In this article, we will take a detailed look at the Wall Street is Talking About These 10 AI Stocks Now.
Edward Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, said while talking to CNBC in a latest program that the Fed’s 50-basis-point rate cut would cause a melt-up in the market. He believes that the move would boost productivity and earnings growth, resulting in further increases in earnings multiples.
“I would have preferred to see the market kind of go sideways for a while but the market never listens to me and it just keeps going up,” Yardeni added.
Yardeni’s base case projects the S&P 500 to reach 5,800, which the analyst said could happen very soon. In a ‘melt-up’ scenario, he believes the index could cross 6,000. However, he expects a correction early next year.
“I don’t think it will be a bear market, because I don’t think we are gonna have a recession.”
For this article, we chose 10 trending AI stocks on latest news and analyst ratings. With each company, 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).
New York Wall Street sign.
10. Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 44
Earlier this month, Wedbush Dan Ives said in a note that several AI stocks were headed for gains on the back of a Fed rate cut.
“In a nutshell we believe the stage is set for tech stocks to move higher into year-end and 2025 in our opinion as the Fed and Powell kick off its rate cutting cycle this week, macro soft landing remains the path, and tech spending on AI remains a generational spending cycle just starting to hit the shores of the tech sector,” said Wedbush analysts, led by Daniel Ives.
Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) was one of the stocks Ives said would benefit from rate cuts.
“As more tech vendors show the monetization piece of AI this will ultimately drive the next leg of the tech bull market in a very stable overall IT spending environment that is a bullish backdrop for tech stocks in our opinion,” Ives added.
What makes Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) one of the top AI stocks? Its technologies are actually solving the problems of businesses. Palantir’s data technology Ontology is solving the famous hallucination problem for AI systems, thanks to the company’s years of experience with military and defense systems. Earlier this year at an event with customers, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) shared some specifics on how its customers are being able to reduce costs and increase profits due to its artificial intelligence platform (AIP) that was launched about a year ago.
Airbus accelerated A350 production by 33%, BP reduced costs per barrel by 60%, and Jacobs Connect cut power usage by 30%. Panasonic decreased waste by 12%, ESI Group sped up ERP harmonization by 70%, and PG&E reduced transformer ignitions by 65%. Eaton boosted productivity by 25%, while Tyson Foods achieved $200 million in cost savings.
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.”
9. BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 47
Investment management and financial services company BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) recently made headlines after the company partnered with Microsoft to launch a $30 billion artificial intelligence investment fund aimed at building data centers and energy projects to meet the growing demand for AI infrastructure. The new fund, called the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership, is one of the largest investment vehicles ever created on Wall Street.
Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-backed investment company MGX will serve as general partners, while Nvidia (NASDAQ) will provide technical expertise. The partnership aims to raise $30B in private equity and mobilize up to $100B in total investment when factoring in debt financing. This initiative follows Microsoft’s $10B commitment earlier in 2024 to renewable electricity projects developed by Brookfield Asset Management.
The deal marks a major push by BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) into AI infrastructure, coinciding with its acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners, set to close in October.
Baron FinTech Fund stated the following regarding BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Despite share price performance in the fintech sector lagging broad market indices, fintech sector fundamentals remain strong with mid-teens earnings growth across the Fund. We continue to invest behind secular themes where the intersection of financial services and technology should drive innovation and growth for years to come.
One of these themes is the growth of private markets, which are the fastest growing segment of asset management with alternative assets expected to reach nearly $40 trillion by 2030. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is acquiring Global Infrastructure Partners, a leading independent infrastructure fund manager with over $100 billion in AUM, to capitalize on the growing need to modernize digital infrastructure, upgrade supply chains and logistics infrastructure, and invest in renewable energy. BlackRock also announced the acquisition of Preqin, a leading private markets data vendor, to provide standardized information, benchmarks, and analytics in an $8 billion data market expected to grow 12% annually through the end of the which allows the proceeds to be invested in highly rated private credit with higher yields but less liquidity than publicly traded fixed income securities with the same credit risk. This illiquidity premium is highly valuable in an industry with narrow spreads, providing a competitive edge to well-managed annuity providers that invest in private credit. In addition, higher interest rates combined with a growing population of retirees are spurring greater demand for guaranteed income products. Fixed annuity sales grew 37% in 2023 and have more than doubled since 2021, providing a greater supply of capital that can be invested in highly rated private credit.”
8. Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 75
Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) shares have been trending on various news: reports of a takeover approach from Qualcomm, the company partnering with Amazon and turning its foundry business into a subsidiary.
According to Intel’s partnership with Amazon, the chips company will make AI fabric chips on its advanced 18A node.
But all of this does not change the core problems haunting Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC). The company faces challenges as it navigates a major restructuring plan, which includes cutting around $10 billion in operating expenses and reducing its workforce by 15,000 this year. Intel is only expected to achieve free cash flow positivity by 2025, and for 2024, it anticipates modestly negative adjusted free cash flow due to restructuring costs and reduced capital spending.
Intel’s plan involves lowering operating expenses to about $17.5 billion while keeping net capital expenditures between $12 billion and $14 billion in 2025. However, with $25 billion in net debt and ongoing restructuring, Intel’s path to recovery and rebound is long.
Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) expects its gross margin in the third quarter to decline to 34.5% from 38.7% reported in the second quarter, which was a significant decline from the company’s expectation of 43.5%.
While Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) has suspended its dividend and announced massive layoffs, its problem of inventory won’t be resolved anytime soon. Intel has 137 days of inventory, worth over $11.2 billion. This is much higher than the industry average of 90 days. Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) has close to $52 billion in long-term debt and analysts believe its cost-cutting measures along with AI growth initiatives won’t let it fix this problem soon. S&P Global recently put the stock’s credit rating on “watch” saying:
“While these cost-cutting measures, including significant capital expenditure reductions, could alleviate some near-term cash-flow-generation challenges, it is unclear whether these steps will be sufficient to maintain its business competitiveness and enable healthy growth.”
Ariel Global Fund stated the following regarding Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Alternatively, several positions weighed on performance. One of the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturers by revenue, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), underperformed in the period on news of a longer than expected turnaround in profitability within the Foundry business. This was exacerbated by disappointing near-term guidance due to a weakening demand environment signaling an extended replacement cycle. We view the quarter as a temporary trough that should dissipate as we see signs of a cyclical recovery for personal computers (PCs) and central processing units (CPUs), driven by the Windows 11 upgrade. In our view, the market is overlooking the progress Intel is making to advance its manufacturing process. Not to mention, the company’s efforts to serve as a viable second source foundry partner of leading-edge silicon. We believe the separation of the design and manufacturing businesses will be a key catalyst in unlocking improved financial performance while also enhancing the competitiveness of the foundry business.”
7. Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 93
Earlier this month, Wedbush Dan Ives said in a note that several AI stocks were headed for gains on the back of a Fed rate cut.
“In a nutshell we believe the stage is set for tech stocks to move higher into year-end and 2025 in our opinion as the Fed and Powell kick off its rate cutting cycle this week, macro soft landing remains the path, and tech spending on AI remains a generational spending cycle just starting to hit the shores of the tech sector,” said Wedbush analysts, led by Daniel Ives.
Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) was one of the stocks Ives said would benefit from rate cuts.
“As more tech vendors show the monetization piece of AI this will ultimately drive the next leg of the tech bull market in a very stable overall IT spending environment that is a bullish backdrop for tech stocks in our opinion,” Ives added.
Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) is rising after the company’s latest quarterly results. Oracle’s Cloud services segment remains in strong growth mode. Revenue in the segment rose 21.3% year over year as Oracle Corp’s (NYSE:ORCL) Cloud is becoming a crucial player for firms developing AI, providing essential database systems for major players like OpenAI, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Oracle Corp’s (NYSE:ORCL) technology is critical for AI development, serving as a key foundation much like GPUs are for AI processes. Oracle says it has built large data centers with ultra-fast RDMA networks and massive 32,000-node NVIDIA GPU clusters, boosting its presence in AI training.
Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) has increased its revenue outlook for fiscal 2026 to $66 billion from a prior target of $65 billion. It expects its revenue to reach a towering $104B by fiscal 2029. The Street expects Oracle’s EPS to grow at a compounded rate of 13.4% for fiscal 2025, rising to 14.41% in 2026, and continuing at a low double-digit pace in the following years. The company’s remaining performance obligations (RPO) jumped 53% year-over-year to $99 billion by the end of the first fiscal quarter, outpacing revenue growth.
