5 Stocks to Buy in May Before the Next AI Surge Hits

Key Points

• The AI bubble hasn't burst; the second wave is about to be unleashed.
• AI critical stocks are breaking out to fresh highs and have ample upside potential.
• And it isn't only AI stocks in an upswing, as turnaround efforts drive this blue-chip behemoth to fresh highs.

April came to a quick end, with the S&P 500 up by approximately 10% and breaking out to fresh highs. The near-term technicals are very bullish, pointing to additional upside by mid-year, and the 7,500 target may be easily surpassed. The underlying force is AI, and the massive data center build out underway. The fear of AI bubbles bursting has passed, as investors price in what was only a hiccup in the initial surge. The demand boom swamped NVIDIA’s NASDAQ: NVDA capacity to supply GPUs; that problem is about to be resolved, and the GPUs sold need to be connected. The takeaway is that NVIDIA’s price surge and the AI boom to date were merely the industry getting ready for what is about to come.

Starbucks: An AI Story in Disguise

Starbucks NASDAQ: SBUX is about as far from an AI story as you can get, except that AI underpins modern technology, and CEO Brian Niccol leans hard into tech. Starbucks is looking like a Buy in May because its recent fiscal Q2 2026 results show the Niccol-led turnaround is gaining momentum. The company sustained growth for the fifth quarter, accelerating sequentially and year-over-year, with comps up across the board. More importantly, there is strength in core markets, with the U.S. comp up 7.1%, and a surprise impact on profits.

The company cautioned many times that revenue growth would come first, with profit recovery coming later. The takeaway in May is that increased revenue leverage, driven by comp growth and improved store-level economics, produced an accelerated bottom-line performance and strength is expected to continue. The company raised its guidance, leading analysts to raise targets and the stock price to a new high. The likely outcome is that this stock rises by approximately 10% to about $115 in the near-term, then moves to fresh highs later in the year.

Advanced Micro Devices: It's Not Just About GPUs

Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ: AMD could be a buy this year because of its GPU outlook. The MI450 launch puts it on par with NVIDIA and will significantly increase GPU availability for the AI industry. Revenue is expected to surge by triple-digits as soon as the 3rd fiscal quarter, and there are other catalysts at hand. Results from Intel reveal demand for CPUs is rising, underpinned by GPU deployment and the shift to inference. The takeaway is that AMD's upcoming release(s) are likely to show significant strengths not priced into the stock and drive a robust revision cycle.

AMD’s stock price broke to fresh highs in April, showing Herculean strength as it accelerated its advance. The stock price is above fair value, according to analyst consensus, in early April, having risen more than 60% in one month. However, analyst trends suggest at least another 20% upside lies ahead. Assuming the results affirm the potential, analysts will likely increase their price targets to align AMD more closely with NVIDIA’s valuation, which is several hundred basis points higher.

Amkor Pulls Back to Buy Zone

Amkor NASDAQ: AMKR is no high-flying name, but it is critical to NVIDIA’s supply chain and is seeing robust growth because of it. The stock price rocketed higher this year, outpacing the bullish sentiment trend by a wide margin and setting up the correction seen in April.

The takeaway in May is that support is strong at the prior highs, the outlook robust, and price targets continue to increase, leading to the $90 range. That represents a 50% upside relative to the critical support target, and it may be reached well before the year’s end. Catalysts for this move include NVIDIA’s results and strengths in other industries, including smartphones, which contributed to the Q1 2026 outperformance.

Credo Technologies: Putting High-Speed Connections on Lockdown

Credo’s NASDAQ: CRDO story is that patent disputes are being settled in the company’s favor, establishing it as the owner of critical IP and securing revenue. The IP centers on Active Electric Cables (AECs), which incorporate silicon technology into data delivery cables, improving their performance to AI-capable levels.

The operative factor is the impact on copper cables, enabling longer, thinner wires and cost-effective alternatives to fiber optics for short-distance applications (such as within datacenters). The late-April price pullback have sets up a buying opportunity, as analyst trends are bullish, indicating increased coverage, firming sentiment, and a high likelihood of a fresh all-time high.

Aeluma: A Quantum Play on Datacenters

Aeluma NASDAQ: ALMU is a critical AI stock as its compound semiconductor technology focuses on quantum dot lasers and cost-effective, scalable, mass-market production. Quantum dot lasers are critical to AI because they solve the data transmission problem, enabling fast, efficient, tunable, and, most importantly, low-heat solutions.

Catalysts in April included new contracts from government sources funding the conversion from concept to production, which is already underway. Catalysts this year include ramping up production and commercializing technology. Five analysts rate this stock as a Moderate Buy; there is an 80% Buy-side bias, and the price targets are firming, pointing to a 35% upside.