What you need to know… The S&P 500 Index ($SPX ) (SPY ) on Tuesday closed down -1.37%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index ($DOWI ) (DIA ) closed down -1.29%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX ) (QQQ ) closed down -1.83%. Stocks on Tuesday sold off sharply, with the...
Major U.S. stock indexes ended sharply lower on Tuesday as economic data underscored the view the Federal Reserve may need to keep interest rates high.
Hydrogen technology startup Electric Hydrogen (EH2) was valued at $1 billion after a financing round, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Tech stocks were lower late Tuesday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) falling 2% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index shedding 2.4%.
Hydrogen technology startup Electric Hydrogen (EH2) was valued at $1 billion after a financing round, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Major U.S. stock indexes fell at least 1% Tuesday afternoon, with the Dow dipping into negative territory for the year, as economic data underscored the view the Federal Reserve may need to keep interest rates high.
What happened
Shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) slid 3% through 12:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday after Reuters -- in an exclusive report -- warned that British regulators may launch an antimonopoly investigation into the company's dominance of the cloud computing marketplacej.
September saw
eight more companies involved in artificial intelligence (AI) commit to the White House to follow security safeguards not currently required by government legislation voluntarily. These eight names are some of the best AI companies.
The move began in July with commitments from Amazon (
NASDAQ:AMZN
), Anthropic, Alphabet’s (
NASDAQ:GOOGL
) Google, Inflection, Meta Platforms (
NASDAQ:META
), Microsoft (
NASDAQ:MSFT
) and OpenAI.
“These commitments, which the companies have chosen to undertake immediately, underscore three principles that must be fundamental to the future of AI – safety, security, and trust – and mark a critical step toward developing responsible AI,” stated the July 21 statement from the White House.
It’s not just the right thing for these companies to do; it’s good business. All of them will make tremendous amounts of money from AI. To be responsible about how the technology evolves is merely taking care of their business interests.
You have four possible AI stocks to buy from the eight names above. With the addition of Adobe
(
NASDAQ:ADBE
), International Business Machines (
NYSE:IBM
), Palantir (
NYSE:PLTR
), Nvidia (
NASDAQ:NVDA
), and Salesforce (
NASDAQ:CRM
), there are another five possible options.
Here are the three I would buy.
Nvidia (NVDA)
Nvidia stock got some help on September 29 when Citi analysts commented to clients that the chipmaker’s Blackwell B100 GPU would be a significant catalyst to future sales. Its shares rose slightly on the news. They’re now up 206.9% year-to-date.
From a financial standpoint, the company has never been healthier. CEO Jensen Huang’s proactive move to everything AI has created a cash-flow gusher that won’t be shut down for some time. According to reporting from
The New York Times, Nvidia now accounts for 70% of AI chip sales
.
In Q2 2024, its Data Center revenue was $10.32 billion, 141% higher than Q1 2024 and 171% higher than a year earlier. The segment includes Nvidia’s flagship H100 AI chip. As a result, its free cash flow in the first six months of 2024 was $8.7 billion, about 4x the amount from a year ago. I would not be surprised to see it generate $20 billion in free cash flow for the entire fiscal year.
I’ve liked Nvidia for many years. It all comes down to Huang. He’s easily one of the top CEOs in America. He’s not afraid to make big bets, and they usually pay off.
Adobe (ADBE)
Adobe
stock isn't having the same kind of year in the markets as Nvidia, but it's still up more than 54% in 2023. In mid-September, the content creation software provider launched Adobe Firefly, the company’s generative AI platform.
“With over 2 billion images generated during the Firefly beta, Generative AI is ushering in a new era of creative expression for customers across every segment,” said David Wadhwani, president, Digital Media Business, Adobe.
At the same time it launched Firefly, it released its
Q3-2023 results. It reported record quarterly revenue of $4.89 billion, 13% higher excluding currency over Q2 2022. It finished the quarter with Remaining Performance Obligations (RPOs) of $15.7 billion.
The company is also raising prices for its Creative Cloud subscriptions. For the nine months ended September 1, 2023, its subscription revenue rose 9% to $13.5 billion.
Analysts generally like ADBE stock. Of the 28 who have covered it in the past three months, 27 rate it Hold or an outright Buy -- I consider anything over 50% good -- with a consensus target price of $600.77, 15% higher than where it’s currently trading.
I like Adobe for two reasons: its customers are very loyal, and Firefly will help it make them more so.
Microsoft (MSFT)
It’s hard to believe that Microsoft has the worst performance of these three stocks in 2023,
up 31.3% year-to-date. However, over the past five years, its stock is up 202.9%, nearly double the performance of the Nasdaq 100 (
NDX
). Over the long haul, it's hard to go wrong with MSFT.
Goldman Sachs analyst
Kash Rangan believes Microsoft’s AI initiatives are on track to provide it with another significant revenue stream.
“Microsoft’s speed to market, strong presence across the tech stack and well-established footprint within the enterprise give us confidence that Microsoft is well positioned to drive growth on the back of these announcements and be a key leader in the Gen-AI era,”
CNBC reported, quoting the analyst’s comments on October 1.
Further, the company’s Microsoft 365 product should continue to capture more of the $135 billion total addressable market it competes in. And that doesn’t consider Azure, Windows, and all its other products and services.
Fifty-two analysts cover MSFT stock, and 34 have given ratings in the past three months. Rangan has a Buy rating and a $400 target price, while all the remaining analysts have a Hold or outright Buy rating on the stock, with a $397.19 consensus price target, implying 23.4% upside potential.
I like Microsoft stock because CEO Satya Nadella continues to create significant revenue streams across the most crucial tech areas, including AI and the cloud. Nadella and Huang are two of the best CEOs.
Disclosure
Tech stocks were lower Tuesday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index each falling about 1.7%.
Wall Street's main indexes slid more than 1% on Tuesday after a hotter-than-expected jobs report deepened worries over interest rates staying higher for longer, providing a fresh leg up to Treasury yields and dragging megacap stocks lower.
British media regulator Ofcom will this week push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon and Microsoft's dominance of the UK's cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM focuses on driving profit and customer service through its best-in-class retail business. The company’s beautifully designed and exceptionally curated stores at strategic locations contribute to this stra
Amazon AMZN is making every effort to strengthen its presence in the global cloud market, thanks to its Amazon Web Services (AWS) portfolio strength, which has been driving its customer momentum.The latest selection of AWS by PT T
Wall Street's key indexes dropped on Tuesday as Treasury yields extended their multi-year-high rally after hotter-than-expected jobs data fanned fears of interest rates remaining higher for longer, dragging down megacaps.
Investors have survived another September. This is significant because, on average, it is the worst month for the stock market. This year was no exception, as the S&P 500 dropped nearly 3% during the month.
British media regulator Ofcom will this week push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon and Microsoft's dominance of the UK's cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
British media regulator Ofcom will this week push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon and Microsoft's dominance of the UK's cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Wall Street completed a disappointing third-quarter 2023 after witnessing an impressive bull run in the first two quarters. The fourth quarter of any year historically remains favorable to U.S. stock markets as it deals with the h
British media regulator Ofcom is expected to push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon and Microsoft's dominance of the UK's cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Building an investment portfolio is like planning a vacation: You want to find the right balance between the places you know and some exciting surprises. And when it comes to an investing destination with plenty of variety, the tech sector has it all: e-commerce titans, AI-powere