The artificial intelligence story continues to grow more compelling with each passing day. In the latest news, a top executive at Russia’s biggest bank told Reuters that Sberbank is planning to collaborate with Chinese researchers on joint AI projects. The emergence of DeepSeek has already sparked a rout in the artificial intelligence world owing to its acclaimed cheap and efficient AI models. Ever since its emergence, the race towards AI supremacy has taken on a new turn.
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Russia and China have reportedly been sharing a “no limits” strategic partnership. They have talked about cooperation in AI but nothing ever came to public knowledge before this. Sberbank, a Russian banking and financial services company headed by CEO German Gref, has since transformed itself from a former state savings bank into one of the country’s leading players in artificial intelligence. The company released its GigaChat model in 2023.
“Sberbank has many scientists. Through them, we plan to conduct joint research projects with researchers from China”.
-Sberbank First Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin told Reuters.
Vedyakhin did not specify who the bank plans to collaborate with, in China. Regardless, a potential partnership between Russia and China over the development of AI is in the works and will be seen as a major threat to the West. This is particularly for the US which is doing everything in its power to acclaim AI supremacy. Putin has directed Sberbank to build cooperation with China and other BRICS nations in AI to encounter U.S. dominance. Similar to China, the country is currently struggling to develop domestic computing capacity as a result of sanctions restricting imports of innovations from the West.
Discussing DeepSeek, Vedyakhin has noted that since the launch of its models, Sberbank has compared them to GigaChat MAX, its most advanced model. The comparison has led them to the conclusion that the Chinese rival was superior in scientific tasks, while GigaChat was on par or better in banking.
“DeepSeek has proven that even with reduced capabilities, it is possible to achieve quality on par with American models. This raises questions about the necessity of extreme investments when there are engineering innovations”.
-Vedyakhin.
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10. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) is a leading provider of artificial intelligence systems. On February 4th, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised the price target on Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) to $120.00 (from $90.00) and kept a “Buy” rating. According to Ives, the “Messi of AI Story” could be worth over a trillion dollars in market cap in the next three to five years. He has revised his model estimates for Fiscal 2025 based on the company’s strong fourth-quarter results and guidance. As for Palantir, he considers it as a transformational tech story, encouraged by the 43% year-over-year growth in customer count. Notably, the company has secured 129 deals that were at least $1 million in value and 58 deals worth at least $5 million. Ives is also optimistic about its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which he said is matchless. He further stated that Palantir bears have missed a once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity, and that they cannot relate to AI or its high valuation.
“There are some transformational tech stocks that come along every decade and change the landscape…Palantir is one of them in our view and proved it for all the tech world to see”
-Dan Ives
9. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is a leader in AI-powered cybersecurity. On February 5, Kyndryl, an IT infrastructure services provider, announced that it has launched end-to-end, secure access service edge (SASE) services in partnership with Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE powered by Precision AI. The cloud-first, zero-trust network security solution will allow customers to enhance their network security. The new SASE services support Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE, integrating network and security into a unified cloud-delivered service. The essence of this move is to help hybrid workforces simplify security while enabling customers to migrate to AI-driven cybersecurity solutions.
“Implementing a SASE approach is one of the biggest network and security initiatives for an organization to take on, requiring significant transformation. These organizations need a solution that helps them scale at the speed of their business, especially with a hybrid workforce and an ever-expanding threat landscape. We’re offering our joint customers exactly what they need to help them transform by combining Prisma SASE, the industry’s most complete AI-powered SASE solution, with Kyndryl’s new SASE services.”
-Kristy Friedrichs, Chief Partnerships Officer, Palo Alto Networks.
8. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is a leader in AI-driven endpoint and cloud workload protection. On February 4th, the company discussed on its blog a new feature available to all Crowdstrike Falcon Identity Protection customers. The feature will help customers detect early signs of reconnaissance, a process that threat actors employ to find vulnerabilities and attack paths. The AI-powered approach leverages machine learning to identify the queries used in network attacks. By generating Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) search signatures to detect early signs of reconnaissance at scale, security teams can quickly identify potentially malicious network activity before it escalates. The new feature is now available to all customers of CrowdStrike Falcon® Identity Protection, helping organizations stay proactive and shut down attacks before they occur.
7. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 99
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an automotive and clean energy company that leverages advanced artificial intelligence in its autonomous driving technology and robotics initiatives. On February 6th, Wolfe reiterated the stock as “Peer Perform”, stating that Robotaxi is the key to Tesla’s business. However, it sees too many challenges for now. While the firm is cautious about Tesla’s near-term performance, it believes robotaxi performance will be a key driver for the stock this year. Its Q1 outlook appears difficult due to “seasonality and planned MY downtime,” and there is also uncertainty around Tesla’s upcoming affordable vehicle lineup. Despite visibility being low, analysts believe “margins could improve quickly”. The firm also noted that Tesla could be weighed down by regulatory risks. Nevertheless, the firm remains focused on Tesla’s autonomy efforts.
