In this article, we will take a detailed look at the 10 Best AI Stocks for the Second Half of 2024.
Wedbush Securities in a fresh note said mega-cap tech stocks have a 15% upside in the second half of 2024, driven by AI. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who has been beating the AI drum and thinks the AI “party” is just getting started, wrote that the $4 trillion AI arms race is between major tech players and GPU chips have become the new oil or gold in the tech industry.
Ives wrote that he thinks NASDAQ will have another strong second half of the year.
“Tech stocks will be up 15% the rest of 2024 in our view with tech fundamentals set to accelerate as AI use cases materially expand.”
While Ives continues to see the major tech stocks leading the AI market, he thinks the AI-led rally can broaden out to tech companies who have strong “installed” bases which can actually use generative AI applications and models.
Last month, while talking to CNBC, Ives said that the tech bull market is going to last for at least two more years. When asked what could be the threat to this bull run, Ives said that China could be a threat amid a possibility of “tech cold war” but he thinks that is a “contained threat.”
“It started off with the semis, but now it’s started to happen is, the demand and the use cases” are expanding to other companies. Ives called the AI boom the “fourth industrial revolution.”
We picked top AI stocks from Wedbush’s latest note. The firm named some of these stocks as the best picks for the second half of 2024 while called others “oversold” tech stocks. With each stock we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Photo by Mohamed Hadji on Unsplash
10. Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 39
Dan Ives of Wedbush thinks Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS) is one of the top AI picks for the rest of 2024. Other Wall Street analysts are also turning bullish on Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS).
Recently, Baird talked about Zscaler Inc’s (NASDAQ:ZS) Zenith Live event and highlighted the company’s new products and expanding total addressable market.
Baird analyst Shrenik Kothari said in a note that Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS) unveiled new features including machine learning-powered identity protection and cloud browser-isolation feature as well as AI-driven content inspection. These features, according to Kothari, target an expanded $96 billion total addressable market. The analyst set an Outperform rating and a $260 price target on the stock.
Analysts believe Zscaler Inc’s (NASDAQ:ZS) Zero Trust Exchange platform has strong growth catalysts amid the rise in demand for online security solutions. The platform offers reduced attack surface and increased inspection and AI-driven threat detection. It removes the need for network segmentation and multiple-point products.
While Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS) is still a loss-making company (it’s profitable on a normalized basis) most of its losses are due to stock-based compensations, which is important to attract top talent. Zscaler Inc’s (NASDAQ:ZS) P/S ratio of 14.22 is about 42% less than its five-year average. In May, ZS upped its revenue guidance for the third straight quarter. Wall Street expects Zscaler Inc’s (NASDAQ:ZS) revenue to grow 22% next year and earnings to rise by 26.81% each year over the next five years on a per-annum basis.
9. Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 45
Dan Ives recently named Palantir one of the best stocks for the second half of 2024.
Recently, BofA added Palantir to its best of breed stocks list. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a latest note that Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) is one of the stocks that can benefit from the “AI party” that is just getting started. Ives counted Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) among the stocks that will ride the AI wave thanks to their “massive installed bases” in both the enterprise and consumer spaces.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives said the latest selloff around Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) was a “golden” buying opportunity. Ives has an Outperform rating and a $35 price target on Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR). Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) is trading at a high P/E multiple of 170, which has alarmed many. However, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) bulls believe Palantir Technologies Inc’s (NYSE:PLTR) consistent contract wins from the government and AI-related growth catalysts justify this multiple. Analysts are bullish on Palantir Technologies Inc’s (NYSE:PLTR) AI platform (AIP), which helps companies and governments in decision making based on AI technologies. In the first quarter alone, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) saw a 16% YoY increase in government contracts. US government revenue jumped 12% year over year.
