We recently published a list of 10 AI Stocks Analysts Are Focusing On These Days. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) stands against other AI stocks analysts are focusing on these days.
Dennis Unkovic, a partner at Meyer, Unkovic & Scott, said in a latest program on CNBC that DeepSeek is the result of President Xi Jinping’s policy of prioritizing AI and tech research over the past few years. The analyst believes DeepSeek is the response of China to American tariffs.
“Today, if you take technology, maybe two-thirds of it is Western and one-third of it is Chinese. It’s clear to me that what the Chinese want to do is move the needle so they’re at least 50/50. What this means…. in the future, is you’re going to have a country that’s going to have to say, what kind of technology do I want to adopt? Is it technology from the West, or is it technology from China? So I think this is a strong opening salvo of the Chinese to the U.S., saying, if you want to put tariffs on me, this is the way we’re going to go.”
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For this article, we picked 10 AI stocks that are trending amid the DeepSeek-triggered selloff that rocked the markets. 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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Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 99
Dan Niles, Niles Investment Management founder & portfolio manager, recently said in a latest program on CNBC that he is not considering Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) because of valuation concerns.
“Then you have Tesla, obviously in its own little world because of the relationship of Elon Musk with Donald Trump. But, you know, that’s not a name I’m really looking at right now as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price investor that I am. Though we did buy—you know, we were focused on that after the election. …we’ll see.”
There is a lot of hype around Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) robo taxis but many believe they will not be enough to fix the company’s long-term challenges.
What are these challenges?
Tesla, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) product lineup is showing signs of stagnation, with over 95% of sales still coming from the Model 3 and Model Y. Meanwhile, competitors are rolling out more advanced models. Even Rivian’s CEO suggested Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) could be nearing market saturation for these models. According to Reuters, Tesla’s market share in Europe is slipping as legacy automakers like BMW post stronger sales. Chinese competitor BYD is also gaining ground in Europe, despite talk of tariffs.
Infuse Asset Management stated the following regarding Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“I’ve been very patient with Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). Frankly, I’m a big believer in Elon but I also hate investing in companies where the narrative far outweighs any financial evidence. I do see a path to Tesla being one of the world’s largest companies but slight growth in a cyclical industry with very little pricing power is not a recipe for strong forward returns. Though the AI/robotics narrative is strong, I’m not adding at current prices since we haven’t seen much of the narrative translate into the earnings yet. This cognitive dissonance can be an uncomfortable tension but I’m trying to look at the big picture here. So while I fully admit that Tesla may be overvalued in the short run, the long-term destination of the company should not be underestimated.”
Overall, TSLA ranks 8th on our list of AI stocks analysts are focusing on these days. While we acknowledge the potential of TSLA, 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 time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TSLA 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.
