On June 25, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit the street. During May, consumer prices rose 4.1% compared to the prior-year’s month. This is the largest reported year-over-year increase in over 3 years, suggesting that solving the inflation problem remains a work in progress.

Yes, one key factor driving last month’s reading was rising gasoline prices. With recent geopolitical tensions easing, sending energy prices lower, the inflation rate could ease in the months ahead. Still, even if inflation eases, it’s likely to remain at elevated levels, which explains newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s hawkish “higher for longer” stance on interest rates.

Nevertheless, even as high inflation persists and could lead to a new wave of stock market volatility, you need not head for the hills. While “inflation-proof investments” is a bit of a misnomer, here are three stocks that stand to thrive in the current environment: Costco Wholesale (COST 0.84%), Visa (V +1.72%), and WM (WM 1.23%).

Costco could keep benefiting from the inflationary squeeze

After a strong start earlier in the year, Costco shares have pulled back in the past month. Chalk this up to valuation concerns. At its highs earlier this year, at nearly $1,100 per share, this consumer staples stock traded at nearly 50 times forward earnings.

Yet while valuation has only tempered somewhat, Costco can likely sustain its current forward multiple in the low 40s. Its current valuation not only lines up with what this consumer staples stock has traded for in the past; based on the company’s latest quarterly sales data, the discount retail club operator continues to “crush it,” with net and same-store sales rising 11.6% and 9.8% year over year, respectively.

Today’s Change

(-0.84%) $-8.04

Current Price

$944.50

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$422B

Day’s Range

$943.57 – $969.75

52wk Range

$844.06 – $1096.50

Volume

55.7K

Avg Vol

2.2M

Gross Margin

12.88%

Dividend Yield

0.56%

As buying in bulk is one of the most viable ways to adapt to rising prices, it’s no wonder Costco continues to thrive. Better yet, even as its underlying retail business operates on razor-thin margins, the company continues to collect tens of billions each year in membership fees. These fees serve as both an economic moat and a steady revenue stream. Among inflation-resistant stocks, Costco remains a top choice for long-term, buy-and-hold investors.

Visa has both near- and long-term trends on its side

Selling Visa may have been one of Greg Abel’s first moves as the new CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, but you may not want to follow his lead given this stock’s potential to benefit from further high inflation. As a payment processor, Visa benefits from higher prices, which drive higher transaction volumes, especially as households increasingly use payment cards for everyday transactions.

In turn, this translates into further growth for the company. This dynamic was on full display last quarter when Visa reported $11.2 billion in revenue, a 17% jump from a year ago and Visa’s highest quarterly revenue growth rate since 2022. Adjusted earnings also increased by 17%, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) increased 20% from the prior-year’s quarter.

Today’s Change

(1.72%) $5.79

Current Price

$342.02

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$634B

Day’s Range

$338.01 – $345.81

52wk Range

$293.89 – $359.66

Volume

267.7K

Avg Vol

7.9M

Gross Margin

78.28%

Dividend Yield

0.77%

Over a longer time frame, Visa stands to benefit from another macrotrend: the move toward a “cashless society.” As a greater share of personal transactions worldwide shifts from cash to card or digital payments, Visa’s transaction volumes will likely continue to climb, resulting in further strong growth.

Trading for around 22 times forward earnings (a big drop in valuation compared to a year ago) and surging on earnings growth, shares may be in for a re-rating back to a higher forward multiple.

WM keeps turning trash into cash

Irrespective of the economic environment, someone has to take out the trash. For a plurality of Americans, that “someone” is WM, the largest among America’s major waste-hauling companies, with around 31.7% market share.

Beyond the prospect of “sticky” revenue tied to long-term consumer contracts, WM also has an inflation-based tailwind at play right now. As the company’s pricing can be affected by increases in CPI, inflation can have a positive impact on the top line. Even as WM’s own costs are rising due to inflation, it hasn’t experienced a margin squeeze.

Today’s Change

(-1.23%) $-2.77

Current Price

$222.76

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$91B

Day’s Range

$222.12 – $226.29

52wk Range

$194.11 – $248.13

Volume

51.4K

Avg Vol

2.2M

Gross Margin

29.17%

Dividend Yield

1.57%

Instead, as discussed in WM’s most recent quarterly earnings release, margins continue to rise thanks to cost discipline and other measures. During the 2026 first quarter, WM reported a 70 basis point improvement in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin. For the quarter, revenue was up 3.5% while earnings were up 8.4%.

stock may appear pricey at 27 times forward earnings. But as growth remains consistent and resilient to factors like high inflation, this premium multiple appears sustainable. Even if valuation stays constant, earnings growth could drive further gains over time, with WM’s 1.7% dividend providing an additional boost to long-term total returns.

Consider WM a top inflation-resistant name among industrial stocks.

Answering those questions will shape not only how AI works, but whose interests it serves. As governments, businesses, and citizens grapple with the future of AI, we have a critical opportunity today to ensure the building blocks of AI are pro-human by design. The choices we make now will determine whether AI continues to be something owned and directed by a small number of actors — or a resource that can be shaped and governed more broadly in the public interest.

This became even more apparent recently, when the U.S. government’s action to suspend access to Mythos unnerved governments and companies around the world, raising concerns about one government’s ability to unilaterally cut off technology used by others.

Encouragingly, a new path is beginning to emerge, led by middle-power nations. At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney set out a challenge for middle-power nations like his own — nations with the capacity to build a world that “encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” Canada has also released its national AI strategy, which prioritizes the development of open-source AI technology.

More recently, the European Union joined Canada in “placing open source at the centre of the EU’s technological sovereignty.” This includes commitments to support open-source alternatives throughout the AI stack, backing startups, and developing new government procurement guidelines that put the EU’s thumb on the scale in favor of open-source innovation. Countries from Germany to Japan are looking at ways to integrate open source into their national strategies, while the UK has announced an Open Source Builder’s Fund, aiming to make Britain the “home of global open source AI talent.”

Open source is emerging as a powerful consensus middle path and the private sector is catching on.

Research has shown that open-source technology has created over $8.8 trillion in demand-side value: firms would have to spend 3.5 times more on software than they currently do if open source didn’t exist. Entrepreneurs and researchers are building and leveraging open-source AI tools, models, and datasets that reflect local needs and perspectives. Developers are gravitating quickly toward open-source AI. A recent a16z and OpenRouter study found that open-source models grew from roughly 1–2% of token volume in late 2024 to nearly 30% by mid-2025 — a clear marker of momentum among builders, and a significant business opportunity.

Unlike AI technology owned and controlled by a few large corporations, open-source AI is available to everyone. That not only means governments and companies can own the infrastructure on which they build — it means anyone can look under the hood. That transparency is what can make AI safe and accountable by design.

At Mozilla, we often talk about building technology that amplifies human agency rather than replacing it. In December 2022, we amended our foundational Manifesto with a Pledge for a Healthy Internet, centered on four commitments: that the internet should include all people; promote civil discourse, human dignity, and individual expression; elevate critical thinking and verifiable facts; and catalyze collaboration across communities working for the common good.

That is the path Canada, the EU, and other middle powers are leading — in collaboration with a private sector hungry for AI alternatives to the closed models that dominate today.

AI has enormous potential, but a growing unease surrounds its direction and who controls it. The antidote is building AI that is open, trustworthy, and reflective of a diversity of voices outside Silicon Valley and China’s AI labs. That future can only be built by a middle-power, open-source coalition determined to ensure AI works for human beings — not the other way around.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.