Markets Delivered Their Strongest Quarter Since 2020 — These 3 Stocks Still Have Massive Room to Run

Markets just logged their best quarter since 2020. When I read that headline initially, my brain almost exploded. You know, given the souring sentiment we’re seeing prevailing in many headlines of late.

That said, certain pockets of tech have taken over growth leadership, and the market has found a way to continue to hover around all-time highs. Despite various economic indicators which aren’t pointing in the right direction, the market still continues on.

With that in mind, I think it’s important to focus on three companies with real and meaningful growth, earnings power, and strong margins. Here are three of my top picks right now.

Alphabet

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG | GOOG Price Prediction) looks like the cleanest “growth plus quality” setup in mega-cap tech, at least in my humble view.

I think the company’s recent earnings speak volumes. The company’s Q1 revenue absolutely surged more than 21% to nearly $110 billion in a quarter. That’s a monster number, but perhaps not even as impressive as Alphabet’s operating margin of more than 36%.

Driving these impressive results were…wait for it…incredible results from Alphabet’s Google Cloud division, which saw its revenue surge 63% on a year-over-year basis. Importantly, this segment’s backlog nearly doubled to more than $460 billion, signaling every strong long-term demand is ahead.

I think what’s important is that Alphabet now stands apart from the crowd as a giant that’s no longer a one-trick pony. Instead, Alphabet is pairing accelerating cloud demand with expanding profitability, and the company’s operating leverage is still showing through despite heavy AI capex.

For investors, that combination matters. This is a company providing plenty of durable revenue growth, rising margins, and a cloud backlog that suggests visibility well beyond the next quarter. That’s a model I like.

Microsoft (MSFT)

Let’s not forget about Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), one of the most durable compounding stories in large-cap tech, and the recent numbers still support a bullish case. The company posted 18.3% revenue growth in Q3 FY26, with Microsoft’s own cloud division Azure growing a very impressive 40%. That said, perhaps the most important figure in this recent earnings report (at least in my humble opinion) is the fact that Microsoft’s AI business hit a $37 billion annual run rate. That number allowed Microsoft to buck the trend plaguing other AI giants, with strong operating margins above 46% and a return on equity figure that remains in the mid-30% range.

Indeed, that’s the kind of profile you want when the market is already extended. Microsoft provides investors with a strong growth story, elite margins, and a balance of cloud, software, and AI exposure that keeps the earnings engine running. Microsoft also carries a huge commercial backlog, which gives the stock a lot of fundamental support if the market rotates from momentum to quality.

The stock is not cheap in an absolute sense, but the multiple still looks reasonable relative to its growth and margin power, especially if AI monetization continues to scale into fiscal 2027.

Nvidia (NVDA)

Okay, we can’t talk about market leaders without discussing the largest hyper growth stock in the market, and the largest name overall for that matter. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) continues to shine, despite a recent selloff, still trading near a $5 trillion market capitalization.

Aside from the story around insane chip demand, which appears to still be very relevant, there’s more than just a story supporting Nvidia’s rise in recent years. In fact, I’d argue that the story has started to turn against Nvidia to a certain degree. Some companies are pulling back on compute (or selling compute), while other customers are looking to diversify toward cheaper semiconductor options.

That said, Nvidia’s revenue of more than $68 billion this past quarter, supported by gross margins of 75%, can’t be ignored. As a central supplier to the AI infrastructure cycle, any turnaround in sentiment surrounding this sector could have a material impact on the firm. In fact, I think it will.

Simply put, Nvidia remains central to AI infrastructure buildouts, and its gross margin structure shows the business still has room to convert growth into very large profits and cash flow.

Even after a massive run, NVIDIA remains one of the purest ways to play the next leg of AI capex, especially if hyperscaler spending keeps trending higher through the next several quarters.

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