Technology continues to reshape our world. Whether it’s artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, software automation, or cybersecurity, the next decade promises major shifts.
Focusing on emerging tech leaders rather than the well-known giants offers a chance to capture more of the upside.
In this article, I identify seven of the best tech stocks with the scale and potential to drive meaningful returns.
We’ll cover what each company does, the growth catalysts at work, and key risks to keep in mind.
TL;DR: Best Tech Stocks (Up and Coming Picks Only)
- Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG) – Cloud monitoring & analytics platform.
- SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE: S) – AI-powered cybersecurity endpoint platform.
- Monday.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: MNDY) – Work-operating system for project and team management.
- Gitlab Inc (NASDAQ: GTLB) – DevSecOps platform streamlining software development & security.
- Trade Desk Inc (NASDAQ: TTD) – Programmatic advertising platform for the streaming/CTV era.
- Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: PLTR) – Big-data / analytics software for government and enterprise.
- Varonis Systems Inc (NASDAQ: VRNS) – Data governance and insider-threat cybersecurity specialist.
Top 7 Up-And-Coming Tech Stocks To Watch
These companies aren’t the largest, but they could be primed to take over the market.
While established giants like Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META), and other Big Tech titans command significant market presence, the companies highlighted here could offer more substantial long-term revenue growth potential at their current stage.
Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG)
Overview
Datadog provides a cloud-based observability platform that helps companies monitor their entire tech stack in one place.
Its tools integrate metrics, logs, traces, and application performance so teams can detect issues faster and keep systems running smoothly.
Over the years, it has evolved from a simple monitoring service into a full-suite platform that now includes application security, cloud-infrastructure monitoring and AI-powered analytics.
Its inclusion in Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms highlights its position as a market leader.
Growth Catalysts
Enterprise cloud adoption keeps expanding, and with it comes the challenge of managing complex, distributed systems.
That’s where Datadog thrives. The company benefits from rising demand for observability across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Its recent move into AI and large-language-model monitoring reflects an understanding of where the market is headed.
At the same time, expanding into security tools and developer productivity features allows Datadog to cross-sell to existing customers, deepening loyalty and driving long-term revenue growth.
Conclusion
For investors who believe cloud and AI infrastructure will keep growing, Datadog remains one of the most compelling names in software.
It combines strong brand trust, a diversified product portfolio and high customer retention.
While competition in observability is fierce and growth expectations are high, the company’s broad platform and strategic vision make it a durable long-term play.
SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE: S)
Overview
SentinelOne offers an autonomous cybersecurity platform that integrates endpoint, cloud-workload, identity and data protection into a unified solution.
The company’s Singularity platform uses artificial intelligence to detect, respond to, and recover from cyber threats in real time.
With modern attack surfaces expanding, thanks to remote work, hybrid cloud and increased automation, SentinelOne has positioned itself as a vendor that aims to simplify and strengthen defense across environments.
The firm has earned recognition as a leader in endpoint security and cloud-native security for 2025, reflecting its market credibility.
Growth Catalysts
The demand for proactive, AI-based security solutions is accelerating as enterprises struggle with more complex threats including ransomware, zero-day exploits and cloud misconfigurations.
SentinelOne’s platform addresses this by enabling faster threat detection and automated response workflows.
Additionally, its growth is driven by expanding cross-sell opportunities from existing customers (adding identity or cloud-workload modules) and increasing enterprise adoption as security budgets rise globally.
Its recognition on industry radar charts for growth and innovation further underpins its relevance.
Conclusion
For investors drawn to cybersecurity growth, SentinelOne is a meaningful name blending modern technology and growing market need.
The business is less mature than legacy firms, which means more risk, but also more upside if execution holds.
The key will be sustaining growth, improving profitability, and differentiating in a crowded field. If you believe cyber threats will continue escalating and companies will invest accordingly, this one is worth keeping on your radar.
Monday.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: MNDY)
Overview
Monday.com provides a cloud-based work operating system (Work OS) that empowers teams to manage projects, workflows, CRM, IT service, and development processes all in one place.
The platform uses integrations, visual boards, automations and increasingly AI-capabilities to help organizations streamline work across departments.
Its emphasis on ease-of-use and flexibility has helped it gain footholds in companies ranging from smaller teams to large enterprises.
Growth Catalysts
The shift toward hybrid work and distributed teams has elevated the importance of platforms that provide visibility, coordination and automation across workflows.
Monday.com is adding features like AI assistants, no-code automation, and expanded enterprise modules to meet that need.
