AI Stock Picks Today: NVDA, DDOG, CRWV - 8 Trade Ideas for August 13, 2026

Today's AI stock trade ideas: August 13, 2026

The S&P 500 edged up 0.26% and the Nasdaq gained 0.54% on Thursday, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging 2.32% as blowout results from CoreWeave and Super Micro Computer confirmed that AI infrastructure demand remains insatiable. Dell Technologies surged nearly 10% in sympathy. The tape is rewarding AI hardware and infrastructure names and punishing anything with demand uncertainty. Below are eight actionable ideas for short-term traders. How to read the scores: Conviction (1-10) measures setup quality; Risk (1-10, higher is riskier) captures volatility, binary events, and execution risk; 1-week and 1-month figures are probability estimates that the idea profits within that window, not return forecasts.

1. NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA): Long

NVDA closed at $224, up 3% on the session, with its August 26 earnings print now less than two weeks away. Peer results this week drew the map clearly: CoreWeave reported Q2 revenue of $2.58 billion, more than double year-over-year, and raised its full-year outlook to $13.2 billion (Schaeffer's Investment Research). Super Micro disclosed a Q4 order backlog exceeding $60 billion in new orders and guided fiscal 2027 revenue of $65-72 billion, far above the $52.5 billion Wall Street consensus (Benzinga). Every GPU cluster build those companies referenced runs on Nvidia silicon. The stock sits 7.5% above its 20-day moving average and 8.7% above its 50-day, with 58 of 61 analysts rating it Buy or Strong Buy and a consensus 12-month price target of roughly $302 (24/7 Wall St.). A close below $210 would signal the pre-earnings setup has broken.

2. Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG): Short

Datadog dropped roughly 19% last week after reporting Q2 results that beat both revenue and earnings estimates and raised full-year guidance. The sell-off traced to a single disclosure: management flagged that its largest customer would reduce usage beginning in Q3, a customer widely believed to be OpenAI (Benzinga). Free cash flow margins also contracted from 29% to 25%. That combination of customer concentration risk and margin pressure is a structural negative that takes quarters to work through, not weeks. DDOG has now fallen 15% over five sessions and sits 6% below its 20-day average and 3% below its 50-day. A close above $260 (prior support, now resistance) would invalidate the short. The September puts give enough time for the Q3 slowdown narrative to develop.

3. CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV): Long

CoreWeave surged 19% on Thursday, extending a two-day post-earnings move that began after the company reported Q2 revenue of $2.58 billion (more than double year-over-year) and raised its full-year outlook to $13.2 billion (Schaeffer's Investment Research). The AI cloud backlog stands at $104 billion. In July, CoreWeave and Leidos announced a collaboration for secure AI cloud services in U.S. defense and intelligence missions. This is a high-risk trade: the stock carries roughly 148% annualized volatility and is already up 35% in one month. A pullback below the $96 level, which was breakout resistance before this week, would suggest the move is stalling rather than holding.

4. Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL): Long

Dell gained nearly 10% Thursday, lifted by SMCI and CRWV results that confirmed AI-optimized server demand is accelerating into the second half of 2026. Dell's own AI Infrastructure Solutions group reported AI server revenue up 757% year-over-year in its most recent quarter, with management raising its full-year revenue target to roughly $167 billion (FX Leaders). Dell's next earnings date is September 3, giving the stock about three weeks to trade on positive peer sentiment before its own print. The $460 level is the key stop: a breakdown there would undercut the breakout and suggest the sympathy move has exhausted itself.

5. NVIDIA $230 calls, expiring August 28: Options

These calls expire two days after the August 26 earnings report, capturing both the pre-earnings drift and the first post-print reaction. With NVDA at $224 and peer data confirming AI infrastructure spending remains robust, the asymmetric bet is that NVDA follows CRWV, SMCI, and DELL higher. The risk is binary: a guidance miss or softer-than-expected data center revenue would crater near-dated calls quickly. Size small relative to your overall book. Cut the position if the premium drops below $2.50 at any point before August 26.

More on the radar

• DDOG $225 puts (Sep 19): Extends the short thesis with five weeks for the Q3 customer-usage slowdown narrative to develop. High implied volatility (91% annualized) makes puts expensive; size accordingly and consider a defined-risk spread if the premium is prohibitive.
• SMCI Long ($36-38, stop $32, target $46): Record Q4 order backlog exceeding $60 billion and fiscal 2027 guidance of $65-72 billion are compelling, but 125% annualized volatility makes this a high-risk, small-position idea only (Benzinga).
• ORCL Long ($150-155, stop $143, target $170): Oracle is up nearly 20% over the past month on cloud AI database demand. The cleanest risk profile in today's list, conviction 6, risk 5. Earnings expected in September act as the next catalyst.

How we score these

Conviction (1-10): How strong the overall setup is. An 8 means a clear, data-backed catalyst with favorable technicals. A 6 means the idea is interesting but the setup is less certain or the catalyst is more distant.

Risk (1-10): A 9 or 10 flags a highly volatile name, a binary earnings event, or thin liquidity. An 8 is still meaningfully risky. A 5 is relatively contained risk by the standards of this asset class.

1-week / 1-month probabilities: Rough estimates of the likelihood the trade is profitable within that window. A 60% probability means four in ten similar setups fail within a week. These are estimates, not guarantees. Size positions to your own risk tolerance.

These are short-term trade ideas for informational purposes only, not investment advice. Trading stocks and options carries substantial risk of loss, including the total loss of capital. Probabilities and scores are estimates, not guarantees. Do your own research and size positions to your own risk tolerance.