We recently published a list of Top 10 Buzzing AI Stocks Now. Since Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) ranks 9th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.
Following the aggressive rate cut by the Federal Reserve, the market roared to new highs but quickly lost enthusiasm as investors look for clues on what might be ailing the economy that pushed the Fed to go more dovish than expected. However, others think the bull market is going to continue.
BMO Capital’s Brian Belsk has raised the S&P 500 target for 2024 to 6,100 from 5,600. Talking to CNBC in a latest program, Belsk said the “resiliency” of this bull market is “undoubted.”
The analyst said that the stock market is going higher through the end of this year.
“We do believe that the Fed is doing a great job. We believe the Fed that we are not hitting into a recession. We believe the Fed that we are heading into more of a soft landing,” the analyst said.
Belsk thinks we are in the “1995-1996 environment” where we can “handle” the 24x earnings multiple.
The analyst added that the Mag. 7 stocks underperformed the market in the third quarter and yet the broader market grew, which shows the market rally is broad.
For this article we chose 10 AI stocks trending on the back of latest news, earnings and analyst ratings. 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).
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Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 44
Jay Woods, Freedom Capital Markets chief global strategist, said while talking to CNBC that Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) is a long-term buy. He recommended investors not to buy the stock following the jump after the company was included in the S&P 500 index but pile into the shares on any pullback.
“I would buy on any pull back. If you are looking long term, then just buy it now and put it away.”
Woods thinks that stock is going to go up by about 10% to 15% over the next six months.
During the June quarter, Palantir’s overall revenue rose 27% year over year while US commercial revenue grew by a whopping 55%.
What makes Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) one of the top AI stocks? Its technologies are actually solving the problems of businesses. Palantir’s data technology Ontology is solving the famous hallucination problem for AI systems, thanks to the company’s years of experience with military and defense systems. Earlier this year at an event with customers, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) shared some specifics on how its customers are being able to reduce costs and increase profits due to its artificial intelligence platform (AIP) that was launched about a year ago.
Airbus accelerated A350 production by 33%, BP reduced costs per barrel by 60%, and Jacobs Connect cut power usage by 30%. Panasonic decreased waste by 12%, ESI Group sped up ERP harmonization by 70%, and PG&E reduced transformer ignitions by 65%. Eaton boosted productivity by 25%, while Tyson Foods achieved $200 million in cost savings.
However, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) stock’s valuation has been a concern for many.
The stock is trading at about 21.2 times the next 12 months (NTM) revenue. For fiscal year 2024, Palantir expects revenue growth of 24% year-over-year (YoY) to $2.746 billion, with an adjusted operating income of $970 million, representing a 35.3% margin. However, revenue growth is expected to slow over the next two years, with estimates suggesting a 22% YoY growth rate, potentially bringing revenues to around $4 billion by fiscal 2026. If Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) can improve margins by 100 basis points annually, it would be able to generate about $1.5 billion in adjusted operating income by FY26, with a present value of $1.3 billion when discounted at 8%. Applying an S&P 500-like growth multiple of 2.5 to 2.75 times earnings, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) would have a P/E of 46, translating to a price target of $27, significantly down from its current price of $36.
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.”
Overall, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) ranks 9th on Insider Monkey’s list titled Top 10 Buzzing AI Stocks Now. While we acknowledge the potential of Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR), our conviction lies in the belief that 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 PLTR 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.
