Change is a constant on Wall Street, with innovation, competition, mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcies regularly shuffling the stock market’s “rankings.”
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has helped propel Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Broadcom past the $1 trillion plateau in 2024.
However, AI is not the main growth driver for an industry leader that is ideally positioned to make a run at a $1 trillion market cap this year.
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One of the only constants on Wall Street is change. Over several decades, the most valuable publicly traded companies on the stock market have often changed places, with technological innovations, competition, mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcies mixing up the proverbial deck.
In 1995, ExxonMobil and IBM were among the 10 most valuable public companies in the US Just over three decades later Microsoft maintained its place among the 10 most valuable public businesses.
By the end of 2025, we see a dozen public companies globally hitting the $1 trillion plateau, excluding the effects of inflation over time. For most of these exceptional businesses, artificial intelligence (AI) has been or will be a primary driver of growth. However, the next member of Wall Street’s trillion dollar club should be one of the most prolific split stocks on the market.
Image source: Getty Images.
Unlocking the potential of software and AI-based systems to make split-second decisions without human supervision is an approachable market that PwC analysts estimate will be worth $15.7 trillion by 2030. The potential for hardware and software applications of AI has provided a clear boost to the “Magnificent Seven,” which represent seven of the 12 billion public companies that have ever joined.
Some of the more recent members of the trillion dollar ranks have leaned heavily on their ties to artificial intelligence.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing(NYSE: TSM) It first reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion in July 2024. Although TSMC, as Taiwan Semiconductor is more commonly known, offers a number of advanced chip manufacturing services, a significant part of its huge growth in recent years is related to the insatiable demand for graphics processing units (GPUs).
TSMC has expanded its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate capacity at a breakneck pace of Nvidia and some of its external competitors – and still can’t keep up with demand. An expanded backlog for AI-accelerated data center brains should ensure sustained double-digit sales growth for TSMC.
Not long after Taiwan Semi entered rarefied, network specialist territory Broadcom(NASDAQ: AVGO) followed suit. Broadcom floated over $1 trillion in December 2024 and is currently the eighth most valuable publicly traded company in the US.
Broadcom’s accelerated growth is a function of its AI networking solutions that are designed to connect tens of thousands of GPUs with the goal of maximizing their computing capabilities and minimizing end-to-end latency. Making precise, split-second decisions is at the heart of the AI revolution, and Broadcom solutions facilitate these machine-based decisions.
In addition, Broadcom has made a name for itself as a developer of specialized AI chips. These processing units are aimed at a handful of the company’s hyperscale customers, which are expected to rapidly increase Broadcom’s AI-based sales.
Image source: Walmart.
While nine of the 12 global stocks that have ever reached $1 trillion in market capitalization rely on artificial intelligence as a key driver of growth, the U.S. company with the most logical path to becoming Wall Street’s next trillion-dollar stock is a trailblazer in the retail industry. Walmart(NASDAQ: WMT).
Walmart’s long-term success is reflected in its history of stock splits. Including the most recent 2-for-1 forward split in February 2024, Walmart has completed 12 stock splits since going public in October 1970. Only a small handful of public companies have split as many times as the retail industry.
While size isn’t everything for public companies, it makes quite a difference for Walmart. Its large size and deep pockets allow it to buy in bulk and undercut local mom-and-pop stores, as well as most national grocery chains, on price. Walmart offers a value proposition that few other retailers can match.
To build on this point, many of Walmart’s stores are considerably larger and more diverse than local stores and grocery chains. It has positioned its stores as one-stop shopping destinations where people can buy essentials (groceries and toiletries) as well as potentially higher-margin discretionary items.
Where Walmart has really excelled throughout its history is its ability to attract shoppers during times of economic uncertainty and/or higher inflation. Although the headline rate of inflation has fallen significantly since peaking at over 9% in June 2022, it remains stubbornly high in certain spending categories such as shelter. The economic uncertainty and modest inflationary growth that has resulted from President Donald Trump’s tariffs is a recipe for Walmart to attract new shoppers.
It should be noted that Walmart relies to some extent on AI solutions to improve its retail-based operating model. AI applications are deployed to help manage the supply chain, including restocking best-selling goods and anticipating consumer demand.
Finally, Walmart emphasized the convenience of expanding its sales and increasing its margins. The company’s Walmart+ subscription service is making waves, with global e-commerce sales soaring 27% year-over-year since the last reported quarter. Walmart+ should be a key profit driver in the second half of the decade.
With Walmart having a market cap of $913 billion as of the closing bell on Jan. 9, it would only need an upward move of about 10% to join the trillion-dollar club. It looks like it has the catalysts to make it happen in the new year.
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Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends International Business Machines, Microsoft, Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long $395 January 2026 Microsoft calls and short $405 January 2026 Microsoft calls. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Move Over, AI Stocks: Wall Street Is Likely to Welcome a New Member to the Trillion Dollar Club in 2026 was originally published by The Motley Fool
