Picking the right stocks for your ISA or SIPP is a challenging task, and the decisions can drastically impact how much money you have over the long term.
Listening to experts can certainly help generate ideas, so we asked four professional investors at City firms for their highest conviction tech stock pick for 2027. In other words, can they pick out the next Nvidia? Always a fun challenge to take on!
Of course, there is zero guarantee these stocks will do well. All stocks can go down as well as up and there’s no telling what impact the wider world might have next year and beyond, as 2026 has once more shown.
The most important thing to remember is you should diversify across many different stocks and at least a couple of sensible funds or ETFs, such as an index tracker. It is also crucial to be prepared to hold stocks over multi-year timeframes, not weeks or months.
That said, here are four companies the pros are convinced will be winners over the course of 2027: three you may not have heard of, and one juggernaut you will know.
Behind the AI build: Arista Networks
David Coombs, multi-asset fund manager at Rathbones Asset Management, is excited by Arista Networks. The US firm supplies networking hardware for hyperscaler data centres, with Microsoft and Meta its largest customers. It is also working with frontier labs Anthropic and OpenAI.
Arista is benefiting from higher demand for networking equipment in AI data centres. As AI models become more intelligent, running them requires an ever-larger number of chips to work together.
“Moving data back and forth between chips has become a bottleneck, with expensive silicon sitting idle as it waits for data,” Coombs explained. “Consequently, the need for high-performance networking equipment in AI data centres has been increasing, leading to an acceleration in sales growth for Arista. We like this stock for our multi-asset funds.”
He added that as AI models continue to become more intelligent, an entire new layer of networking equipment could be needed in data centres, which Arista is well-placed to offer.
Arista is trading at around $205 at the time of writing, which is 41 per cent higher over one year and more than 800 per cent up over five years.
The invisible online retail giant: Shopify
Greg Eckel, portfolio manager at Canadian General Investments, has gone for a name powering much of the e-commerce sites you might use every day, even if you don’t know this company itself.
“When investors think of Canada, they envision oil reserves, expansive woodland, and a world-class banking system,” Eckel said. “Yet Canada offers more than these 'Jurassic Park' industries, as demonstrated by its bustling technology sector.
“Shopify is a standout example. Despite its scale, the company remains largely invisible to shoppers, a trait founder Tobi Lutke has called ‘by design’.”
Eckel explained that unlike Amazon, where vendors operate under the shadow of the marketplace's branding, in his view Shopify empowers businesses to build their own online storefronts at an affordable monthly cost.
Shopify isn't just attracting established online merchants. According to Eckel, its technology has made it easier for anyone to build a business. This enables new entrepreneurs to join the digital marketplace.
The hope is that AI is set to extend that reach further, increasing Shopify's addressable market and reinforcing its position as a platform of choice for online retailers.
Shopify is trading at around $147 at the time of writing, which is 6 per cent lower over one year and flat over five years.
Picks and shovels for chips: KLA
Sagar Thanki, senior investment analyst for the Guinness Global Innovators Fund, sees KLA Corporation as a picks-and-shovels style play on the increasingly complex computer chips industry.
It is a less glamorous, but more durable, way to invest in the AI investment cycle. The firm makes the inspection and measurement equipment that semiconductor manufacturers use to find defects and improve yields when producing advanced chips.
The harder chips become to manufacture, the more valuable KLA’s technology becomes, Thanki explained.
“That matters because AI is pushing the semiconductor industry towards increasingly complex manufacturing; leading-edge 2nm chips, high-bandwidth memory, and advanced packaging all require greater levels of process control,” he said.
“KLA therefore benefits from AI investment without having to bet on which individual chip designer ultimately wins. Its customers span the major foundry, logic and memory manufacturers.”
KLA is trading at around $185 at the time of writing, which is 75 per cent higher over one year and more than 400 per cent up over five years.
And the very familiar name: Nvidia
Finally, Kwai San Wong, analyst of global equities at Sarasin & Partners, has opted for the poster child of tech growth stocks to show it is still capable of even more.
Wong picked out the world’s largest company by market cap, Nvidia, as his firm’s highest-conviction technology stock pick for 2027, despite the spectacular growth it has already seen in recent years.
“We expect investors to come back to quality stocks in the second half of the year, with a greater focus on businesses that can deliver strong and sustainable growth with balance-sheet strength,” he said. “Nvidia is well placed in this environment, given its competitive strength and the innovations it is driving. Importantly, we believe progress in AI remains intact.”
He pointed out the strong growth will resume in 2027 as Nvidia launches its next generation of chips, Vera Rubin. The rapid improvement being seen in AI capabilities, such as in OpenAI’s Astra, will show progress can translate into higher revenues.
Nvidia is trading at around $228 at the time of writing, which is 24 per cent higher over one year and about 940 per cent up over five years.
When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.
