mentions among its preferred semiconductor names for 2026.

For these two companies, Mizuho’s constructive view is based on anticipated improvements in demand for analog chips and semiconductor equipment. The brokerage assigned an Outperform rating to all five stocks discussed in its rankings.

Comparison of Mizuho’s 2026 Semiconductor Favorites