Oracle Corp’s (NYSE:ORCL) forward P/E is about 25, slightly above the sector median of 23.17. Given the strong growth catalysts Oracle has, the stock is currently undervalued.
Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund stated the following regarding Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) stock rose to all-time highs after the company announced better than expected cloud infrastructure revenue. Oracle signed dozens of new customers, including two leaders in generative artificial intelligence. The backlog remains, and strong growth appears poised to accelerate.”
6. ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 97
Earlier this month, Wedbush Dan Ives said in a note that several AI stocks were headed for gains on the back of a Fed rate cut.
“In a nutshell we believe the stage is set for tech stocks to move higher into year-end and 2025 in our opinion as the Fed and Powell kick off its rate cutting cycle this week, macro soft landing remains the path, and tech spending on AI remains a generational spending cycle just starting to hit the shores of the tech sector,” said Wedbush analysts, led by Daniel Ives.
ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) was one of the stocks Ives said would benefit from rate cuts.
“As more tech vendors show the monetization piece of AI this will ultimately drive the next leg of the tech bull market in a very stable overall IT spending environment that is a bullish backdrop for tech stocks in our opinion,” Ives added.
ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) impressed the market with strong second-quarter results which have proved the company’s AI potential. Morgan Stanley’s Keith Weiss maintained his Overweight rating on the stock and a $900 price target, saying the AI momentum is real and continues to build. ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) said additional annual revenue from new Pro Plus edition contracts, which include generative AI features, doubled from the previous quarter. The company secured 11 new contracts worth over $1 million each. Analysts believe ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) strength is its NOW platform as it makes it easier for companies to integrate all tools and software in one place, including Salesforce, Microsoft, and SAP. The company’s portfolio has 168 digital workflow solutions with a 98% renewal rate.
In a tough environment for SaaS companies, ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) managed to raise its full-year guidance. It also raised its operating income by 50 basis points.
NOW is trading at 40 times its estimated earnings for 2025, which is not a high multiple when compared with over 20% revenue growth estimates for ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) and an increasing number of growth catalysts.
Lakehouse Global Growth Fund stated the following regarding ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) in its April 2024 investor letter:
“US-based software company,ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW), provided another strong result, continuing its long and consistent track record of 20%-plus revenue growth combined with healthy profitability. Subscription revenues grew 25% year-on-year to $2.5 billion and free cash flow grew 47% year-on-year to $1.2 billion. The company’s core operating metrics were also impressive with remaining performance obligations growing 26% year-on-year to $17.7 billion (i.e. roughly 2x 2023 revenue) and renewal rates holding steady at 98%. Performance was evenly spread across segments, products, and geographies, with notable strength in the US federal government. The company now boasts 1,933 customers generating in excess of $1 million in Annual Contract Value (ACV), which is pleasing to see as it implies multiple solutions are involved and that the company’s platform model is increasingly resonating with customers. In our view, ServiceNow is one the highest quality software businesses globally as the combination of consistent growth at scale, robust free cash flow generation and a large addressable market make it a compelling opportunity.”
5. Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 130
A soft demand for the new iPhone means bad news for companies that make chips and connectivity equipment for the company. Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) supplies 5G radio frequency chips to Apple. However, Broadcom is in a strong position to offset these declines thanks to its diverse revenue stream.
Jordan Klein, TMT desk analyst at Mizuho Americas, while talking to CNBC earlier this month, said that high expectations weighed on Broadcom shares despite the company posting a strong quarter.
The analyst, while commenting on Broadcom’s Q4 revenue guidance, said:
“In semis especially if you are probably the second most owned name in the sector after Nvidia, you can’t miss the top-line even though you raise your AI number.”
Klein said that one of the reasons why he “loves” owning Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) is that it offers diversification beyond Nvidia since over $250 billion hyperscaling AI spending would not just go to Nvidia.
“So I think going forward it’s going to be spread to areas that are in Broadcom’s wheelhouse – optical, connectivity, networking, and these customer ASIC chips that are going to be built by these Cloud companies to do inference and that’s where they are going to win.”
Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) recently posted quarterly results and while they beat estimates on both EPS and revenue, guidance failed to impress the Street, resulting in a share price decline. However, Jefferies said the dip was a buying opportunity.
