Is Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) the Best Tech Stock for the Second Half of 2024?

We recently published a list of 10 Best AI Stocks for the Second Half of 2024Since Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) ranks 9th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.

Wedbush Securities in a fresh note said mega-cap tech stocks have a 15% upside in the second half of 2024, driven by AI. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who has been beating the AI drum and thinks the AI “party” is just getting started, wrote that the $4 trillion AI arms race is between major tech players and GPU chips have become the new oil or gold in the tech industry.

Ives wrote that he thinks NASDAQ will have another strong second half of the year.

 “Tech stocks will be up 15% the rest of 2024 in our view with tech fundamentals set to accelerate as AI use cases materially expand.”

While Ives continues to see the major tech stocks leading the AI market, he thinks the AI-led rally can broaden out to tech companies who have strong “installed” bases which can actually use generative AI applications and models.

Last month, while talking to CNBC, Ives said that the tech bull market is going to last for at least two more years. When asked what could be the threat to this bull run, Ives said that China could be a threat amid a possibility of “tech cold war” but he thinks that is a “contained threat.”

“It started off with the semis, but now it’s started to happen is, the demand and the use cases” are expanding to other companies. Ives called the AI boom the “fourth industrial revolution.”

We picked top AI stocks from Wedbush’s latest note. The firm named some of these stocks as the best picks for the second half of 2024 while called others “oversold” tech stocks. 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).

Is Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) Best AI Stock for the Second Half of 2024?

A close-up of an organized portfolio board, monitoring the performance of a diverse array of stocks.

Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 45

Dan Ives recently named Palantir one of the best stocks for the second half of 2024.

Recently, BofA added Palantir to its best of breed stocks list. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a latest note that Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) is one of the stocks that can benefit from the “AI party” that is just getting started. Ives counted Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) among the stocks that will ride the AI wave thanks to their “massive installed bases” in both the enterprise and consumer spaces.

Wedbush’s Dan Ives said the latest selloff around Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) was a “golden” buying opportunity.  Ives has an Outperform rating and a $35 price target on Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR). Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) is trading at a high P/E multiple of 170, which has alarmed many. However, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) bulls believe Palantir Technologies Inc’s (NYSE:PLTR) consistent contract wins from the government and AI-related growth catalysts justify this multiple. Analysts are bullish on Palantir Technologies Inc’s (NYSE:PLTR) AI platform (AIP), which helps companies and governments in decision making based on AI technologies. In the first quarter alone, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) saw a 16% YoY increase in government contracts. US government revenue jumped 12% year over year.

Carillon Scout Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“The top contributor to return for the quarter was Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR). Sentiment improved on Palantir after it reported stronger than expected commercial customer revenue and free cash flow. U.S. commercial growth was especially encouraging, as U.S. commercial revenue was up by a large percentage year over year for the fourth quarter and U.S. commercial customer count grew nearly as much. We expect Palantir to become one of the premier artificial intelligence (AI) software providers, built on its Foundry and AIP platforms.”

Overall, Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) ranks 9th on Insider Monkey’s list titled 10 Best AI Stocks for the Second Half of 2024. While we acknowledge the potential of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR), 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 PLTR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: Analyst Sees a New $25 Billion “Opportunity” for NVIDIA and Jim Cramer is Recommending These Stocks.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.