We recently published a list of 15 AI News That Broke The Internet This Week. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) stands against other AI news that broke the internet this week.
Entrepreneurship in the United States has been surging since the pandemic and AI trends have served to bolster this phenomenon. Technology startups associated with AI have reached valuations in the tens of billions. Underpinning this situation is the rise in small businesses. According to the US Department of Treasury, an average of 430,000 new business applications were submitted monthly in 2024 — a 50% increase from 2019. However, the number of accountants needed to balance the books at these startups is diminishing. Per a report by tech news platform TechCrunch, nearly 75% of CPAs are projected to retire within a decade, and fewer graduates are pursuing accounting due to higher-paying opportunities in tech and finance.
Read more about these developments by accessing 10 Best AI Data Center Stocks and 10 Buzzing AI Stocks According to Goldman Sachs.
David Phillips, a serial entrepreneur, has addressed this gap through his venture Fondo. Fondo uses AI, software, and accounting experts to offer a subscription-based bookkeeping platform tailored to startups and small businesses. The platform has already gained traction, securing 1,200 customers, achieving $6 million in annual recurring revenue, and becoming profitable. It recently closed a $7 million seed funding round led by Tokyo-based Money Forward, with investors like Y Combinator and Motley Fool Ventures. The round values Fondo at $66 million.
READ ALSO: 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).
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Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDOG) provides monitoring and analytics services. The firm specializes in cloud computing and AI-powered cybersecurity products. On November 22, BTIG analyst Gray Powell raised the price target on the stock to $171 from $149 and kept a Buy rating on the shares after meeting with its management team. The commentary from the meeting was very positive as the company described the macro environment as stable with a positive upward tilt, the analyst told investors in a research note. That assessment was consistent with commentary from the last few quarters, but encouraging all the same, BTIG notes, adding that Datadog also stands to benefit from greater AI adoption.
Overall, DDOG ranks 9th on our list of AI news that broke the internet this week. While we acknowledge the potential of DDOG 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 time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than DDOG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.