“Guidance came in a bit lighter than expected, but management has been messaging lumpiness in AI revenue and growth is set to reaccelerate in 4Q,” said Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis, in a note. “The cyclical correction in non-AI revenue is in-line with peers, and our view is the long-term trend in AI still favors an industry shift to custom ASICs, where Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) remains well-positioned. Factor in the added benefit of the VMware acquisition running ahead of schedule on both revenue and earnings, and it’s easy to look past one minor bump in the road.”
Mar Vista Focus strategy stated the following regarding Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“During the quarter, we established new investments in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Meta Platforms. We initiated a position in Broadcom in Q2. As a skilled aggregator, Broadcom acquires firms, streamlines their operations, and invests R&D dollars in mission critical products that generate industry leading profit margins, robust cash flows and high returns on invested capital. Its primary markets include AI accelerators targeting generative AI applications, networking & wireless semiconductors, and mission-critical infrastructure software solutions.
Broadcom is well-positioned to benefit from the rapidly expanding demand for custom AI accelerator chips that support the evolution of the generative AI market. The company is the second-largest producer of AI accelerator chips behind Nvidia and leads the market in custom AI ASIC chips. Its customers include leading hyper scalers like Alphabet and Meta who are turning to Broadcom for custom silicon due to its performance and cost advantages. We believe the company is a direct beneficiary of a multi-year capital cycle driven by hyper scalers building out next-generation AI factories.
Broadcom recently acquired VMware, the leader in virtualization software targeting the enterprise market. The integration of VMware is tracking ahead of plan as management has simplified its product bundles, transitioned to a subscription revenue model, and reduced operating costs. We believe this simplified go-to-market structure will result in strong top-line revenue growth and expanding operating margins. We believe Broadcom will compound intrinsic value per share in the mid-20% range over the intermediate term as it benefits from the AI-infrastructure build-out, a cyclical recovery in its legacy semiconductor business, and modestly accelerating growth from its infrastructure software business as VMware is successfully integrated.”
4. Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 156
J.P. Morgan recently kept an Overweight rating on Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) and set a price target of NT$1,200, citing strong sales in August that suggest the company may exceed its third-quarter guidance. Analysts noted that August revenues grew about 33% year-over-year to NT$250.87 billion, representing 68% of J.P. Morgan’s estimates for Q3 2024.
The firm expects September revenues to remain stable or see slight month-over-month growth, driven by increased demand for iPhone processors and robust interest in TSMC’s 3nm (N3) and 5nm (N5) process technologies. While there are reports about Intel potentially outsourcing more products to Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM), the analysts believe that the overall revenue impact may be limited since Intel is still focused on developing its 18A and 14A processes.
Looking ahead, J.P. Morgan forecasts that TSMC’s revenues could exceed the high end of its guidance for Q3 due to sustained demand from AI accelerators and high-performance computing products. They anticipate a 10% quarter-over-quarter growth in Q4, fueled by ongoing iPhone demand and new Android system-on-chip (SoC) launches from Qualcomm and MediaTek. Overall, they expect upward revisions to Street consensus over the next year due to improved revenue momentum and higher gross margins from price increases and better yields.
Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) is one of the best AI semiconductor stocks big tech funds are piling into, and for the right reasons. Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) is the biggest foundry that makes chips for fabless companies, enjoying an over 50% market share. Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) is behind some of the world’s most advanced chips, including 2nm and 3nm nodes. It supplies chips to major players like Apple (AAPL), Qualcomm (QCOM), and Nvidia (NVDA).
Despite these growth catalysts, analysts believe Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) valuation is depressed amid the Taiwan factor — any conflict between China and Taiwan would hamper Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd.’s (NYSE:TSM) business due to its huge reliance on international supply chains. But some believe these concerns are overblown and there are no short-term risks to Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) from this perspective. Bank of America’s Brad Lin recently increased his earnings estimate and price target for the stock, saying TSMC is the “key beneficiary and enabler of AI prosperity.” Lin set a $180 price target on TSMC.
Ave Maria World Equity Fund stated the following regarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Top contributors to performance included SharkNinja, Inc. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM). Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited is the global leader in semiconductor foundry services, with a dominant market share position in advanced semiconductors. The company has significant pricing power and stands to benefit from secular “megatrends” (5G, high performance computing, AI, rising silicon content per device, etc.) due to its technological leadership.”
3. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 184
NYU’s Aswath Damodaran said in a latest interview with CNBC that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a “middle-aged” company with mid-single digit growth in phone sales as he thinks the smartphone business is running out of “juice.”
“I’m stuck on the iPhone 12 I don’t have even the slightest desire to even look at the iPhone 16 because not enough different about each version of this.”
The professor said that the iPhone business accounts for about 75% of the company’s revenue and the company has to live update-to-update and new versions for most of its revenue.
Asked whether the services business can offset declines from iPhone’s falling sales, Damodaran said Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone revenue is so huge that the services business cannot make up for it.
Almost every bullish case on Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is built around this assumption: millions of people would rush to upgrade their iPhones because of AI features.
However, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been seeing a long-term decline in mobile carrier upgrade rates, especially postpaid, for several years. This suggests that people are holding onto their devices longer, likely due to economic factors, satisfaction with current technology, or a lack of exciting new features in recent models. This trend isn’t great for Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). Can Apple Intelligence break this trend? We’ll find out soon.
However, the assumption that we will see a huge upgrade cycle of iPhone just because of AI is big and comes with a lot of risks. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) trades at a forward PE multiple of around 35x, well above its 5-year average of nearly 27x. Its expected EPS forward long-term growth rate of 10.39% does not justify its valuation, especially with the iPhone upgrade cycle assumption. Adjusting for this growth results in a forward PEG ratio of 3.33, significantly higher than its 5-year average of 2.38.
Baron Technology Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“The Fund’s chief relative detractor was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), even though it was a meaningful contributor to absolute performance, as we added to our Apple position significantly during the period. We bought Apple well, but in 20/20 hindsight we didn’t buy enough. Because Apple has an oversized weight in the Benchmark (its average weight was 15.7% for the period), when Apple’s stock outperforms (it appreciated 23.0%), it has generally been a headwind to relative performance. Our Apple underweight accounted for 33% of our relative underperformance for the period.
This quarter we increased the size of our position in Apple Inc., a leading technology company known for its innovative consumer electronics products like the iPhone, MacBook, iPad, and Apple Watch. Apple is a leader across its categories and geographies, with a growing installed base that now exceeds 2 billion devices globally. The company’s attached services – including the App Store, iCloud, Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple Pay – provide a higher margin, recurring revenue stream that both enhances the value proposition for its hardware products and improves the financial profile. Apple now has well over 1 billion subscribers paying for these services, more than double the number it had just 4 years ago. The increasing services mix has led to healthy operating margin improvement, providing more free cash flow for Apple to reinvest in the business and to distribute to shareholders. Throughout its 48-year history, Apple has successfully navigated and capitalized on major technological shifts, from PCs to mobile to cloud computing. We believe the company’s leading brand and device ecosystem position it to do equally well in the AI age, and this was the driver of our decision to re-invest. “Apple Intelligence” – the AI strategy unveiled at Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference – leverages on-device AI and integrations with tools like ChatGPT to enhance user experiences across its ecosystem. The AI suite enables users to create new images, summarize and generate text, and use Siri to perform actions across their mobile applications, all while maintaining user privacy and security. We think Apple Intelligence can drive accelerated product upgrade cycles and higher demand for Apple services. The combination of growth re-acceleration, increasing services contribution, and thoughtful capital allocation should continue driving long-term shareholder value.”
2. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 308
Commenting about Amazon in a latest program on CNBC, Jim Cramer said:
“If you go through the FedEx lines you’ll see that ecommerce is stronger than they thought, stronger. That means it’s very well for Amazon… I really like it.”
AWS’s revenue growth accelerated from 17.2% in Q1 to 18.8% in Q2, driven by a shift from on-premises infrastructure to cloud solutions and increasing demand for AI capabilities. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) advertising segment added over $2 billion in revenue year-over-year, indicating significant potential in video advertising and opportunities within Prime Video offerings.
Like other tech companies, fears stemming from high CapEX are keeping investors on the sidelines. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) spending is expected to rise amid broadband project Project Kuiper and AI growth. Investors are still figuring out whether AI monetization and ROI will come anytime soon. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is also facing a slowdown in consumer spending, especially for higher-ticket items like electronics and computers.
