Why 60% of Americans Believe AI Stocks Will Deliver Strong Long-Term Returns

• The Motley Fool has released a caller 2026 AI Investor Outlook Report.

• It finds that 62% of Americans judge companies investing heavy successful AI volition nutrient beardown semipermanent returns.

• Younger investors are driving the assurance successful AI investment, and galore already ain AI stocks.

• 10 stocks we similar amended than Nvidia ›

As artificial quality (AI) stocks soared higher and higher passim 2025, much and much voices sounded warnings of an "AI bubble" that was astir to pop. Concerns astir the valuation of immoderate of the biggest AI players similar Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) apt contributed to November's marketplace slump.

But according to caller probe by The Motley Fool, a bulk of Americans aren't buying it. In fact, implicit 60% of them judge that AI stocks volition alternatively present beardown semipermanent returns. The crushed wherefore whitethorn astonishment you.

According to The Motley Fool's 2026 AI Investor Outlook Report, which was conscionable released, it's younger investors who are astir assured successful AI companies' quality to nutrient strong, semipermanent returns, with 67% of Gen Z investors and 63% of Millennial investors optimistic astir the sector's potential. Meanwhile, older investors stay acold much skeptical, with conscionable 50% expressing assurance that the AI investments of companies investing heavy successful the exertion volition wage off.

As you'd expect, the astir assured AI investors have, largely, already enactment their wealth wherever their mouths are, with 93% of Americans who already ain AI stocks oregon exchange-traded funds (ETFs) expressing assurance successful the technology's quality to nutrient semipermanent returns.

But is this conscionable a lawsuit of younger investors being attracted to the shiny caller technology, careless of its merits? Motley Fool AI Stock Analyst Asit Sharma, CPA, doesn't deliberation so. Here's what helium thinks is truly going on.

Many younger Americans person already had the accidental to make contented utilizing AI exertion tools, either astatine enactment oregon connected societal media, and truthful they've seen firsthand the game-changing imaginable of the technology, and however overmuch it's improved implicit the past fewer years. Sharma believes that younger investors person recognized AI's quality to fundamentally change the mode businesses and the wide system function.

"As reasoning models go much powerful, the companies that payment from AI-driven optimization volition nutrient superior returns connected capital, and the businesses that enactment this infrastructure volition thrive from sustained demand," Sharma says successful the report.