AI companies in Europe are competing with American counterparts for a larger slice of the AI cake in Asia and the Middle East. For example, French AI firm LightOn recently revealed plans to expand in the Middle East, targeting sectors such as banking, defense, and high-tech which require their data to be protected on local servers. According to a report by news agency Reuters, Laurent Daudet, the CEO of the firm, noted that banking, insurance, high-tech, defense, and healthcare were prime targets for the custom AI models from LightOn.
Read more about these developments by accessing 10 Best AI Data Center Stocks and 10 Buzzing AI Stocks According to Goldman Sachs.
The report further highlights that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring countries were among those being looked at by LightOn. The AI firms just recently debuted on the stock market, becoming the first listed genAI company on the Euronext Growth exchange. The demand for LightOn products is growing. Per Orange AI Chief Steve Jarrett, customers want a French-trusted AI solution.
Read more about these developments by accessing 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock and Beyond the Tech Giants: 35 Non-Tech AI Opportunities.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by combing through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. 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).
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Trending AI Stocks on Latest News and Ratings
12. Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33
Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) develops and manufactures high performance server and storage solutions based on modular and open architecture. On December 3, Wedbush maintained a Neutral rating on the stock with a price target of $24. In an investor note, the advisory underlined that findings from Supermicro’s special committee were a net positive for the company. Wedbush presumes Supermicro’s new auditor, BDO, was apprised of the findings as well as the suggested solution and is okay with the suggested course of action. Assuming this is the case, with no changes to financials, there should not be any impediment to Supermicro eventually filing its delayed financials within the course of a typical extension provided by the Nasdaq, the advisory told investors in a research note. As such, Wedbush believes the risk of a delisting appears to have been minimized.
11. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports various comprehensive and integrated solutions, products, and services. Vivek Mohindra, the senior vice president of corporate strategy at Dell, recently appeared on the CXO Spice podcast. During his interview, Mohindra highlighted the key partnerships with Intel that were helping his firm get ahead in the AI race. The executive referenced Dell’s PowerEdge XE9680 Rack Server as the mainstay of the industry, and highlighted that it included Intel Gaudi 3 and executed all kinds of workloads for AI, GenAI, large language models, and deep learning.
10. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) makes and sells advanced semiconductor equipment systems. The shares of the firm have rallied since it issued a statement on December 2 detailing that the new semiconductor export curb control rules enacted by the Biden administration would not impact previously issued financial guidance for next year. The firm also affirmed that long-term demand scenarios will not be impacted by the new regulations, as these scenarios were based on global demand. The chip firm said it was fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations, including export control legislation.
9. Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 66
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions. It offers high-capacity, high-performance data storage across the six stages of the AI Data Cycle. On December 3, Citi lowered the price target on the stock to $85 from $87 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. Citi’s memory analyst revised down 2025 NAND selling price growth forecasts to down 2% year-over-year from up 5% prior due to weaker than expected mobile and PC demand in the first half of the year, with an anticipated turnaround beginning Q3 of 2025. Citi recognizes NAND near-term fundamentals remain volatile, but continues to remain constructive on Western Digital’s forthcoming spin-off unlocking value.
8. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) markets key technologies for smart devices. On December 3, investment advisory Bank of America maintained an Underperform rating on the stock with a price target of $21. In an investor note, the advisory detailed that after Intel announced the unexpected retirement of CEO Pat Gelsinger, the transition does not come as a complete surprise given that Gelsinger’s IDM 2.0 strategy hasn’t yielded much fruit to date. The advisory said it now sees a greater possibility that Intel considers separating its Products and Foundry arms, which would grant both businesses their much-needed operational and financial independence, but also noted that there remain key hurdles to a full separation and that both businesses are undergoing their own strategic, structural, financial, and competitive issues, with no near term solution in sight.
7. Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) provides monitoring and analytics services. The firm specializes in cloud computing and AI-powered cybersecurity products. The company recently announced continued investment in its Amazon Web Services monitoring product portfolio, emphasising integration with AI/ML applications as well as serverless and containerised environments. According to a report by IT Brief Australia, Datadog now offers over 100 unique AWS service integrations, with a focus on AI/ML services.
6. QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) develops and sells foundational technologies for the wireless industry. Latest reports, published by tech news platforms like Android Police, contend that the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 chip could see a significant price hike in 2025. The AI-capable chip may be based on the TSM N3P process, per the report. This is reportedly an enhanced version of its 3nm process, the platform added. The chip could see a 20% performance improvement and feature built-in single-frame-level power consumption reduction technology, the report underlined.
5. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 107
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) operates as a semiconductor manufacturer. On December 3, Jack Huynh, a senior executive at the chipmaker, announced that the company would hold a CES 2025 press event on January 6. Per the executive, the event would feature the unveiling of the next-generation of innovation from the company across the gaming, AI PCs, and commercial sectors. A press release issued by the company states that Hyunh would be hosting the press event along with other senior executives at the firm.
4. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 160
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is a California-based technology company that owns and runs the internet search engine Google. On December 3, tech news platform Android Authority reported that a deep dive into the code for the latest beta version of the Google Gemini app reveals that the NotebookLM AI podcast creation software of Google might be coming to Google Gemini on phones. Per tech platform TechRadar, NotebookLM contains a number of products that use AI to help users learn any subject. For example, users can feed source material into the product, such as a text file, PDF, or video, and it helps organize that material, sometimes through audio overviews.
3. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 193
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) provides graphics, computing and networking solutions. Finance news expert Adam Clark recently opined in a piece for finance publication Barron’s that the focus of the AI industry will inevitably shift from training to inference as AI firms face challenges in their quest to build ever-larger AI models. This shift, per Clark, has big implications for NVIDIA. In his piece, the author noted that while training was uniquely suited to the company’s GPUs, inference might be more readily handled by AI processors from NVIDIA peers like AMD and Intel, by custom chips from Amazon, or by a range of chip start-ups.
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 279
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a Washington-based technology company. Latest reports indicate that Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of AI startup xAI, has filed for a preliminary injunction against Microsoft-backed OpenAI to prevent the latter from engaging in anticompetitive behavior. The injunction also calls for the prevention of any further attempts by OpenAI to convert to a for-profit enterprise. The filing claimed that OpenAI, with Microsoft, has seized control of nearly 70% of the market for generative artificial intelligence products.
1. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 286
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) operates as a technology conglomerate with core interests in the ecommerce business. On December 2, news agency Reuters reported that the tech giant was planning to pilot a new carbon-removal material for data centers, which are at risk of worsening emissions from artificial intelligence systems they power. Per the news agency, Jonathan Godwin, the chief of AI startup Orbital Materials, said that Amazon is piloting the novel material in one data center to start in 2025 as part of a three-year partnership with Orbital. Under the deal, Orbital will make its open-source AI available to AWS customers.
While we acknowledge the potential of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) 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 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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