Based on Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) Q3 guidance, its revenue growth would be 11%. The stock is trading 35x its fiscal 2025 earnings estimates set by Wall Street. This shows the stock is fairly priced and investors looking for strong growth could look elsewhere.
Hayden Capital stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Our portfolio is still recovering from the 2022 downturn, although we’ve made meaningful progress in the last two years. While that experience has taught us many lessons, that dislocation also provided a rich vein of opportunities that we continue to mine today
Some of our biggest winners in the last two years, have been “re-acceleration” stories. These are cases where once rapidly growing companies suddenly put the brakes on during a weak economy. There could be several reasons for this – customers pulling back during a recession, the company proactively curtailing growth spend as a precaution, needing to cut costs & right-size the business to become profitable quickly, or many other reasons.
But the commonality seems to be that as soon as growth stops, the market narrative turns suddenly from positive, to “this company is finished”. They go from being valued for many years of rapid growth, to being priced like a mature company that will never realize significant growth again. But often neither scenario is true, with the ultimate future path somewhere in between.
I find the fact this type of opportunity even exists, fascinating. Especially since it seems to happen every bear-market – perhaps indicating it’s embedded in human nature (and thus persistent & likely minable throughout one’s investing career). For example, I gave the examples of Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock performance in our Q1 2022 letter (please re-read this piece for more context; LINK)…” (Click here to read the full text)
1. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 279
Jim Cramer was asked about Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a latest program. He said he likes MSFT and it’s one of the top five stocks in the market right now.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares fell following its latest quarterly results which showed the company’s Cloud business growth was lower than expected. For the ongoing quarter, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) expects revenue in the range of $63.8B and $64.8B, compared to the $65.07B estimate. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure revenue is expected to grow by 28% and 29% year over year.
But what about AI? While Microsoft does not mention specific AI numbers, analysts believe Copilot is already playing a key role in growth at several segments of the company. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) Office’s commercial customer sales soared to $48 billion, significantly up from last year’s 10% growth, likely driven by Copilot Pro subscriptions. Office for individual users also saw a boost, with sales reaching $6.2 billion, a 4% increase compared to last year’s 2% growth, indicating accelerating growth from Copilot integration. Dynamics ERP and CRM software sales hit $6.3 billion, up 19%, surpassing last year’s 16% growth. This uptick is likely due to customers switching to Dynamics for the Copilot integration in the Dynamics Contact Center platform, which provides automated customer service chatbots and significant cost reductions. Bing sales jumped 3% year over year as more users switched to the search engine from Google Search, thanks to AI features.
While Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) expenses are expected to remain elevated, its investments are working and would bear fruit in the long term. The stock is down about 11% over the past month. It trades 26x next fiscal year’s earnings. MSFT could be an attractive buy on the dip for long-term investors.
Alger Spectra Fund stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a beneficiary of corporate America’s transformative digitization. The company operates through three segments: Productivity and Business Processes (Office, LinkedIn, and Dynamics), Intelligent Cloud (Server Products and Cloud Services, Azure, and Enterprise Services), and More Personal Computing (Windows, Devices, Gaming, and Search). During the quarter, shares contributed to performance after the company reported strong fiscal third quarter results, underscoring its leadership position in the cloud and highlighted its role as a primary facilitator and beneficiary of AI adoption. Company revenue growth, operating margin, and earnings growth surpassed consensus expectations. The utility scale Azure cloud business grew 31% in constant currency of which 7% was AI related versus 3% two quarters ago. Further, management noted most of the AI revenue continues to stem from inference rather than training indicating high quality AI applications by Microsoft’s clients. Management also indicated that the significant cost-cutting programs in corporate America are done, suggesting that the cost optimization headwinds previously impacting Azure’s growth are over. Separately, management provided color on their new AI-productivity tool, Copilot, noting that approximately 60% of Fortune 500 companies are already using Copilot, and that the quarter witnessed a 50% increase in Copilot assistance integration within Teams. We continue to believe that Microsoft has the potential to hold a leading position in AI, given its innovative approach and demonstrated high unit volume growth opportunity.”
While we acknowledge the potential of Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), 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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MSFT 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 10 Stocks in June.
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