5 AI Stocks to Buy as Markets Defy "Sell in May and Go Away" Adage

The real trade here is not “AI” in the abstract; it is the capex translation layer that monetizes every incremental hyperscaler dollar. Optical transport, test, and high-performance power management are effectively the picks-and-shovels for a phase shift from model training to network densification and rack-level power/thermal optimization. That makes CIEN/LITE/TER/MCHP/TXN a cleaner second-order expression of AI spend than the mega-cap platform names, which are already priced for sustained execution.

What matters next is the duration of the margin cycle. Several of these businesses are seeing both mix and pricing tailwinds, but the market is also rewarding any company that can demonstrate supply discipline while demand exceeds capacity. That is supportive over the next 1-2 quarters, but it can become self-defeating if customers over-order optical and test equipment, creating a digestion phase later in 2026; the highest beta names here would likely de-rate first if lead times normalize abruptly.

The contrarian angle is that consensus is underestimating concentration risk: if a handful of hyperscalers re-phase deployments, all five names can gap together despite different end markets. I’d also note TXN is the most structurally durable but least torque-rich; it is the better “quality AI infra” exposure if the group rotates from momentum to fundamentals. Conversely, LITE and TER are the most levered to a continued capex upswing and likely have the most upside if the AI networking buildout broadens beyond NVDA’s ecosystem.