Carillon Scout Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“The top contributor to return for the quarter was Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR). Sentiment improved on Palantir after it reported stronger than expected commercial customer revenue and free cash flow. U.S. commercial growth was especially encouraging, as U.S. commercial revenue was up by a large percentage year over year for the fourth quarter and U.S. commercial customer count grew nearly as much. We expect Palantir to become one of the premier artificial intelligence (AI) software providers, built on its Foundry and AIP platforms.”
8. Mongodb Inc (NASDAQ:MDB)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 56
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives recently said that several AI stocks including Mongodb are “way oversold.”
MongoDB Inc (NASDAQ:MDB) is one of the stocks that will benefit from the “AI party” where the clock is still at “9PM” while the party is scheduled to go on until “4AM,” according to Dan Ives. Ives thinks MongoDB Inc (NASDAQ:MDB) is one of the stocks that can profit from the AI revolution because of their “massive installed bases” in both the enterprise and consumer spaces.
MongoDB Inc (NASDAQ:MDB) shares plunged last month after the company posted Q1 results and gave a disappointing Q2 and full-year fiscal 2025 outlook. During the second quarter MongoDB Inc (NASDAQ:MDB) expects revenue in the range of $460.0 million to $464.0 million vs. consensus of $471.54 million.
During full fiscal 2025, MongoDB Inc (NASDAQ:MDB) expects revenue in the range of $1.88 billion to $1.90 billion vs. consensus of $1.94 billion. Adjusted net income per share in the quarter is expected in the range of $2.15 to $2.30 vs. consensus of $2.43.
ClearBridge All Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“During the first quarter, we initiated a new position in MongoDB, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDB), in the IT sector. The company offers a leading modern database platform that handles all data types and is geared toward modern Internet applications, which constitute the bulk of new workloads. Database is one of the largest and fastest-growing software segments, and we believe it is early innings in the company’s ability to penetrate this market. MongoDB is actively expanding its potential market by adding ancillary capabilities like vector search for AI applications, streaming and real-time data analytics. The company reached non-GAAP profitability in 2022, and we see significant room for improved margins as revenue scales.”
7. Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 76
Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) is another cybersecurity stock Dan Ives of Wedbush believes is a good pick for the second half of 2024. Oppenheimer recently gave an Outperform rating to Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) shares based on technical analysis. CRWD’s generative AI security platform Charlotte AI is seeing a lot of traction. In the June quarter the platform saw a whopping 90% POV close rate. During the quarter, Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) saw a dramatic surge in deals involving cloud, identity, or Falcon Next-Gen SIEM, more than doubling year-over-year. Management emphasized that customers are reaping substantial cost savings by adopting more modules, a development that bodes very well for Crowdstrike Holdings Inc’s (NASDAQ:CRWD) top-line growth. The strategic expansion of its modules has also tapped into the burgeoning AI-related demand, driving higher adoption rates.
The stock’s forward P/E is 97, much higher than the industry average of 24, but 76% lower than the company’s five-year average. Wall Street expects revenue of Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) to grow 26% next year and earnings by 23%. Average analyst price target for the stock is $401, which presents just 3% upside potential from the current levels.
TimesSquare Capital U.S. Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“The high demand for cybersecurity systems is unlikely to abate, which benefited CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD). The company’s expansion beyond endpoint security to offering security on all cloud workloads, along with its growing product suite in areas such as identity and security information & event management, is driving strong demand for its platform among customers amidst a very active cyberthreat environment. That lifted its shares by 25% this quarter, and we trimmed our position.”
6. Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 78
Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) is one of the best tech and AI stocks for the rest of 2024 according to Wedbush’s Dan Ives.
Strong demand in the cybersecurity industry is boosting Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) across the Street. The stock is up 18% so far this year. Recently, Baird analysts Shrenik Kothari and Zachary Schneider said customers are focused in ROI and increased spending in the industry is benefitting Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW).
“PANW has seen this focus on ROI for some time now. Discounts are offered for larger deals rather than smaller ones to help lock in customers and maximize lifetime value. While still early days, initial customer response to new SASE 3.0 capabilities and AI features has been positive,” the analysts said.
