We recently compiled a list of the 15 Trending AI Stocks on Latest News and Ratings. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stands against the other trending AI stocks.
Technology giants in the United States have pledged tens of billions towards building AI data centers in the next few years. These announcements have served to bolster the hype around companies that build data centers. For example, Crusoe Energy, a startup building data centers for large AI firms, plans to raise more than $800 million in funding, per regulatory filings. The filings detail that the company has already raised close to $685 million of the $818 million in total that it is seeking, with seventy investors contributing to the funding. Crusoe is one of many crypto-origin firms that have pivoted to AI in recent months.
Read more about these developments by accessing 10 Best AI Data Center Stocks and 10 Buzzing AI Stocks According to Goldman Sachs.
A report by consulting firm McKinsey reveals that global demand for data center capacity could rise at an annual rate of between 19%-22% from 2023 to 2030 to reach an annual demand of 171 to 219 gigawatts. McKinsey analysis suggests that demand for AI-ready data center capacity will rise at an average rate of 33% a year between 2023 and 2030 in a midrange scenario. Per the consulting firm, this means that around 70% of total demand for data center capacity will be for data centers equipped to host advanced-AI workloads by 2030. Gen AI, currently the fastest-growing advanced-AI use case, will account for around 40 percent of the total, the report underlines.
Read more about these developments by accessing 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock and Beyond the Tech Giants: 35 Non-Tech AI Opportunities.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by combing through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A development team working together to create the next version of Windows.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 279
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a Washington-based technology company. On November 21, Jefferies analyst Brent Thill reiterated the stock as a Top AI Pick with a Buy rating and a $550 price target. In an investor note, the analyst noted that Microsoft was uniquely positioned in the market as it infused GenAI across both the application and infrastructure stack, with core areas of AI product development spanning Microsoft Copilots and Agents at each layer of its product suite, as well as other AI innovations across M365, Azure, Windows, Devices, Hardware, Security, Data & Analytics, and many other areas.
Overall MSFT ranks 2nd on our list of the trending AI stocks on latest news and rankings. While we acknowledge the potential of MSFT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MSFT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.