Compass for this year: cloud solutions, artificial intelligence, mega companies

The year 2026 is expected to continue to start with risks and uncertainties in international markets. Investors will simultaneously face volatile exchange rate movements, different economic trajectories, and the effects of monetary policy decisions. However, it is important to see that uncertainty does not necessarily mean a lack of opportunities. It is more that the return prospects are not evenly distributed – in 2026, those topics and sectors where the longer-term fundamentals are strong and investor interest can remain in the spotlight.

“Overall, the stock markets closed a favorable year in 2025, so the decade, excluding 2022, has also been very strong so far. At the beginning of January 2026, the bar is high, just like last year, but we do not assess the stock market prospects as negative, just like a year ago.”

– wrote Norbert Cinkotai, senior analyst at K&H Értékpapir. The continuation of favorable trends could therefore continue to provide a tailwind for broader international equity markets, while certain sectors, themes and stories could gain prominence this year.

What will happen to precious metals and large technology behemoths?

Gold has performed extremely strongly in recent times and after several consecutive strong years, it is natural that the chance of a correction increases in the short term. At the same time, there are several driving forces behind precious metals that could make them attractive in 2026. The feeling of a permanent “higher inflation era”, the monetary easing cycle of the Fed, which acts as the US central bank, and the investor demand for portfolio diversification are all supportive factors. In the case of silver, industrial use and its connection to technological changes may provide special support, but for precious metals, it is also worth considering that volatility may remain permanently higher in the wake of significant increases at the beginning of 2026.

Leading American technology companies have been among the defining stock market stories of recent years. Based on experience, the picture in 2026 is not uniform: some players may perform stronger, while others may move on a more volatile path. The point is, however, that the fundamentals of the sector have remained strong overall, and in several cases, improving profits played a role behind the price increases. Artificial intelligence (AI) as an investment story has also defined the recent period. The related developments and the business opportunities arising from them may also be key in 2026. The big question is how quickly and along what business models AI solutions will generate sustainable income. Large technology companies may have the advantage that their strong capital position allows them to finance development cycles for a longer period of time, and the risk of various attempts is also reduced when it comes to large corporate groups. The cloud sector may remain in the spotlight in 2026, because the development and running of AI models requires computing capacity and data storage – and to an increasing extent. K&H Securities analysts believe that the main risk in the latter area is that in a weaker economic environment, companies may restrain their IT spending, and investors are keenly watching the return on AI investments and the development of capital expenditures. At the same time, digitalization and AI-driven demand may provide a strong fundamental background for the sector in 2026 as well.

Not as prominent, but still worth paying attention to

Although investments related to electricity grids and energy infrastructure are less “loud”, they could be a decisive target in the long term. After all, the spread of AI is not only visible in technology companies, but also on the infrastructure side: the electricity demand of data centers may increase significantly, while the increase in the proportion of renewable energy sources requires more flexible, more advanced networks. Together, these two mean that the development of electricity grids could become a stable, long-term investment topic in 2026.