Its “Work OS” positioning means it can expand within a customer base beyond simple task-tracking into broader operations, increasing contract value.
Additionally, its global reach and ongoing product innovation support its long-term runway.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a tech stock tied to enabling digital work and collaboration rather than infrastructure or hardware, monday.com offers a fresh angle. It combines a modern platform with strong growth potential.
The trade-off is the competitive landscape and the need for continued innovation to keep differentiation.
For investors comfortable with growth software dynamics, it’s a worthy addition to study.
GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB)
Overview
GitLab is a DevSecOps platform that enables organizations to build, secure, and operate software all within a single application.
Originating as an open-source dev tool, it has grown into a full lifecycle platform for software development, integrating version control, CI/CD (continuous integration/continuous delivery), security scanning and operations.
Its move toward AI-powered developer tools underscores its efforts to stay ahead.
Growth Catalysts
As software development becomes faster, more distributed and more security-sensitive, platforms like GitLab are increasingly valuable.
The push for DevSecOps means development, operations, and security teams must work together, and GitLab supports that convergence.
Its monthly release cadence, new leadership in product and marketing, and focus on developer productivity via AI tools all suggest the company is gearing up for growth.
Its “one-platform” promise for dev workflows may appeal to enterprises seeking simplicity amid tool-sprawl.
Conclusion
For investors seeking exposure to the developer tools space, often less talked-about than cloud or chips, GitLab brings a unique angle.
It is still developing its scale and profitability, which means execution matters a great deal. If the company can convert its innovation into enterprise adoption and margin improvement, it could be an interesting upside.
The stock suits those willing to ride growth in software dev infrastructure with moderate risk.
The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD)
Overview
The Trade Desk operates a cloud-based platform for programmatic digital advertising.
Agencies and advertisers use it to plan, buy and optimize ad campaigns across display, video, audio and connected television (CTV).
The company emphasizes the open internet rather than closed walled-gardens, giving it a distinctive position in ad-tech.
It was selected to join the S&P 500 in 2025, reflecting its maturation and recognition in the market.
Growth Catalysts
Advertising is shifting rapidly with connected TV, streaming, and data-driven formats gaining ground.
The Trade Desk sits at the heart of that shift by offering real-time bidding, data analytics, and cross-channel campaign management.
Growth drivers include rising ad budgets shifting from legacy media, increasing demand for transparency and measurement in ad spend, and the platform’s ability to execute across new channels.
The S&P inclusion also may increase index-fund exposure.
Conclusion
For individuals wanting exposure to digital media transformation rather than infrastructure, The Trade Desk provides a strong bet.
The framework of programmatic ad buying across devices and the move into CTV give it a compelling narrative.
However, ad-tech is subject to economic cycles, regulatory changes around data/privacy and competitive pressure from large platforms. If you’re comfortable with those risks, this is a standout ad-tech name.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR)
Overview
Palantir develops software platforms that help organizations integrate, analyze, and operationalize large and complex data sets.
It serves governments and enterprises with products like Foundry (enterprise data platform) and Gotham (intelligence/defense platform).
With over 20 years of operations, the company’s focus on AI-driven insights and mission-critical workloads helps it stand out among the competition.
Growth Catalysts
Demand for advanced data analytics and AI is growing rapidly across both public and private sectors.
Palantir’s history with government agencies gives it credibility, and it is increasingly pursuing commercial customers to diversify.
Its software enables organizations to make data-driven decisions, something more companies are seeking as legacy analytics systems fall short.
Additionally, the broader AI wave reinforces its relevance.
Conclusion
Palantir offers a high-potential play in data-analytics and AI infrastructure. Its mix of defense/government contracts and commercial penetration provides dual tailwinds.
But the stock comes with elevated expectations, dependency on large contracts, and volatility.
For investors who believe in AI’s future and accept the risk, Palantir is an intriguing candidate, but one where timing, patience and conviction matter.
Varonis Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNS)
Overview
Varonis specializes in data-centric security and analytics. Its platform helps organizations protect and govern unstructured data (files, emails, cloud files), detect insider threats, automate remediation of data exposure and support compliance.
The company is positioned in Miami with global offices and markets its solution as vital for protecting modern digital environments.
Growth Catalysts
As organizations migrate to the cloud and SaaS environments grow, the need to secure unstructured data becomes more urgent.
Varonis addresses that by offering visibility into user behavior, data access permissions and data movements across on-premise, hybrid and cloud systems.
