Investors are always on the lookout for new opportunities to grow their net-worth. Their attention, in recent years, has shifted to the hottest artificial intelligence stocks to diversify their portfolio in a growing industry.
Artificial intelligence stocks are becoming more and more attractive because of the popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the smart home. Artificial intelligence is powering the next evolution in smart homes and the connected lifestyle.
Every device that consumers use to stay connected is talking to the cloud. All of this data is providing companies that leverage AI an opportunity to delight their customers by providing things they didn’t realize they wanted, but is obvious based on the digital breadcrumbs they’re creating.
If you’re looking for the hottest artificial intelligence stocks to add to your 2018 portfolio, you’d be wise to add the following to your investor watchlist:
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NVIDIA (Stock Symbol: NVDA)
NVIDIA is aggressively invested in the artificial intelligence space. They have leveraged their gaming graphics card division to create supercomputers that use video card technology to facilitate deep learning. These massively powerful supercomputers can delve into large swaths of data, analyze the information that’s available and help create actionable insights for researchers, CEOs and governments.
NVIDIA has also benefited greatly from the popularity of cryptocurrencies and the folding infrastructure required to support Bitcoin and other in-vogue currency alternatives. NVIDIA’s high-end gaming graphics cards have shot up in price due to the increased demand – from just a gaming product, to a fintech workhorse.
Twilio (Stock Symbol: TWLO)
The most interesting data comes from the way people communicate. Voice and text communication provides unbelievable insight into how people engage with one another, think and interact. Metadata – the information about who spoke to who, when they spoke and how long they spoke – has always been easy to ascertain. But deep analysis of text and voice communication has been a challenge. Voice is the most challenging.
VCs and other investors have rewarded Twilio’s breakthroughs in voice and text comm analysis with a $3.8 billion valuation. There’s a little risk with this play, though. The company’s valuation is extremely high – especially for a company that is not well-known throughout the market. But their proprietary technology and its use could make Twilio one of the hottest AI stocks in 2018.
Micron Technology (Stock Symbol: MU)
Whenever you think AI or Big Data, you should think “microchips”. Every computer and server has a series of microchips to process all of the calculations being thrown at it. NAND and DRAM chips are specifically being leveraged to facilitate AI and Big Data Machine Learning initiatives.
As AI moves into the foreground and more companies jump to leverage its capabilities, we are going to witness a continued sharp uptick in demand for the types of components that Micron produces. It may not be the most exciting play, but would you rather be the panhandler looking for gold, or the company store that sells that speculator the pick-axe and tools to achieve their mission?
Baidu (Stock Symbol: BIDU)
It’s important to take the blinders off and look overseas when investing in a diversified technology portfolio. If you’re okay with investing in a Chinese company – carefully consider their nefarious track-record of violating international contract and patent laws – Baidu is a great place to start.
AI and ML tech relies on the size of a data sample to scale up quickly. The larger the sample size, the more analytical conclusions can be made. China has the world’s largest population, and Baidu has direct access to the digital interactions of this population. With such a big sample size, some analysts believe that Baidu will pull ahead in the race to provide AI insights to the global market.
Tencent (Stock Symbol: TCEHY)
Tencent, to many, is seen as the Chinese equivalence of Facebook. But it’s more complex than that. Tencent has a variety of products in operation, in a variety of industries. There are a number of interactions online that Tencent has access to – which can be fed into their AI efforts.
Tencent made headlines when they opened an AI research lab in Seattle, headed by a Microsoft Research veteran. This is a powerful Chinese tech giant, with tentacles throughout the global marketplace, with a heavy focus on the future of AI.
Investors would be unwise to ignore Tencent as part of their AI stock portfolio.
Alphabet (Stock Symbol: GOOGL)
Ever heard of Alphabet? No? What about Google? Alphabet is the parent company of Google search, and all of the other powerful tech initiatives that the world’s most popular search engine has launched. Google has long shown an interest in AI – a technology that makes their class-leading search engine possible.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, announced last year that they are doubling down on AI at Google. That’s not surprising considering Google’s acquisition of DeepMind – an AI trailblazer.
Alphabet is leveraging AI to completely revolutionize how consumers and corporations interact with their platforms. G-Suite is empowering companies to collaborate more effectively. AI is baked into both Android and the Google Pixel 2 smartphones that Alphabet is selling in a hot mobile tech market.
If you’re looking for a pure AI play, Alphabet isn’t it. But Alphabet offers investors an opportunity to get into a massive corporation that is on the forefront of every industry that will benefits from the bleeding edge of AI.
In conclusion, AI stocks are performing well in both bear and bull markets. Everyone uses this technology, and the number of opportunities in the AI space cannot be overstated. If your 2018 stock portfolio doesn’t already include AI stocks, it’s time to get with the program. There’s a real opportunity ahead for savvy investors to ride the next wave of tech evolution thanks to AI and ML.
Disclaimer:
The author does not have personal investments in any of the companies listed herein, although that’s subject to change – there are some crazy opportunities right now. It’s important to consult a qualified professional before making any sort of investment. Investing in the stock market carries with it a substantial risk, as well as opportunity. It’s possible that you could lose your money.