After several years of increasing IT spending, there has been a retrenchment. Customers are looking at ways to cut back on costs and consolidate solutions. But there is an area of the market that has been able to buck the trend: AI stocks.
OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT has represented an inflection point. It has shown the incredible powers of AI to understand language and create humanlike content. The technology is poised to transform many parts of business. According to a survey of from Enterprise Technology Research, about 53% of IT decisionmakers expect to evaluate or use this type of technology.
As a testament to this, PwC recently announced that it plans to invest $1 billion over the next three years in AI. A big part of this will be for streamlining and automating operations. For this, PwC has partnered with OpenAI and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).
When it comes to artificial intelligence stocks, there are only a handful that are pure plays. But this is fine. The power of AI can have a significant impact on a company even if it has various other business lines.
So what companies look interesting? Here are three AI stocks to buy:
Microsoft (MSFT)
In 2019, Microsoft announced a $1 billion strategic investment in OpenAI, which was followed up with several billion more. Then this year, Microsoft reportedly invested $10 billion in OpenAI.
With this partnership, Microsoft has been able to build a sophisticated AI supercomputer that operates on the Azure platform. The company also has carved itself first dibs on using OpenAI for its internal operations. This has allowed Microsoft to quickly adopt generative AI across its massive platforms like GitHub, Office, Power Automate and Dynamics.
The latest earnings report from Microsoft highlights the positive impact. There are already more than 2,500 Azure OpenAI service customers, up 10X on a quarter-over-quarter basis. For example, Epic Systems is using the platform to integrate generative AI in its EHR (electronic health record) system, which is the standard in the industry.
There’s even potential for the long-slumbering Bing search engine to have a chance at becoming a real player. With new generative AI features, it has been able to exceed more than 100 million daily active users. Microsoft has estimated that every 1% gain in market share equates to about $2 billion in revenues.
But search may not be the only market that Microsoft could disrupt. By combining generative AI with LinkedIn, the company could be a major threat to Salesforce (NYSE:CRM).
All this is opportunity is still in the nascent stages. But so far, Microsoft appears poised to be a major beneficiary of the AI wave.
SentinelOne (S)
When it comes to AI stocks to buy, SentinelOne (NYSE:S) is one that does not get much attention. But it should.
Founded a decade ago, the company started as an AI-based platform for cybersecurity. The timing was definitely spot-on, as this is when major technologies like deep learning started to become practical.
The company’s technology is called the Singularity XDR Platform. It is essentially cybersecurity on autopilot, as it watches all end points in real-time. This is based on processing huge amounts of threat signals.
SentinelOne has been growing at a torrid pace. In the latest quarter, the revenues soared by 92% to $126.1 million and ARR (annual recurring revenues) shot up by 88% to $584.7 million. The total customer count jumped by 50% to more than 10,000 and the dollar-based net revenue retention rate was above 130%.
The growth strategy has involved partnering with managed security service providers (MSSPs), which help to implement and manage systems for companies. This ecosystem is a powerful competitive advantage and is not easily replicated.
What about generative AI? At the RSA conference, SentinelOne announced its efforts with this technology. By using natural language prompts, users will not have to be cybersecurity experts to engage in threat hunting and deep analysis of logs and other data streams. Given the talent shortages in the industry, this could be a major benefit for organizations that are struggling with cybersecurity.
Mobileye (MBLY)
When Mobileye (NASDAQ:MBLY) reported its latest quarterly results, Wall Street was far from impressed. The shares plunged 16% on the news to $36. True, the company did beat estimates for the quarter. But the guidance was short of projections, primarily because of weakness in China.
Yet this looks like an opportunity to pick up an interesting AI stock at a better valuation.
Mobileye is a leader in the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to improve safety. This includes both software and hardware systems, such as chips, cameras and sensors. Since inception over 20 years ago, the company has deployed its technologies across more than 135 million vehicles.
While the ADAS business is large and growing, the real opportunity is with autonomous driving. Yes, this is an area that has seen many challenges. But AI technologies are continuing to improve and Mobileye has critical advantages, such as its customer base, patent portfolio, proprietary algorithms and rich data repositories.
The potential market opportunity is also enormous. According to a study from McKinsey, the passenger car category could reach $300 billion to $400 billion by 2035.
On the date of publication, Tom Taulli 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.