They maintained an Outperform rating on the stock and upped their price target to $360 from $340.
Last month, DA Davidson also started covering the stock with a Buy rating and added it to its ‘Best of Breed Bison’ category of stocks.
DA Davidson’s Rudy Kessinger thinks Palo Alto Networks Inc’s (NASDAQ:PANW) three platforms will result in vendor consolidation which would be better than other companies. They believe Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) has so far captured only 7% of the market that could reach a whopping $200 billion.
Palo Alto Networks Inc’s (NASDAQ:PANW) biggest strength is its Prisma Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) product, which generated about 50% growth in the fiscal third quarter year over year. Another growth catalyst for Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) is Thunderdome Defense Information System Agency’s zero-trust network architecture.
ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Given our view that the overall market looks expensive, mostly due to mega cap valuations, the low likelihood that technology can continue to deliver well above market returns and an expected slowdown in economic growth, risk management has guided our recent positioning activity. We have been consistently trimming from the select bucket and redeploying into undervalued stable and cyclical names, while also being cognizant of position sizing to maintain the latitude to add to names when prices become attractive.
During the first quarter, we continued to trim IT stocks into strength to manage risk while also adding to high-conviction positions. For example, we trimmed our active weight in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) after the information security software maker lowered its guidance in part due to a new emphasis on providing short-term discounts on product bundles to pursue its consolidation opportunity more aggressively. While this strategy should position the company more strongly in the future, it potentially increases volatility in operating results in the near-to-medium term.”
5. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 150
Apple is among the top picks of Wedbush’s Dan Ives for the second half of 2024.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a fresh note that Apple has a competitive edge over others with its on-device AI.
Notable Wall Street analyst and Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster recently made waves when he said in a post on Twitter that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a better investment than Nvidia for the long term. Munster believes owning Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) over the next year will have a higher return because the market is in “denial” about Apple’s AI potential.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trading at 26X its 2025 EPS estimate ($7.22). This multiple, though higher than the industry average of 30, does not show the stock’s overvalued, given Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) sales growth of 6.40% for fiscal 2025 and 10.50% growth for the next five years on a per-annum basis.
Mar Vista Focus strategy stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock was pressured in the quarter as investors fretted over softening demand for smartphones, regulatory action from the US Department of Justice, and the Chinese government mandates restricting iPhone use by government officials. Despite these near-term headwinds, we continue to believe the company remains competitively advantaged and benefits from the Apple ecosystem, which has an installed base of over 2 billion devices and over 1 billion paying subscribers. We believe the Apple ecosystem will support a more predictable cash flow stream, which should grow intrinsic value high-single-digits over our investment horizon.”
4. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 154
While talking about top tech picks for the second half of 2024, Dan Ives said that Salesforce is among the stocks that are “way oversold.”
Mizuho Securities analyst Gregg Moskowitz thinks the company is still “well situated” to help customers in digital transformation. However, the analyst thinks Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) would do so prioritizing profitable growth. The analyst reiterated his Buy rating on the stock but cut his price target to $300 from $345.
Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss, who has an Overweight rating and a $320 price target on Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM), said that Salesforce’s PEG ratio of 1.2 shows the market is not pricing in operational discipline and earnings growth sustainability.
“We continue to view GenAI as a tailwind for Salesforce, with benefits likely coming in CY25, but at these levels, GenAI represents a call option.”
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is trading at 22x its fiscal 2026 earnings estimate of $10.99, which makes the stock attractively valued given the sector median P/E ratio of 23.85 and Salesforce’s AI growth catalysts. Salesforce Inc.’s (NYSE:CRM) revenue in fiscal 2026 is expected to grow at 9.10% while earnings are forecasted to rise by 11.00%.
