With so much happening in AI, keeping up with the latest news can be challenging. Every day, a new country emerges with its plans to embrace and advance in AI, tech companies keep unveiling new AI products, and industry leaders continue to shape the conservation-sometimes even with sharp exchanges.
READ NOW: 10 AI Stocks Analysts Are Watching: Latest Ratings and News and Top 14 AI Stocks on Wall Street: News and Analyst Ratings
In the latest news, South Korea has announced plans to secure 10,000 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) this year. The country plans to keep itself relevant in the race toward artificial intelligence.
“As competition for dominance in the AI industry intensifies, the competitive landscape is shifting from battles between companies to a full-scale rivalry between national innovation ecosystems”.
-South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement.
These 10,000 GPUs will be secured through public-private cooperation to help the country launch services at its national AI computing center early. While the US government has recently announced a new regulation that aims to restrict the flow of American AI chips and technology to certain countries, South Korea doesn’t fall into the restricted list.
The details of the type of GPU products to be purchased by South Korea, its models, and other particulars will be finalized by September of this year. The US regulation has essentially divided the world into two tiers. 18 countries are essentially exempt from the restrictions, while 120 face caps, and countries such as Iran, China, and Russia are barred completely.
In other news, tech mogul Elon Musk has released its latest artificial intelligence model, Grok 3. According to Musk, the AI model can outperform offerings from OpenAI and China’s DeepSeek based on early testing. This testing included standardized tests on math, science, and coding.
“We’re very excited to present Grok 3, which is, we think, an order of magnitude more capable than Grok 2 in a very short period of time”.
-Musk said at a demonstration of Grok 3 on his social media platform X.
Musk’s team also said it was launching a new product called “Deep Search”, set to act as a “next generation search engine.”
For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.
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An investor poring over the Wall Street Journal, undecided on their next move.
10. Informatica Inc. (NYSE:INFA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 22
Informatica Inc. (NYSE:INFA) is a leader in enterprise AI-powered cloud data management. On February 14, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Thomas Blakey lowered the price target on Informatica the stock to $18.00 (from $29.00) and maintained a “Neutral” rating. The price target has been reduced due to Informatica’s AI-driven cloud modernization deals and the impact of changes in contract renewal terms on revenue.
Blakely noted that even though these cloud modernization deals increased in the last quarter, constituting over one-third of new cloud bookings in Q4, they have led to a decrease in net new Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). The company has also faced a greater reduction in the renewal term length for on-premises self-managed contracts.
“Management saw a re-acceleration of cloud modernization deals this Q, and the modernization deals was significantly higher than expected. Modernization deals were over one third of new cloud bookings in Q4 compared to the mid-20s in prior quarters resulting in lower net new ARR (accounting)…Revenue was further impacted by greater than forecasted reduction in renewal term length for on prem self-managed contracts. This happening in Q2 causing mgmt to reduce revenue forecast at that time to reflect the trend, but in Q4 the average renewal term length continued to decline more than expected”.
-Cantor Fitzgerald
Additionally, Goldman Sachs, another investment firm that has downgraded Informatica (INFA) to “Neutral” from Buy with a price target of $20, noted that the accelerated shift from maintenance to cloud modality, despite demonstrating strong expansion once customers transition to Informatica’s AI-powered Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) has also led to a short-term reduction in net new ARR.
9. Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52
Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO) is a leading cloud communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) company. On February 14, Bernstein SocGen Group updated its outlook on the stock. The firm increased the price target to $119 from the previous $82 and kept a “Market Perform” rating on the shares. Twilio has demonstrated considerable revenue growth, with double-digit increases for the first time in two years.
However, the guidance for the upcoming quarter suggests a slight dip in growth. Twilio has been facing challenges in its gross margins, which are lower than most SaaS businesses. Consequently, net income has been impacted due to thin margins which eventually led to missed consensus estimates. The firm has further noted that even though there is a significant opportunity in AI-driven demand, it is still in the early stages and will take time to materialize.
