Nearly every company under the sun is touting its AI product plans and integrations on earnings calls and in interviews. Investor interest in artificial intelligence technology remains red-hot, and this is a trend that’s going to continue. The question is, which AI stocks will ultimately win the race, or at least be in the race long-term?
There are plenty of generative AI stocks out there, or companies seeing direct impacts of artificial intelligence that have seen their valuations balloon. I’m interested in companies that may be more under the radar from the AI lens but could benefit disproportionately relative to their peers.
Here are three such stocks I think investors should focus on right now.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW)
With a wide array of security solutions and options, Santa Clara-based cybersecurity leader Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) makes a great AI stock to buy and hold long-term. The company focuses on a range of products, offering everything from cloud security to firewalls. Currently, it has a whopping $93 billion market cap and has been increasingly integrating AI technology into its core offerings.
Significant achievements have been seen in the company’s recent quarterly results. Palo Alto saw robust growth in its annual recurring revenue (ARR) for its Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) sector and increased multi-module adoption within Prisma Cloud. In network security, PANW sustained a fifth consecutive quarter of 50% ARR growth in SASE, with over 30% of new SASE customers being new to the company.
PANW’s average price target as it stepped in 2024 anticipates a 16% upside at a price target of around $335 per share. Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora, one of the key drivers of the company’s success, noted excellent financial performance via the company’s strategic and practical plans. Palo Alto’s ability to achieve above-grade revenue growth indicates potential for long-term value accretion to investors. This isn’t a stock without short-term challenges, but its subscription model and AI integrations could drive outsized growth for years to come. This stock is on my buy list now.
ServiceNow (NOW)
A recent collaboration with AI semiconductor king Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has propelled ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) higher in recent days. The company aims to achieve even greater efficiency in 2024, with this partnership aimed at focusing on optimizing large language model deployments. Utilizing Nvidia’s NIM inference microservices, ServiceNow aims for efficient and scalable generative AI (GenAI) enterprise applications. The integration of NIM into ServiceNow’s Now LLMs, including Now Assist, is set to broaden GenAI usage across diverse customer cases.
ServiceNow also claims it can leverage AI and technology to power Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategic growth plans. With its strong financials, record, and recent AI innovations, ServiceNow is on track to offer more efficiency and streamlined processes in its products.
Notable achievements include implementing over 180 automated methods for the Ministry of Justice and creating an integrated employee portal for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
The company’s extensive AI integration across its platform sets it apart, with offerings spanning IT, HR and customer service. That strategic approach positions it as a digital transformation leader. Despite a 73% surge in the past year, analysts see a 10% near-term upside with a $851.67 target, hinting at potential long-term growth.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
In recent benchmark tests by Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), the Ryzen 7 7840U APU outperformed the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H in AI tasks. Despite similar configurations, AMD’s chip showed 14% and 17% faster performance in Llama 2 and Mistral AI, respectively.
Mizuho analysts raised AMD’s stock price target to $235 from $200, maintaining a Buy rating, foreseeing growth in the AI chip market and multiple expansions. AMD’s introduction of a new AI chip tailored for the Chinese market, complying with U.S. trade restrictions, signals potential earnings and stock price boosts if approved for sale. AMD’s stock has surged approximately 30% in 2024, and plenty more upside could be on the horizon if these tailwinds persist.
Of course, like the other stocks on this list, AMD’s relatively high multiple could provide some headwind to its appreciation potential over the medium term. Currently, I view this stock as one worth buying for the long term on dips. I think AMD has the potential to take some market share from Nvidia over time, as the market will grow at a rate that will push the production abilities of Nvidia and its peers. If AMD can continue to innovate and push out higher-performance chips over time, there’s market share to be had. And it’s going to be a lucrative market share, for a very long time.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