Harding Loevner Global Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Leading software companies have the advantage of high switching costs and the ability to incorporate new features into products customers already use. For example, Microsoft has added its Copilot chatbot functionality to everything from search (Bing Chat, recently renamed to just Copilot) to coding (GitHub Copilot) and workplace applications (Copilot for Microsoft 365). Software sold by Microsoft and other companies such as Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), SAP, and ServiceNow are also already deeply integrated into their customers’ operations and workflow.
As large enterprises search for the right balance, Salesforce’s Data Cloud, a flagship offering, is designed to address a critical issue for them so they can make better use of AI tools. After a hectic buildout over the last few years of “data warehouses” and “data lakes”—two types of repositories for storing and processing data—across the various business units of large companies, many companies are left with what feels like islands of trapped data. Data Cloud solves this by creating a single platform to access and leverage all of an enterprise’s data, eliminating the need to constantly duplicate large amounts of information across different platforms. Users are then able to apply generative-AI technology, such as Salesforce’s Einstein tool, to a more comprehensive dataset, which enables them to better glean customers’ intentions, personalize marketing messages, and automate the processing of customer-service requests. As users build these systems, Einstein’s copiloting functionality helps their programmers work more efficiently so that IT departments with limited budgets and manpower can still develop the necessary tools. Salesforce’s management projects that revenue and earnings will climb about 9% and 45%, respectively, in fiscal 2025, citing the company’s operating leverage and cost discipline. We think these figures are achievable given the renewed focus on profitable growth, and so we added to the stock during the quarter.”
3. Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 165
Dan Ives recently named Alphabet among his top picks for the second half of 2024.
Dan Ives of Wedbush thinks mega-cap tech stocks, including Alphabet, can post a 15% collective gain in the second half of the year, driven by AI. In an interview with CNBC, Ives, who has a $205 price target on GOOG, said that Alphabet is going to be the company that monetizes AI using its Gemini and other search products. However, he thinks Alphabet’s “nightmare” is Apple and OpenAI partnership that could pose challenges to its search business.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) bulls believe the company is just getting started with AI product launches. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is indeed in a strong position to develop an AI ecosystem around its products. For example, demos have shown that Gemini app will help people perform daily personal tasks like note taking, appointments, writing, etc. These features could easily be integrated with other Google apps. Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) app is to urge users to sign up for ‘Google One AI Premium’ plan, which has a $19.99 price tag. Google saw advertising revenue accelerate in Q1 2024, boosted by YouTube in particular growing by almost 21% last quarter. Analysts also believe Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is in a strong position to offset any headwinds or lost market share in Google search with YouTube, which saw its ads revenue reach $8.1 billion in the first quarter, a 21% growth. Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) net income in the period came in at $23.66 billion, up 57%, or $1.89 per share.
Lakehouse Global Growth Fund stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its April 2024 investor letter:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) delivered a strong quarterly result that came in well ahead of analysts’ expectations. Revenue grew 15.4% (16.0% constant currency) to $80.5 billion and operating income grew 46.0% to $25.5 billion. Revenue growth accelerated across Search, YouTube Ads, and Google Cloud, all whilst the company delivered its highest operating margin since 2021 – showing meaningful progress in the company’s efforts to durably re-work their cost structure. On the Generative AI front, management emphasised the company’s infrastructure advantages including 5th generation TPUs(chips developed by Google specifically for AI training and inference), high performance data centre architecture, and AI models that are 100x more efficient versus 18 months ago. Overall, we believe that Alphabet is well placed for the AI opportunity ahead and still has significant latent earnings power. When combined with a relatively undemanding valuation of 21x forward net profit and over $100 billion of cash on the balance sheet, it’s not hard to see why we remain positive on the range of outcomes in the years ahead.”
2. NVIDIA Corp Inc (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 186
Dan Ives is one of the biggest NVDA bulls on the Street. Recently, responding to Newstreet Research’s downgrade of NVDA, Ives on Twitter wrote:
“We cannot disagree more with this negative Nvidia call as discussed on @LastCallCNBC last night as the AI Revolution is just starting in our view being led by Nvidia and the Godfather of AI Jensen in this 9 pm party.
