This article presents an overview of the Analysts Say These 5 AI Stocks Will Skyrocket in 2024. For a detailed overview of such stocks, read our article, Analysts Say These 13 AI Stocks Will Skyrocket in 2024.
5. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 122
Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) was pitched as an AI stock that will benefit in 2024 by investment strategist and wealth advisor Luke Lloyd in a program on CNBC. Lloyd said 2024 will be the year of AI companies that play a key role in implementation of AI technologies for end users. Lloyd said Salesforce Inc’s (NYSE:CRM) “Einstein” platform is something “nobody” talks about and the platform makes Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) one of the leaders in AI. The analyst also called Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) a “defensive” stock as he believes Salesforce Inc’s (NYSE:CRM) technologies help other companies cut costs and become more efficient.
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 122 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM).
Harding Loevner Global Equity Strategy made the following comment about Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its Q2 2023 investor letter:
“Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), a company we’ve owned since 2019, recently added ChatGPT-like capabilities onto its existing Al module, Einstein, to support its internal sales efforts and customer-facing software. For example, Einstein GPT can help generate marketing emails tailored to specific clients by using Salesforce’s customer database and past email correspondence to learn the most effective approach for each client. Einstein GPT is also different from off-the-shelf LLMS in three important ways: It keeps personal identifiable information private and secure, compared with external tools that retain anything a user enters. It employs the latest data in Salesforce’s system, as opposed to the sometimes-stale public data that train generic models. And generative Al capabilities can be integrated with other Salesforce offerings; the company has already introduced Slack GPT and Tableau GPT, Al-equipped versions of its workplace collaboration and analytics tools.”
4. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 180
NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) is now a no-brainer stock when it comes to AI picks for 2024. Wedbush’s Dan Ives in December listed Nvidia among his top picks for this year and said:
“We view AI as the most transformative technology trend since the start of the Internet in 1995 and believe many on the Street are still underestimating the $1 trillion of AI spend set to happen over the next decade in a bonanza for the chip and software sectors looking forward with Nvidia and Redmond leading the way.”
Vivek Arya, Bank of America senior semiconductor analyst, recently reiterated a Buy rating and set a $700 price target on NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock. Arya said that estimated FCF of NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) for 2024 and 2025 is just a small cherry on top of a “very delicious cake”. Arya thinks generative AI is in very early stages and NVIDIA Corp’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) competitive position is “exceptionally strong.”
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA):
“Much of that differential can be attributed to the performance of the Magnificent Seven (Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla), a basket of mega cap growth stocks that accounted for 47.8% of the benchmark return for the quarter and 65.4% for 2023.
The ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy maintains exposure to six of the seven stocks, with overweights in Amazon.com, Meta and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Those three stocks, as well as Microsoft, were among the leading contributors to Strategy performance for the quarter. Microsoft and Nvidia continued to be supported by strong execution and leadership positions in the implementation of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
These are high-quality, cash flow generative businesses that we will continue to own, actively adjusting our positioning sizes based on risk/reward and portfolio construction priorities. With Nvidia shares more than tripling in 2023, we opportunistically took profits throughout the year, an approach that continued in the fourth quarter with additional trims that brought the position down to 6% of overall assets.
Active management of our mega cap exposure contributed to the Strategy outperforming the benchmark both in the fourth quarter and through the narrow leadership market of 2023. We also attribute these improved results to solid stock picking, being opportunistic in adding to or initiating new positions in growth companies at or near the bottom of their earnings cycle, and maintaining a commitment to diversification across our three buckets of growth: select, stable and cyclical.”
3. Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 221
In December, Barron’s said Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) could be the best bet among the Magnificent Seven stocks in 2024. Barron’s said Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) earnings are expected to rise faster than expected. Barron’s also talked about Alphabet Inc Class A’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) attractive valuation when compared to peers.
Sarah Kunst, Managing Director at Cleo Capital, talked to CNBC in December and said Alphabet Inc Class A’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) AI business is “wildly undervalued.” Kunst thinks Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) does not need to launch a standalone AI product as it can integrate AI with its existing products.
Diamond Hill Long-Short Fund made the following comment about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“On an individual holdings’ basis, top contributors to return in Q3 included long positions in KKR, Ciena Corporation and Alphabet. Shares of media and technology company Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose in the quarter as its advertising and cloud businesses remain robust and the company delivered results ahead of market expectations. From a sector perspective, communication services also managed a positive Q3 (2%), riding the ongoing wave of positive mega-cap stocks’ performance, like Alphabet.”
2. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 286
Amazon was one of the top picks of Citi which recently published a list of stocks that could benefit in 2024. According to Citi, Amazon would be among the top names that will benefit from the AI theme. Citi’s Thematic Equity Strategy report said the stock’s expected total return is 12%.
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN):
“Much of that differential can be attributed to the performance of the Magnificent Seven (Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla), a basket of mega cap growth stocks that accounted for 47.8% of the benchmark return for the quarter and 65.4% for 2023.
The ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy maintains exposure to six of the seven stocks, with overweights in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta and Nvidia. Amazon benefited from strong margin expansion across segments, most notably its core e-commerce business, while Meta saw accelerated revenue growth and share gains in online advertising.
Active management of our mega cap exposure contributed to the Strategy outperforming the benchmark both in the fourth quarter and through the narrow leadership market of 2023. We also attribute these improved results to solid stock picking, being opportunistic in adding to or initiating new positions in growth companies at or near the bottom of their earnings cycle, and maintaining a commitment to diversification across our three buckets of growth: select, stable and cyclical.”
1. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 306
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) remains one of the best AI stocks to buy for 2024 according to Wall Street analysts. Brent Thill of Jefferies, who upped his price target for Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) to $450 from $400, recently said in a program on CNBC that Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) has the “best” AI lineup in software. Thill said while there was some “hype” around AI business of Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) initially, from a “fundamental” point of view the Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) AI lineup remains strong and ready to be monetized in the back half of 2024.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is also one of the top favorite stock picks of Wedbush’s Dan Ives along with several other notable Wall Street analysts.
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Dividend Strategy stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT):
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the largest holding in our portfolio. Given its partnership with OpenAI and leading position in the cloud, Microsoft is well-positioned to profit from the boom in AI. However, due to Microsoft’s tremendous scale and diversification, the company is not dependent upon AI for its success. Microsoft’s diverse portfolio of software and cloud offerings ensures the company will thrive even if the next hot thing, like AI, fizzles out. In this way, Microsoft is emblematic of our broader investing approach. We seek to benefit from powerful trends, but we do so with an eye toward managing risk and limiting downside in case the future turns out to be less rosy than hoped for.”
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