Thinking artificial intelligence could boost your portfolio right about now? You're right. But which AI stocks beyond the usual suspects: Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ: GOOG, Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL, Twilio Inc. NYSE: TWLO, ServiceNow, Inc. NYSE: NOW, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) and QUALCOMM Incorporated NASDAQ: QCOM.
Whether you believe some of the famous companies above are bearish and/or overvalued (another argument for another day) or are just looking to inject some new blood into your portfolio, let's go through some options you might consider.
But first, in the interest of education, what are AI stocks and which ones should you consider right now? Let's find out.
What Are Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks?
At its most basic level, artificial intelligence (AI) refers to an algorithm or dynamic machine that learns and interprets the data given to it. AI mimics the learning capabilities of humans and applies them in a wide variety of capacities, from machine learning to the internet of things (IoT), self-driving vehicles, virtual assistants and smart home appliances. AI stocks come from companies that drive AI.
Worldwide revenues for the artificial intelligence (AI) market should grow 16.4% year over year in 2021 to $327.5 billion, according to International Data Corporation's (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Artificial Intelligence Tracker. By 2024, AI should produce over the $500 billion mark.
A few fast facts from the IDC data:
- The software category represented 88% of total market revenues in 2020.
- AI Applications took the largest share of revenue at 50% in 2020.
- The AI software platforms market will have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.7%.
- AI system infrastructure software will have a five-year CAGR of 13.7%.
AI may work in your life in ways you've never imagined, including through tax assistance, portfolio risk management through your brokerage, quantitative trading strategies, automated savings plans (think Acorns) and even banking advice. All of these suggestions just scratch the surface.
Consider These 3 AI Stocks to Get Results
Ready to pump up your portfolio with AI stocks? Let's find out what you might want to add.
Upstart Holdings Inc., headquartered in San Mateo, California, a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform, aggregates consumer demand for loans and connects it to its network of the company's AI bank partners. The platform connects consumers, banks and institutional investors through a shared lending platform.
There's good news all around: In 2021, Upstart more than tripled its revenue, tripled its profits, tripled the number of banks and credit unions on its platform and tripled the number of auto dealerships it serves.
Its total revenue was $228 million, an increase of 250% from the third quarter of 2020 and total fee revenue was $210 million, an increase of 235% year-over-year (YoY). Its bank partners originated 362,780 loans, totaling $3.13 billion across platforms in the third quarter, up 244%.Income from operations was $28.6 million, up from $12.2 million last year and GAAP net income was $29.1 million, up from $9.7 million from the same time last year. Adjusted net income was $57.4 million, up from $12.3 as well.
What's coming down the pipeline? Upstart expects revenue of $255 to $265 million, net income of $16 to $20 million and adjusted net income of $48 to $50 million.
Splunk Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, develops and markets software solutions. Its products include Splunk Cloud, Splunk Light and Splunk Enterprise. According to its site, the Splunk platform removes the barriers between data and action and empowers teams to ensure their organizations (including information technology operations, security, IoT, application analytics, business analytics industries) are secure, resilient and innovative.
Splunk just celebrated its first billion-dollar cloud quarter — cloud accounting served 68% of its software money generation. The company finished 2021 with 635 customers, up 43% from a year ago.
In Q3, Cloud ARR was $1.11 billion, up 75% year-over-year and total ARR was $2.83 billion, up 37% year-over-year. Cloud revenue was $243 million, up 68% year-over-year and total revenues were $665 million, up 19% year-over-year.
The company expects big things for Q4: Cloud ARR is expected to be between $1.325 billion and $1.350 billion, with total ARR expected between $3.085 billion and $3.135 billion and total revenue between $740 million and $790 million.
Okay, we kind of cheated by suggesting Meta Platforms Inc., but it's AI impression cannot be denied. Meta Platforms Inc., headquartered in Menlo Park, California and formerly known as Facebook Inc., is a global social technology company that goes beyond social media applications and into virtual and augmented reality products through mobile devices, personal computers and other platforms. Its family of apps (FOA) segment includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp and the reality labs (RL) segment includes augmented and virtual reality related consumer hardware, software and content.
Fourth-quarter total revenue should hit the mark of $31.5 billion to $34 billion, though it has reflected challenges in light of Apple's iOS 14 changes as well as factors related to macroeconomic indications and COVID-19.
For the third quarter of 2021, Meta Platforms reported $29.01 billion in revenue, up 35% year-over-year. Net profit rose 17% to $9.2 billion (or $3.22 per diluted share). Analysts expected Meta to post $29.58 billion in revenue and EPS of $3.19
Facebook had monthly active users worldwide at 2.91 billion, up 7% year over year but flat compared to 2020. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp shored up annual increases of 12%, up 70 million quarter over quarter.
Consider AI for Your Next Big Move
Why add AI to your portfolio? Easy. Artificial intelligence surfaces in just about every tech-related business: automotive, financial, industrial, technology, health care and more. The automotive industry and digital assistants should continue to fulfill the promise of making daily life easier — and better (just think of that the next time you ask Alexa to do something for you). Follow the AI boom but always consider your personalized investing strategy beforehand.
Before you consider Splunk, you'll want to hear this.
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