Nasdaq Sell-Off: 2 Top Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever

Fears about a potential recession and a tariff war between the U.S. and its trade partners are causing significant volatility in the stock market. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has taken the brunt of the drop, falling 13.4% since its recent highs in December and 9.5% since the beginning of 2025.

While some investors may think running for the hills is the best strategy right now, those with cooler heads have a superb buying opportunity -- if they know where to look. Here's why the recent pullback from Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) stocks is creating a good time to buy these top artificial intelligence (AI) companies.

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Nvidia's long-term AI opportunities are unchanged

Nvidia's share price has fallen 20.4% since the beginning of the year, which is enough to make even the most level-headed investor question whether the semiconductor company is worth the investment. While some investors are no doubt taking some of the gains they've earned over the past couple of years, it's worth remembering what propelled Nvidia to the front of the AI stock group in the first place: It has a dominant position in AI processors.

Nvidia's accelerators still have an estimated 70% to 95% share of the AI chip market. No other company comes close to this position, and Nvidia is the leader at a time when AI spending is ramping up. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says that tech companies could shell out $2 trillion over the next five years for data center infrastructure.

This is more than just a future opportunity, of course. Nvidia's data center sales spiked 93% to $35.6 billion in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2025, which ended Jan. 26. Part of that AI chip demand came from Nvidia's new Blackwell processors. They accounted for $11 billion in sales in the quarter, which management called the "fastest product ramp" in the company's history.

The big picture shows that AI data center spending isn't slowing down -- it's speeding up. Nvidia's share price may be tumbling, but the company's AI future looks very bright. If you can avoid the market noise, you can pick up Nvidia stock at a discount right now.

Broadcom is still the leading AI chip company

Broadcom's share price has fallen an identical 20.4% since the beginning of the year, causing uneasiness among some investors. But amid the market turmoil, it's smart to consider the facts about Broadcom's position in the AI market and its ongoing opportunities.

First, Broadcom is the leading designer of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) used in some AI data centers by the world's largest tech companies, including Meta Platforms and Alphabet. Demand for its processors has soared amid the AI race and caused Broadcom's artificial intelligence revenue to spike 77% in its first quarter (which ended Feb. 2). It reached $4.4 billion.

That impressive revenue growth came on the heels of Broadcom's artificial intelligence sales spiking 220% in 2024. The good news for Broadcom is that tech companies will continue to vie for dominance as they build AI data centers, with hundreds of billions of dollars already committed to new AI infrastructure.

Here's the bottom line: Market volatility or not, artificial intelligence spending isn't going away. The proverbial AI cat is out of the bag, and no major technology company is backing away from investing in it. This is spurring AI data center spending that will last years, not quarters, and Broadcom is already tapping into it.

With Broadcom stock falling, investors are getting the chance to scoop up shares at a discount as the AI boom continues to take off.

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Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.