We recently published a list of Top 10 Buzzing AI Stocks to Watch Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) stands against other top buzzing AI stocks to watch now.
Doug Clinton, Deepwater Asset Management co-founder, said in a latest program on CNBC that the AI trade is still intact but the market is going through a period of “doubt” and many major AI stocks have lost their momentum.
“The vibe has shifted, and I think investors, more broadly, almost want to believe the AI trade is over. They’re looking for evidence, reasons to doubt. That’s the hard part for this trade right now—momentum has lost its momentum. From our perspective, the AI trade is still real. I don’t think this boom is over; I still see two to four years ahead. But in every technology-driven boom, we go through periods of doubt. That’s a healthy part of the cycle, and we just need to work through it.”
When asked about high valuations, the analyst said many of the AI stocks have “reasonable” valuations and upside.
“If you look at the hyperscalers, I think their valuations are still largely reasonable, even though they make up a big share of the market, which concerns some investors. We’re talking about mid-20s PEs for them. Some of the more growth-driven momentum names still have upside. Their multiples look expensive now, but as they continue to grow—and that’s the key question—those multiples will actually appear higher now than they will in the future.”
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For this article, we picked 10 AI stocks the market is talking about these days. 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 83
Srini Pajjuri, Raymond James senior semiconductor analyst, said in a latest program on CNBC that Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s foundry business is the “problem child” and losing money. He also mentioned his expected stock price for Intel following a potential split:
“They have two major segments. One is Intel products, which is in pretty good shape. They do about $50 billion in revenue at a 25% operating margin. That business is not growing as fast as it used to, but it’s very stable. The problem child for them is the foundry, the manufacturing side of things, where they’re losing money. Last year, they lost $13 billion, and this year they’re probably going to lose at least $5 billion or so. That has been the issue and the reason for the stock underperforming. If there’s a split, we think the product business alone could be worth around $32 a share. They have other assets as well. They own Altera, which is probably worth about $15 billion, and they also own about 85% of Mobileye. So all in, excluding the manufacturing, we think the stock could be worth in the high 30s or so.”
Intel’s last reported quarter increased fears the company will need a lot of time before seeing any kind of significant improvement. In the first quarter, the company sees revenue of $12.2 billion at the midpoint of its guidance, reflecting an 11-18% decline quarter-over-quarter. The company has also scrapped its plans to launch Falcon Shores, its next-generation AI GPUs. A few months back it was a key catalyst expected to debut in late 2025. Intel’s Clearwater Forest AI data center server CPUs, which were set to use its 18A chip (similar to TSMC’s 3nm nodes), have had their launch delayed from FY2025 to FY2026. These setbacks are likely to affect Intel’s already struggling Data Center & AI business segment. Consensus expectations suggest the company won’t see positive free cash flow for at least the next three years.
Invesco Growth and Income Fund stated the following regarding Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC): The chipmaker reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results as revenues declined and earnings were below expectations. Management also provided weaker guidance going forward; the stock fell on the news. We sold the position during the quarter.
The chipmaker’s quarterly earnings report was weaker than anticipated as revenues declined and earnings were below expectations. Management also provided weaker guidance going forward. Given that a potential recovery appears to be further in the future than we originally anticipated, we sold the position.”
Overall, INTC ranks 9th on our list of top buzzing AI stocks to watch now. While we acknowledge the potential of INTC as an investment, 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 INTC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.