Should You Forget Nvidia and Buy These 2 Millionaire-Maker Stocks Instead?

By Jennifer Saibil – Feb 12, 2026 at 6:45AM ESTKey PointsSandisk is reinventing itself as a data center supplier, and demand is exceeding supply.Pagaya is partnering with banks and other creditors to approve more loans without more risk.These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NASDAQ: SNDKSandiskMarket Cap$88BToday's Changeangle-down(10.65%) $57.70Current Price$599.34Price as of February 11, 2026 at 4:00 PM ETThese companies have fabulous opportunities and low prices.Nvidia (NVDA +0.86%) is still the king of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, but Nvidia stock has been slowing down. Although the stock is trading up 1,220% over the past five years, it's gained only 3% over the past six months. While the company continues to demonstrate high growth and incredible opportunity, the market appears wary. If you're looking for the next millionaire-maker stock, you might want to look somewhere else. While I don't recommend forgetting Nvidia entirely, and I believe it can still add value to a strong portfolio, risk-tolerant investors might consider other avenues to millionaire status. Image source: Getty Images. Take, for example, Sandisk (SNDK +10.65%) and Pagaya Technologies (PGY 6.14%). They're both growing at fast rates, but the stocks are trading much cheaper than Nvidia, giving them more room to run. Data by YCharts. The case for Sandisk Sandisk stock has exploded in value, rising 1,410% over the past year, and the data storage company still has a huge long-term opportunity. It generally delivers robust growth, but with the advent of data centers, for which it offers important infrastructure, growth is accelerating. In the fiscal 2026 second quarter (ended Jan. 2), revenue increased 61% year over year, driven by data center revenue growth of 64% quarter over quarter. Its other businesses, commercial and personal storage solutions, are also thriving. ExpandNASDAQ: SNDKSandiskToday's Change(10.65%) $57.70Current Price$599.34Key Data PointsMarket Cap$88BDay's Range$575.00 - $612.8052wk Range$27.89 - $725.00Volume371KAvg Vol15MGross Margin34.81% Beyond its recent stellar performance, management still sees meaningful growth opportunities ahead. It's working with several hyperscalers, and demand is significantly outpacing supply. Sandisk is benefiting from AI trends right now, but it's underpinned by its dominant consumer-end businesses, providing it with low-risk, long-term growth drivers. The case for Pagaya Pagaya uses AI to drive a credit business, identifying qualified borrowers through its machine learning platform, and bundling loans as asset-backed securities (ABS) to institutional funders. It just announced a new, $800 billion loan securitization funded by 32 investors, and it's the largest U.S. personal loan ABS issuer in the market. ExpandNASDAQ: PGYPagaya TechnologiesToday's Change(-6.14%) $-0.84Current Price$12.84Key Data PointsMarket Cap$1.0BDay's Range$12.71 - $13.6752wk Range$8.50 - $44.99Volume1.6KAvg Vol3.8MGross Margin39.41% It partners with many clients you'll recognize, including U.S. Bank, Visa, and SoFi Technologies, and it has 31 lending partners across a range of product types, including personal loans, credit cards, and auto loans. It helps these partners approve more loans by using AI to evaluate applications and offloading the risk onto the institutional funders. It claims to be able to evaluate an application in less than one second, and it embeds its models straight into the partner platform for seamless transactions. Pagaya represents the future of financial services, and it's just getting started.Read NextFeb 9, 2026 •By David Jagielski, CPACould Sandisk Stock Be the Next Nvidia?Feb 8, 2026 •By Geoffrey SeilerWhat Are 2 Great Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now?Feb 8, 2026 •By Trevor JennewineSandisk Stock Is Up 1,560% in the Past Year -- but This AI Storage Stock Is a Better Buy, According to Wall StreetFeb 6, 2026 •By Geoffrey Seiler2 Top Artificial Intelligence Stocks to Buy in FebruaryFeb 6, 2026 •By Harsh ChauhanIs Sandisk the Next Micron?Feb 3, 2026 •By Stefon WaltersUp 1,500%, Should You Buy Sandisk Right Now?About the AuthorJennifer Saibil has been a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst covering the consumer goods and financial sectors since 2019. She previously worked in the financial sector and has written for other finance publications. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Yeshiva University and a master’s degree in public administration from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.TMFanibirdStocks MentionedSandiskNASDAQ: SNDK$599.34 (+10.65%) $+57.70NvidiaNASDAQ: NVDA$190.17 (+0.86%) $+1.63Pagaya TechnologiesNASDAQ: PGY$12.84 (6.14%) $0.84*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.