We recently compiled a list of the 8 AI Stocks on Investors’ Radar. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) stands against the other AI stocks.
As the US stock markets were catching up with the tech disruption led by cheap Chinese AI models, US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs against countries, including a 10% tariff on China, is driving market volatility.
On February 4th, the US stock index futures were marginally lower as investors refrained from risky assets after China announced retaliatory tariffs against America. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.2% or 77 points. Beijing slapped tariffs of up to 15% on US coal imports and 10% higher duties on crude oil, farm equipment, and some cars, effective February 10th.
Trump also announced a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada but later agreed to a 30-day pause on February 3rd in return for concessions on border and crime from both countries.
Elsewhere, in the world of AI, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman inked a deal with tech giant Kakao in South Korea on February 4th as part of plans to create new alliances after DeepSeek’s impact on the global AI industry.
“We’re excited to bring advanced AI to Kakao’s millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakao’s users communicate and connect,” said Altman. However, Altman reportedly admitted at a closed meeting with South Korean AI developers that Open AI “hasn’t found a strategy yet” to respond to DeepSeek.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by reviewing news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 900 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).
A close-up on a technician’s hands adjusting the knobs of a router in a sophisticated server room.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) offers networking products and services, including routers, switches, security and network management solutions, firewall solutions, and software-defined technologies to leading service providers, enterprises, and government agencies. The company’s AI-Native Networking Platform, which leverages virtual network assistance and cloud to integrate network components, elevates network performance and user experience. AI products like the Marvis VNA, Marvis Minis, and Mist AI allow the company to reliably identify network issues, troubleshoot outages, and enhance help-desk processes with automated workflows.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) is planning to acquire Juniper Networks Inc (NYSE:JNPR) in an all-cash transaction for $40 per share to accelerate AI-driven innovation. However, the deal might not go through due to a US Department of Justice lawsuit seeking to block the takeover.
However, Evercore ISI upgraded Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) to “Outperform” from “In Line” with a $40 stock price target on February 4th, as the brokerage sees two potential scenarios for Juniper going forward, with both resulting in upside to the current share price. Analysts say that if the takeover is successful, Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) shareholders will end up with $40 per share, or a 15% upside. If Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) loses the DOJ trial, the brokerage thinks there are “a host of fundamental levers” that would make Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) a good stock in 2025.
“With or without HPE offer, we think the stock is likely to work higher,” Evercore ISI stated.
Overall JNPR ranks 3rd on our list of AI stocks on investors’ radar. While we acknowledge the potential of JNPR as an investment, 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 JNPR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and Complete List of All AI Companies Under $2 Billion Market Cap.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
