If you don’t buy the AI bubble fears and think the increased skepticism over some of the names powering the technology, it might be time to get just a bit more greedy to start 2026 off on the right track. Undoubtedly, the broad markets are starting to heat up again (AI stocks included), but there are some names that still seem too cheap for their own good if the massive AI capital expenditures are met with a good, maybe even a great, return, perhaps over a timeframe that wouldn’t upset true long-term investors.
As the monetization stage of AI starts to play out in a more meaningful way, many firms are bound to disappoint with the returns that come in. However, there are other firms that might be able to impress despite their high expectations and equally high capex. While the AI bubble may drag everything down together, I do think that there will be plenty of winners and a ton of losers as firms look to unlock the full power of AI and convince consumers (and the enterprise) to pay up for their product.
In this piece, we’ll look at two dirt-cheap AI stocks that I think have what it takes to rise as winners in 2026, even if the first half of the year becomes treacherous.
Salesforce
It was supposed to be a big year for agentic AI, but Salesforce (NYSE:CRM | CRM Price Prediction), one of the leading players in agents and the “digital labor” trend, has not been able to please investors. The stock is poised to finish the year down around 20%, while the S&P closes in on a gain of 20%. That’s a tough bout of underperformance for a name that I think could reward investor patience as CEO Marc Benioff, who reportedly considered renaming his firm to Agentforce, looks to deliver the growth that investors want to see.
Could there be a big upside surprise in 2026, as Salesforce doubles down on Agentforce? Time will tell. Either way, the stock is cheap at just over 20.0 times forward price-to-earnings (P/E), which makes no sense for a firm that certainly has what it takes to rise up as one of the biggest winners in AI software. Evercore recently named Salesforce as one of its top software stocks for the new year.
They seem to be fans of the AI strategy and its potential to re-accelerate revenues. Combined with the modest free cash flow multiple as well as the stewardship of the legendary Marc Benioff, I think Evercore is right to be bullish on a software name that I think the market is confused over, especially if AI agent adoption is ready for a boom.
Oracle
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is another hard-hit AI stock that sank over 45% from its September peak to its more recent December trough. Investors were hesitant over the debt load, and there’s growing uncertainty as to whether OpenAI, Oracle’s massive client, will have enough cash to pay its bills, especially if AI runs into a bit of a block over the next four years.
And while Oracle’s massive RPOs (remaining performance obligations) are still shockingly high, it seems like investors are willing to tune out the figure as they pay more attention to what could go wrong and whether Oracle’s aggressive push into data centers could come back to haunt them if an AI bubble does burst. With Wells Fargo analyst noting the likelihood that the sell-off in Oracle shares is “overdone,” I think it might be time to start getting back in, as Oracle keeps on spending, while its debt and CDS put off many of the investors who want nothing to do with the AI data center.
Personally, I think there’s too much bear-case scenario risk that’s priced in at less than $200 per share. The stock goes for 28.6 times forward P/E, which is quite reasonable for a firm that’s serving OpenAI, one of the leaders in AI, which, I think, could release a slew of AI-native apps that the public is actually willing to pay up for.
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