There is no shortage of Wall Street analysts calling NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) a top dog in the AI race. Recently, Oppenheimer’s Rick Schafer joined the NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) chorus, raising the chipmaker’s price target to $150 from $110 following the 10-1 stock split.
NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the stocks accounting for a huge chunk of the total market returns, thanks to its AI-fueled rally that seems to have no end in sight. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares have gained about 206% over the past one year.
Recently, Barclays Tom O’Malley gave bullish comments on the stock, with a $145 price target and an Overweight rating. The analyst pointed to a potential $25 billion opportunity from countries building up their AI capabilities. O’Malley expects NVIDIA Corp’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) earnings at $3.62 per share in fiscal 2026, while Wall Street analysts on average have a $3.55 per share estimate for NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) earnings for 2026.
Meridian Hedged Equity Fund stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a leading designer of graphics processing units (GPUs) for the gaming and professional markets, as well as system-on-a-chip units for the mobile computing and automotive markets. The company has experienced strong performance recently due to booming demand for its data center products, particularly those related to artificial intelligence. A major driver of Nvidia’s recent success has been the growing adoption of its GPU accelerators for AI training and inference across various end markets. The company’s GPUs have become an industry standard for training large language models (LLMs), and its networking solutions, such as NVLink and InfiniBand, are critical to maximizing the performance of AI systems. Nvidia’s latest Blackwell GPU platform is expected to further extend its lead in the AI accelerator market, with significant performance and total cost of ownership benefits over its predecessors. As the AI market continues to expand with growing adoption across enterprises and sovereign nations, we expect Nvidia to maintain its dominance and experience sustained growth in its data center business. Beyond data centers, Nvidia has also benefited from strong demand in its gaming business, which has recovered after a period of inventory digestion in 2022. The company’s gaming GPUs have been well-received, and its focus on the high-end market has supported growth in average selling prices. Looking ahead, we expect the gaming market to remain healthy with ongoing growth potential. Nvidia also sees opportunities to diversify its business and foray into new markets, such as automotive and robotics. We continued to hold our position in Nvidia.”
1. Microsoft Corp Inc (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 293
Dan Ives of Wedbush believes MSFT is one of the leaders in the AI enterprise segment.
New Street Research started covering the stock with a Buy rating. The firm said that Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is well positioned to grow profit in the “low teens for years to come” even if the AI revolution fails to pan out. New Street Research has a $570 price target on Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT).
Analysts believe Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) AI ecosystem around its products would strengthen its Cloud division thanks to Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) integration of AI into its Cloud products. Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Intelligent Cloud segment’s profit in the latest quarter totaled $12.51 billion, a whopping 32% growth on a YoY basis.
Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) huge investments to revive its Search business are also working. Bing’s market share has jumped to 3.64% as of April 2024, a 0.88 points gain on a YoY basis.
Wall Street expects Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) earnings to grow 12.50% next year. The stock’s forward P/E of 31 based on 2025 EPS makes it look attractive at the current levels. Average analyst estimate for Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is $483, which presents a 14% upside potential from the current levels.
Mar Vista Focus strategy stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) continues to occupy a strong position, poised to capture market share as businesses navigate the transition to a digital-first landscape and embrace generative AI-driven solutions. The company’s commanding presence in the enterprise arena, combined with its comprehensive product portfolio encompassing Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), establishes it as a crucial provider of IT solutions for companies of all sizes.
Microsoft is effectively executing its strategy in a sizable market by offering a roadmap for digital transformation and adoption of AI-driven solutions, such as ChatGPT, while enhancing productivity and reducing costs. Consequently, we anticipate that Microsoft’s solutions should exhibit resilience even in a more challenging macroeconomic environment, supporting low double-digit growth in intrinsic value within our investment horizon.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MSFT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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