This weekly update covers major developments in artificial intelligence trading and investments, with a special focus on agentic AI – an exciting new technology that helps computers make smart decisions on their own.

Bank of America's investment team released important research about the best AI companies to watch in 2026. They identified agentic AI as a major trend that will shape how people shop online and book travel. The team explained that agentic AI is different from regular AI because it can understand what people want and take action to help them, almost like having a helpful assistant.

Amazon, one of the world's largest online retailers, is now using agentic AI to improve shopping experiences. According to Bank of America analysts, Amazon's AI can learn what customers like and suggest products they'll probably want. The AI can also improve how Amazon shows advertisements and help more people actually buy things. This technology could make shopping much faster and easier for customers everywhere.

Google is another company that Bank of America highlighted as being in a great position for AI success. Google's AI called Gemini is bringing more people to their search engine, and Google can make money from AI through cloud services and advertising. Bank of America said Google is "best positioned across AI" because it has so many ways to profit from this technology.

Booking, which is a company that helps people find flights, hotels, and plan vacations, is preparing to launch an agentic AI booking product in 2026. This new tool could change how people plan trips forever. Instead of spending hours searching different websites, travelers could tell the AI about their trip preferences, and the AI would handle all the planning. The AI would suggest the best combinations of flights, hotels, and activities while making sure everything fits the traveler's budget and interests.

In the semiconductor industry – companies that make computer chips – ASML, a Dutch company, became the top pick for European semiconductor stocks. ASML makes special equipment that other companies use to manufacture computer chips. Bernstein, an investment research company, upgraded ASML because there will be massive demand for new chips to power all the AI systems being developed. They estimate that the three biggest chip manufacturers are planning to add 250,000 new production lines in 2026.

The analyst at Bernstein explained that newer computer chips need special tools to manufacture, and ASML makes those tools. This means ASML should see huge growth as demand for AI chips increases. The same analyst raised their earnings growth prediction from 15% to 18% per year over the next few years, which means the company should make significantly more money.

Meanwhile, Alibaba, a major Chinese e-commerce company, faced some challenges. Morgan Stanley, another investment research company, lowered their price prediction for Alibaba because online shopping in China is slowing down. However, Morgan Stanley remained positive about Alibaba's cloud computing business, which provides AI services to other companies. This shows that even when regular online shopping is weak, the AI technology business remains strong.

Semiconductor tensions also made headlines when geopolitical experts warned about potential risks. Taiwan, an island near China, manufactures most of the world's advanced computer chips. Any conflict in the Taiwan area could seriously disrupt the worldwide supply of AI chips. However, experts believe major disruptions are unlikely to happen in 2026, though investors should stay aware of this possibility.

Finally, Adobe, which makes creative software used by millions of artists and designers, received a downgrade from investment experts. The experts said that Adobe faces intense competition from new AI-powered software tools from other companies. Adobe's software is facing pressure from smaller, more specialized competitors and from people using free AI tools instead. The experts said they don't see any exciting new developments that would make Adobe's stock price go up soon, so they advised investors to be cautious.