In this article, we will take a detailed look at the Analyst Says These 11 AI Stocks Have More Upside Potential.
King Lip, BakerAvenue Wealth Management’s chief strategist, recently talked to CNBC about the latest decline in tech stocks and market rotation. Lip said that he’s still bullish on tech stocks and a single event does not show a trend. However, the cause of decline in tech stocks last week was the lower-than-expected CPI data which caused investors to do some “profit taking” and invest in names that can benefit “more” from lower interest rates, according to the analyst. Lip noted that small-cap stocks, real estate stocks, among others, gained ground on the back of this trend.
However, Lip has high expectations from the upcoming earnings reports from tech companies. He also said that July has been one of the strongest months for tech stocks. Lip, however, said that major tech companies cannot go on to post record gains and their returns are expected to “fall in line with historical returns.”
Lip thinks the economy is entering a “Goldilocks scenario” where growth is steady but not “hot enough” to cause inflation. He reiterated his view that he expects strong earnings growth this year and in 2025, which could be a tailwind for stocks.
Asked what would cause earnings growth of tech companies, Lip said a lot of that comes down to efficient management and strong cash piles these companies have. He also said “slightly” lower interest rates could also be a tailwind for the economy.
Since Lip is bullish on tech stocks and believes major AI companies still have upside potential, we decided to take a look at the top names in his portfolio. These are the top holdings of King Lip, according to CNBC. 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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10. Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors:
Oracle is one of the top AI stocks in King Lip’s portfolio.
Dan Ives of Wedbush is also bullish on the stock following the AI revolution and its trickle-down effects. Ives named Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) among the stocks he thinks could benefit from the AI wave.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) earlier this month posted weak fiscal Q4 results, but the stock remained steady after the company said it signed multiple AI deals with leading horses in the industry. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) said it reached a deal with OpenAI and Microsoft to extend Azure Al platform to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to provide additional capacity for OpenAl. Oracle also revealed a partnership with Google after which Google Cloud will offer Oracle Cloud Infrastructure database services and high-speed network interconnect.
Despite the weak fiscal Q4 results, Oracle’s Cloud business was strong. Cloud infrastructure (IaaS) revenue jumped 42% year over year. For fiscal first quarter, Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) expects its revenue to rise by 6% to 8% in constant currency, while adjusted EPS growth is expected in the range of 11% and 15%. One of the metrics in Oracle’s Q4 report that impressed the Street was Remaining Performance Obligations (RPOs), which surged 44% YoY in the period. Management expects 39% of this amount to come in the next twelve months. Oracle’s Cloud is exposed to the IaaS market, which is projected to grow to $738.11 billion by 2032, according to some estimates. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) management said the company is building data centers and analysts believe the company’s automated OCI services will grow amid rising demand. Given Oracle’s partnerships with major AI players and its dominance in the niche OCI market, it’s forward P/E ratio of 22.03 looks attractive when compared to peers.
ClearBridge Value Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Likewise, cloud computing software company Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) reported strong backlog growth and signed a new client in OpenAI, which intends to use Oracle’s cloud infrastructure to train its AI models. The company also received tailwinds from its announced partnership with Google’s Cloud Platform (GCP) to build Oracle’s cloud infrastructure directly into GCP, which we believe will help accelerate the growth of Oracle’s cloud database services.”
9. Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 79
Applied Materials is one of the stocks in King Lip’s portfolio.
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is one of those non-fancy AI stocks that don’t get much limelight from the Wall Street. The stock, up 59% this year so far, received an upgrade from Barclays. The investment firm expects the stock to benefit from higher spending in the semiconductor equipment industry. Barclays expects wafer fab equipment spending to hit $96.3 billion in 2024 and $106.4 billion in 2025, up from its previous estimate of $80.6 billion and $89.1 billion, respectively.
In May, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) posted solid Q2 results. Mizuho Securities analyst Vijay Rakesh upped his price target on the stock to $245 from $225 and kept his Buy rating. Citi analyst Atif Malik also increased his price target on the stock to $250 from $170. The analyst sees “further upside” to Applied Materials, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMAT) 2025 estimates.
Applied Materials, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMAT) moat is strong and wide. The company makes equipment used to make semiconductor chips. It has a diverse equipment portfolio that addresses the high-growth ICAPS industry (IoT, Communications, Automotive, Power, and Sensors). Last year Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) made a breakthrough announcement by launching Centura Sculpta, a machine that dramatically reduces the number of steps required in chips production. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) said chipmakers can save a whopping $250 million per 100K wafer starts per month of production capacity in costs.
Wall Street expects Applied Materials, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMAT)’ revenue to surge 11% in 2025 while earnings growth is forecasted to come in at 15.60% in the year. The stock’s forward P/E is 23.73, not much higher than the industry average of 27, when seen in the context of growth.
8. Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 77
King Lip is also bullish on Intel.
ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“The massive ramp up in spending on AI spending has crowded out spending in other technology verticals such as software and traditional enterprise infrastructure. This has also driven a market where “AI winners” have enjoyed strong multiple expansion, while perceived “AI losers” have been severely punished. One example of a perceived AI loser temporarily cast aside was the Strategy’s top detractor for the quarter, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), whose shares declined as it put out financial targets for 2027 that were below Wall Street expectations, and also noted that demand for its core PC and server chips remained depressed. We take a contrarian view of Intel and do not think it will be an AI loser, but rather see underappreciated opportunity as AI PCs ramp over the next few quarters in enterprises, where Intel has a stronghold. We also believe that the company’s technology roadmap remains intact, which we believe will lead to a stabilization in market share in its core PC and server markets. Both markets remain depressed, but we believe that aging infrastructure and the ongoing growth of IT workloads will lead to a cyclical recovery in both markets, which should benefit shares.”
7. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 74
King Lip’s portfolio also features Tesla.
Tesla shares recently plunged after the company postponed its much-awaited robo taxi event until October. However, Tesla bulls say their core thesis remains unchanged.
Cathie Wood recently set a $2600 price target on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) for 2029, which present a whopping 1300% upside potential from the current levels. Wood thinks the robo taxi project has the potential to deliver $8 to $10 trillion in revenue by 2030.
However, many believe Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) won’t be able to live up to the hype around its robo taxi plans. Each robo taxi is expected to have a price target of around $150K to $200K, with some estimates suggesting Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) would need about $35 billion to develop a global feet of such cars. Amid inflation and lack of preference for electric cars, American families will probably stay away from spending a fortune on robo taxis, which could cause a blow to Tesla Inc’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) plans in the future.
Alger Focus Equity Fund stated the following regarding Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q1 2024 investor letter:
“Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an electric vehicle manufacturer with a technological lead in its large and rapidly growing addressable market. In our view, Tesla is a transportation company that is setting the pace for industry innovation. During the quarter, shares detracted from performance after the company reported fiscal fourth quarter results, where revenues and earnings missed analysts’ estimates. Weaker-than-expected automotive revenues were partly driven by a reduced average selling price, which was down 15% year-over-year. Moreover, management decided to forgo providing volume guidance, though they did acknowledge they are in a lower growth phase given the uncertain consumer environment particularly as it relates to high ticket purchases.”
6. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 150
Apple is one of the top AI names in King Lip’s portfolio.
Apple is also among the top picks of Wedbush’s Dan Ives for the second half of 2024.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said in a fresh note that Apple has a competitive edge over others with its on-device AI.
Notable Wall Street analyst and Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster recently made waves when he said in a post on Twitter that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a better investment than Nvidia for the long term. Munster believes owning Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) over the next year will have a higher return because the market is in “denial” about Apple’s AI potential.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trading at 26X its 2025 EPS estimate ($7.22). This multiple, though higher than the industry average of 30, does not show the stock’s overvalued, given Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) sales growth of 6.40% for fiscal 2025 and 10.50% growth for the next five years on a per-annum basis.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) skeptics have long believed that the company is a laggard in the AI race, but experts say Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) almost always makes its own way and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) will come roaring back in the AI competition and surpass Microsoft and Alphabet. The company recently revealed new M4-powered iPad Pro and claimed that its devices, powered by Neural Engine, will be “more powerful than any neural processing unit in any AI PC today.” Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Neural Engine is Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) neural processing unit (NPU) that accelerates AI workloads.
Mar Vista Focus strategy stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock was pressured in the quarter as investors fretted over softening demand for smartphones, regulatory action from the US Department of Justice, and the Chinese government mandates restricting iPhone use by government officials. Despite these near-term headwinds, we continue to believe the company remains competitively advantaged and benefits from the Apple ecosystem, which has an installed base of over 2 billion devices and over 1 billion paying subscribers. We believe the Apple ecosystem will support a more predictable cash flow stream, which should grow intrinsic value high-single-digits over our investment horizon.”
5. Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 165
Alphabet is among the top AI stocks in King Lip’s portfolio.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives in a fresh note named Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) as one of the stocks that can benefit from the AI boom.
According to a latest UBS report, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) falls in all three layers of the AI value chain – enabling, intelligence and application layer. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is an AI enabling player because of its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and Google Cloud Platform, while Gemini makes it a key player in the intelligence layer. On the application layer, UBS believes Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has an edge with its Duet AI assistant and advertising. All these catalysts make Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) a company that could benefit from the $1.2 trillion AI opportunity by 2027, UBS said.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) bulls believe the company is just getting started with AI product launches. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is indeed in a strong position to develop an AI ecosystem around its products. For example, demos have shown that Gemini app will help people perform daily personal tasks like note taking, appointments, writing, etc. These features could easily be integrate with other Google apps. Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) app is to urge users to sign up for ‘Google One AI Premium’ plan, which has a $19.99 price tag. Google saw advertising revenue accelerate in Q1 2024, boosted by YouTube in particular growing by almost 21% last quarter. Analysts also believe Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is in a strong position to offset any headwinds or lost market share in Google search with YouTube, which saw its ads revenue reach $8.1 billion in the first quarter, a 21% growth. Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) net income in the period came in at $23.66 billion, up 57%, or $1.89 per share.
ClearBridge Dividend Strategy stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Communication services gains in the S&P 500 were driven mainly by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (aka Google). The company has a dominant position in internet search and video advertising, and a solid cloud services business. Alphabet’s initiation of a dividend in the quarter enabled us to take a small position. We see further meaningful revenue opportunities from AI innovations across its segments and may look to increase our holdings over time. Alphabet’s exceptional balance sheet and improving cost efficiencies further solidify its strong position and growth prospects, and we expect its dividend will grow sharply over time.
The recent addition of Alphabet and Meta reflect the benefits of our flexible dividend approach. Our active (as opposed to formulaic) approach to dividends enabled us to move quickly and buy the shares soon after each announced its dividend. Over the years, our nimble approach to dividend investing has frequently enabled us to profit from long-term investments in high-growth technology companies that many passive or formulaic dividend investors likely missed (e.g., American Tower, Mastercard, Meta, Visa).”