Regulatory pressures and increased breach liability strengthen its market case. Its feature updates in 2025 show a push into AI-powered threat detection and broader data governance, which could deepen its relevance.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for cybersecurity exposure beyond the big endpoint-players, Varonis offers a niche angle on data governance, a domain that is often overlooked until after a breach.
It combines meaningful upside with slightly less public fanfare. But the trade-off is that it is somewhat smaller and less diversified than some of its peers, so execution and growth consistency are key.
For long-term growth-oriented investors, this one merits attention.
Where Will The Next Up and Coming Tech Stocks Come From?
Experts believe the cloud services sector will continue to grow in the coming years, with worldwide public cloud services revenues projected to reach $723 billion by 2025.
Cybersecurity stocks continue to be a significant growth driver for the market, with the global cybersecurity market expected to expand from $165.11 billion in 2024 to $180.47 billion in 2025.
Blockchain Stocks
Blockchain stocks have seen renewed legitimacy since the SEC approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10, 2024, which opened the door for widespread institutional participation.
While pure-play crypto stocks remain volatile, institutional surveys show 93% of digital-asset investors maintain a positive long-term outlook on blockchain technology.
Meanwhile, enterprise blockchain has graduated from pilot projects—over 80% of Fortune 500 companies now deploy blockchain for supply-chain tracking, trade finance, and secure data sharing.
Major incumbents like IBM (IBM) and emerging platforms such as R3’s Corda are delivering real-world solutions, suggesting blockchain equities may benefit as enterprise use cases scale.
AI Stocks
AI has become the dominant theme across technology markets. Beyond household names like Microsoft and NVIDIA, pure-play AI specialists are now attracting significant investment.
C3.ai (NYSE: AI) reported 25% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 2025 and strengthened partnerships with Baker Hughes, Microsoft, and AWS—underscoring its role as an enterprise AI leader.
BigBear.ai (NYSE American: BBAI) has also rallied more than 20% this year after winning new defense and intelligence contracts, highlighting the growing importance of AI in government and security sectors.
These under-the-radar names exemplify the breadth of opportunities in today’s AI revolution, offering investors alternatives outside the traditional blue-chip stocks.
Portfolio Fit and Strategy
Putting these seven stocks into a portfolio gives exposure across converging technology themes: cloud infrastructure (Datadog), cybersecurity (SentinelOne, Varonis), productivity/workflow (monday.com, GitLab), ad-tech (The Trade Desk), and data/AI platforms (Palantir).
This diversification helps spread risk across software and service domains.
When allocating, consider your risk tolerance and time horizon. If you’re conservative, you might allocate a modest portion of your portfolio (e.g., 10-15 %) to a few of these names, rather than a full allocation.
If you’re more aggressive, you might assign larger weights but remain vigilant about quarterly performance and macro shifts.
Monitoring is important. Key metrics to track include: recurring revenue growth (for SaaS players), margin expansion, customer retention/expansion, product innovation, and any regulatory or competitive changes.
Have an exit plan: perhaps trimming if growth slows, or reallocating if a company misses expectations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q2: Is now a good time to buy tech stocks after recent run-ups?
The tech sector has seen strong gains, but the market is still reorganizing around themes like AI infrastructure, security, and workflow automation.
Rather than buying the biggest names only, focusing on companies with growth engines tied to these themes may offer better risk-reward.
Q3: Should I buy all seven or just a few?
You don’t have to buy all seven. Select the ones whose business you understand, whose thesis you believe in, and which fit your risk tolerance. Diversification is helpful, but over-diversification can dilute returns.
Q4: What happens if one of these themes slows down?
That is a risk. If cloud spending, cybersecurity budgets or data-analytics investment slow, any of these companies could face headwinds. That’s why it’s crucial to monitor fundamentals, stay informed and avoid relying on hype alone.
Closing Thoughts
The next wave of tech winners may not be the usual “big five” or “Magnificent Seven”.
Instead, it may come from companies innovating around AI infrastructure, workflow software, data governance, and cybersecurity.
The seven stocks profiled here, Datadog, SentinelOne, monday.com, GitLab, The Trade Desk, Palantir and Varonis, offer diverse entry points into those themes with credible scale and meaningful growth potential.
As an investor, you benefit from focusing on firms that solve real enterprise problems, have recurring revenue models, and are well-positioned for long-term secular trends.
At the same time, keep in mind that no investment is without risk. Perform your own research, watch for execution setbacks, and align your portfolio choices with your time horizon and comfort with volatility.
If you buy any of these stocks, think long-term, stay informed, and don’t chase short-term momentum.
With the right thesis and discipline, you could be in a position to ride the next phase of tech growth.
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