8 Best FAANG Stocks To Buy According to Analysts

2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Analyst Upside as of October 22, 2024: 16.5%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 279

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a technology giant that was originally not part of the FAANG stocks due to its mature business model. However, as the company ventured into new technologies and AI, it does represent a breakthrough stock that can influence the future.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is part of the list because of its strategic investments, positioning it as a leader in AI. On September 23, Gil Luria, D.A. Davidson’s managing director, appeared on Yahoo Finance where he talked about MSFT’s lead in the tech and AI business. He suggests that the company was involved with OpenAI for a long time, giving them a headstart. Additionally, the company knew ChatGPT was coming before anyone else. Similarly, a year and a half ago, the company launched commercial products related to artificial intelligence. However, he does acknowledge that Amazon and Google have been catching up to MSFT, slowly diminishing the lead.

As Luria highlighted, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has usually been the first to jump on crucial trends and identify market shifts. Similarly, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was among the first mega-cap companies to pour capital into nuclear energy. On September 20, the company signed a deal to reopen Three Mile Island, the site of one of the worst nuclear accidents in the US, to power and advance its AI technologies.

On the AI front, the company closed deals with startups and technology companies to run their workloads on Microsoft Azure, its cloud platform. On October 10, the company revealed several breakthrough AI capabilities in healthcare that offer medical imaging, clinical records management, and genomics. Previously on October 3, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) closed a partnership with Rezolve AI to develop innovative AI-backed online retail solutions.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a long-standing company with immensely strong fundamentals. This coupled with its investments in AI and data make it one of the best FAANG stocks to buy according to analysts.