Nvidia and Alphabet Both Have Amazing Potential in an AI Era. But Which Stock Is the Better Buy Right Now?

It is hard to find two companies that have benefited more from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom than Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL). And both tech giants have delivered incredible returns over the last few years as investors clamor for exposure to the next era of computing.

But can both stocks keep winning over the long haul? And, more importantly, is one of these two AI stocks a better buy?

Nvidia is the ultimate picks-and-shovels play, selling the hardware that makes artificial intelligence possible. Alphabet, on the other hand, is embedding that technology into an already dominant and diversified ecosystem of software, search, streaming, and cloud computing.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia: unmatched momentum, but cyclical hardware risks

Nvidia's fundamental performance over the past year has been nothing short of extraordinary. In the company's fiscal 2026 fourth quarter, revenue skyrocketed 73% year over year to $68.1 billion. Unsurprisingly, its data center segment remains the primary engine, generating $62.3 billion of that total as cloud providers continue to buy AI-capable graphics processing units (GPUs) at a staggering pace.

Noting the insatiable appetite for the company's chips in the latest earnings call, Nvidia chief financial officer Colette Kress explained the supply dynamics.

"With Nvidia infrastructure in high demand, even Hopper and much of the six-year-old Ampere-based products are sold out in the cloud," Kress said.

But this is where things get more complicated for the stock.

Nvidia's business is largely tied to the massive capital expenditure cycles of its biggest customers. If those cloud infrastructure budgets eventually normalize, or if large tech companies successfully deploy more of their own custom silicon to save money, Nvidia could see both prices and revenue growth rates take a hit at the same time.

At a price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 36 as of this writing, Nvidia stock leaves little room for error. The valuation arguably assumes not just continued rapid growth and strong pricing power, but also that the chipmaker will not face a cyclical hardware downturn anytime soon.

Alphabet: a durable, AI-powered ecosystem

Alphabet's growth profile looks slower, but more durable.

The Google parent's fourth-quarter revenue rose 18% year over year to $113.8 billion.

While the company's advertising business accounted for 72% of this revenue and grew at a robust year-over-year rate of 14%, the company's cloud computing business -- Google Cloud -- is arguably the central element to the bull case for Alphabet stock.

Google Cloud's revenue surged 48% year over year to $17.7 billion in Q4. And as the cloud unit scales, it is becoming a significant profit driver for the overall business. Google Cloud's operating margin improved dramatically to 30.1% in the quarter -- up from just 17.5% in the year-ago period.

And demand trends suggest there's more incredible growth to come for this segment.

Alphabet is "signing larger customer commitments," Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai noted during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call when talking about its business momentum in Google Cloud. "The number of deals in 2025 over a billion dollars surpassed the previous three years combined."

Alphabet's total Google Cloud backlog? It sits at $240 billion, up 55% sequentially.

"The increase in backlog was driven by strong demand for our Cloud products, led by our enterprise AI offerings from multiple customers," explained Alphabet chief financial officer Anat Ashkenazi in the company's fourth-quarter earnings call.

And because Alphabet generates substantial free cash flow -- $73.3 billion in 2025 -- primarily from its core search advertising business while simultaneously growing a high-margin enterprise cloud division, the company is not overly reliant on a single hardware cycle. Therefore, if AI infrastructure spending cools off, Alphabet still has billions of users actively engaging with YouTube and Google Search to fall back on.

Which stock is the better buy?

Deciding between the two stocks boils down to predictability and durability.

The reality is that both companies' valuations look fair given their underlying growth rates. Alphabet trades at 27 times earnings while Nvidia commands a price-to-earnings ratio of 36. But Nvidia, of course, is growing far faster than Alphabet.

The issue comes down to what investors expect to happen over the long term. With Nvidia, there's arguably more uncertainty. While the company may continue to beat expectations in the near term, buying a cyclical hardware business at a premium multiple introduces significant risk if industry capacity catches up to demand or if competition gains significant market share as the current investment cycle matures.

Both of these companies are exceptional operators with bright futures. But for investors putting fresh capital to work today, Alphabet is arguably the better buy. The search giant's diversified revenue streams, its accelerating cloud business, and its less cyclical business model make it a safer long-term bet.

Of course, Alphabet has risks, too. For instance, the company plans to spend about $175 billion to $185 billion on capital expenditures this year -- largely on investments related to AI compute capacity and cloud demand. Investors will have to keep an eye on management's comments on how the return on investment on such significant spending is paying off.

Ultimately, Nvidia is certainly worth watching, but Alphabet is the stock I would rather own right now.

Daniel Sparks and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.