Just been looking at some interesting upcoming stocks to invest in right now, and honestly the market setup feels pretty compelling for 2026. We're three years into this bull run and analysts are still calling for more upside, so if you've got a grand sitting around after bills and emergency fund are sorted, there are some solid opportunities worth considering.

The way I see it, there are a few thematic plays that could really move. First up is the quantum computing angle. Look, it's still early days, but McKinsey is projecting the quantum market could explode from $4 billion in 2024 to $72 billion by 2035. That's the kind of long-term tailwind that gets me interested. IonQ is one of the names in this space - they're designing and manufacturing quantum computers and offering services through major cloud providers. Their revenue more than doubled in the first nine months of 2025, hitting $68 million, with Q3 alone up 222%. They recently hit a 99.99% accuracy benchmark on their quantum systems, which is a big deal for moving this tech toward actual real-world use. The stock is pricey right now at 158x sales and volatile as hell, but for upcoming stocks to invest in with serious long-term potential, this could be worth a smaller position.

Now here's where the real money is flowing right now - AI infrastructure. Gartner is forecasting a 41% jump in AI infrastructure spending to $1.4 trillion in 2026, and that's creating some really interesting opportunities for the companies actually building the components.

Celestika is one I've been watching. They're designing and manufacturing the networking components that go into AI accelerator chips from the big players like Broadcom, Marvell, AMD, and Intel. Their revenue jumped an estimated 27% in 2025 to $12.2 billion, and the forecast shows acceleration ahead. Trading at just 3.2x sales, this feels like a no-brainer for anyone looking at upcoming stocks to invest in with near-term growth catalysts.

Then there's Micron Technology. This one's been an absolute beast - up 243% over the past year - but it's still trading under 10x sales with a forward earnings multiple of 11. Here's the thing: there's a genuine shortage of memory chips used in AI data centers, and demand keeps outpacing supply. Micron's earnings could quadruple this fiscal year on the back of 100% sales growth. The shortage dynamic is sustainable too, since building new chip facilities takes years. That means memory prices should stay elevated, especially for the high-bandwidth memory that AI data centers are hungry for.

So if you're thinking about upcoming stocks to invest in right now, these three themes - quantum computing, AI infrastructure components, and memory chips - seem to have the best combination of growth and tailwinds. The market's still got room to run in 2026, and these names look positioned to benefit from the bigger rally.