“As it relates to stock, we remain on the sidelines, as we continue to view TSLA’s planned Robotaxi launch in June as the most important near-term catalyst. We fully expect Tesla to launch a rideshare service in Austin, as planned. Afterwards, we’d expect the market to start honing in on a several key service metric.”
6. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 107
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) develops semiconductors, providing processors and graphics technologies for gaming, data centers, and AI-driven high-performance computing. On February 5th, Citi analyst Christopher Danely downgraded the stock to “Neutral” from Buy with a price target of $110, down from $175. The analyst told investors in a research note that the company reported “decent” results propelled by higher central processing unit sales. The company didn’t provide an AI revenue guidance, and it seems that its AI revenue is flat to down for the first half of 2025 with margin dilution. The firm also said that there could be an inventory build in CPUs due to the growth of AMD and Intel (INTC) CPUs in Q4. Due to this reason, it has lowered its estimates and downgraded the stock.
“We downgrade AMD from Buy to Neutral given slowing AI growth (lower multiple), poor leverage, and risk of an inventory correction”.
5. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 158
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a technology company that has recently launched Apple Intelligence, its personal intelligence system. On February 6th, CNBC reported that Daiwa has reiterated Apple as “Buy” and lowered its price target to $270 per share from $275. The firm is bullish on the stock considering it is well-positioned to benefit from the artificial intelligence boom. At the same time, it waits for more impactful AI applications that will trigger a multi-year upgrade cycle for phones and PCs.
“We continue to believe that the company is very well placed as Artificial Intelligence is the biggest tech trend in decades. However, we do wait for more interesting AI applications to emerge to drive a multi-year phone and PC upgrade cycle starting later this year and continuing throughout 2026.”
4. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 193
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) specializes in AI-driven solutions, offering platforms for data centers, self-driving cars, robotics, and cloud services. One of the biggest analyst calls for Thursday, February 6th, was for Nvidia Corporation. Morgan Stanley reiterated the stock as a top idea, stating that investors should buy the dip. It reiterated an “Overweight” rating with a target price of US$152. Even though long-term uncertainties have deteriorated investor sentiment, the near-term business is firm with strong demand for both Hopper and Blackwell AI chips. There are also strong indications that the company’s data center customers will remain committed to large-scale AI investments. The firm has acknowledged that DeepSeek’s emergence has created some headwinds for the company, but the firm is confident in Nvidia’s ability to navigate these challenges.
“Reiterating Top Pick as the DeepSeek selloff is a buying opportunity.”
3. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 202
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company wholly owning the internet giant Google, amongst other businesses. On February 5th, DBS analyst Sachin Mittal maintained their bullish stance on the stock, giving a “Buy” rating. Mittal’s buy rating stems from the company’s strong performance in its cloud and services segments, and its advances in AI technologies. The Google platform has demonstrated significant growth potential, and margins are expected to improve further, especially compared to rivals like AWS and Azure. The firm is optimistic that integrating generative AI into Alphabet’s search engine will enhance its monetization capabilities and reinforce its dominant position in the search market. Another factor that is seen as a positive for Alphabet is its delay in phasing out third-party cookies, enabling it to develop and test new privacy solutions that could maintain ad effectiveness.
2. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 286
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is an American technology company offering e-commerce, cloud computing, and other services, including digital streaming and artificial intelligence solutions. On February 5th, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is using math to solve one of the most critical challenges in artificial intelligence: hallucinations. AI hallucinations occur when AI models create patterns or objects that are non-existent, leading to falsehoods or inaccuracies in their output. These hallucinations have been a problem for users ever since chatbots became mainstream, causing users to be hesitant to completely trust these outputs. WSJ said that Amazon.com’s cloud-computing unit is now looking toward “automated reasoning”. This will enable it to provide hard, mathematical proof that AI models’ hallucinations can be stopped, at least in certain areas. Analysts state that Amazon Web Services could unlock millions of dollars worth of AI deals with businesses by doing so.
1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 279
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) provides AI-powered cloud, productivity, and business solutions, focusing on efficiency, security, and AI advancements. On February 5th, Daiwa Securities adjusted their price target on the stock to $533 from $520, keeping its “Buy” rating. The firm believes Microsoft’s earnings report in January was underwhelming. Even though the company beat top-line and bottom-line estimates, cloud revenues were disappointing. The company also forecast disappointing growth in its cloud computing business with investors worrying about big spending, vague artificial intelligence revenue, and cheaper AI models from China. Its Azure unit reported revenue growth of 31% in the quarter, which missed Visible Alpha estimates of 31.8%. Meanwhile, capital expenditures were $22.6 billion, above analysts’ consensus estimate of $20.95 billion.
“We believe the underwhelming earnings release will ultimately present a solid entry opportunity in view of a longer-term horizon, partly since negative catalysts seem to have played out for now.”
While we acknowledge the potential of MSFT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some 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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