We recently compiled a list of the Top 10 AI Stocks on Latest News and Analyst Ratings. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) stands against the other AI stocks.
Hugh Gimber, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, joined CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe to discuss the sectors poised to benefit from the artificial intelligence boom as the dominance of the “Magnificent 7” fades.
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Gimber anticipates a broadening across sectors in 2025, stating that the current gap between Mag7 and the rest doesn’t make sense. This is because it is unrealistic to have a handful of stocks priced as if they are going to unlock new productivity across the economy alone, while other sectors don’t witness any major earnings upgrades.
He further stated that he believes the story for next year is to see some of those earnings benefits coming through in sectors such as financials, manufacturing, and healthcare, particularly, as these sectors start to reap the rewards of the capital expenditures already initiated by tech giants.
As the gap between mega caps and the rest starts to close, it is going to set the stage for a healthy market and more opportunity under the surface. As such, attention turns to how quickly certain stocks respond and what unfolds as the market acknowledges the increasing number of AI-related opportunities heading into the year.
For instance, some utility names could emerge as critical players, and healthcare stands out as a particularly strong candidate for growth. There are going to be plenty of examples that are showing up over the next few quarters, and some of the biggest gains might come from names that aren’t yet on the radar.
As of today, artificial intelligence stocks are still the hottest in the market, even though the Magnificent Seven has delivered mixed results lately due to concerns over escalating expenditures and valuation pressures.
In a notable shift, Barron’s reports that investor sentiment may be shifting from AI infrastructure providers, such as those focusing on hardware and cloud-based resources, toward software-centric players. These software companies are now being recognized for their potential to deliver higher margins, scalability, and faster adoption cycles as AI applications permeate industries ranging from healthcare to finance and beyond.
Moreover, the upcoming inflation report, seen as a key to future interest rates, is also causing investor skepticism. While AI stocks are poised for long-term growth as the technology continues to revolutionize multiple sectors, short-term fluctuations remain tied to macroeconomic concerns.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.
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).
Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) is a leader in optoelectronic devices and technology. In particular, its Datacom transceivers have been valuable for data-center connectivity. The company has recently announced signing a preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) with the U.S. Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act for a proposed investment of up to $33 million that will allow it to modernize and expand its Texas facility. The agreement will allow the expansion of the world’s first 150 mm indium phosphide (InP) manufacturing line by adding advanced wafer fabrication equipment to produce InP devices at scale. InP optoelectronic devices are extensively used in applications such as datacom and telecom transceivers for AI infrastructure applications. Increasing the production of these devices will allow the U.S. to advance supply chain resiliency and technological leadership, creating 70 direct jobs in the process.
“This proposed investment allows Coherent to accelerate our industry leadership in InP technology and manufacturing. We are very excited to partner with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Senator John Cornyn, the state of Texas, and the Sherman Economic Development Corporation as we expand our efforts to deliver world-class optoelectronic products as part of the AI infrastructure build out, as well as for advanced sensing applications.”
-Dr. Giovanni Barbarossa, Chief Strategy Officer and President, Materials Segment, for Coherent.
Overall, COHR ranks 4th on our list of top 10 AI stocks on latest news and analyst ratings. While we acknowledge the potential of COHR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than COHR 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.