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Investors piled into artificial intelligence (AI) stocks last year, which helped all three benchmarks advance in the double digits. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 23%, 28%, and 12%, respectively.
And the top performers in all three indexes were companies heavily involved in AI, including chip designer Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and software company Palantir Technologies. They scored the biggest wins in the Dow Average and the S&P 500, respectively.
Why have AI stocks been so popular? AI has the potential to transform many industries, with certain market experts, such as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, saying it could be as revolutionary as electricity or the internet. So, investors who get in early on AI stocks could win big over time. The first success stories have been companies fueling the initial stages of AI, such as the training and inferencing of AI models, and these players could continue to gain.
But a new AI investing theme has emerged to share the spotlight, and that's the area of AI agents. This involves using AI to solve complex problems, a move that could help companies gain efficiency. Investors who get in on certain AI agent companies today may have reason to cheer as this AI boom advances. Let's check out three of these stocks that could soar.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Nvidia
"Nvidia, again?" you might ask. After all, the stock has already climbed thanks to its strength in AI chips, the key element involved in the first wave of AI growth. But Nvidia also may become a key player in the world of agentic AI. This is because of the company's expansion well beyond just chips and into software to support AI development.
Today, Nvidia and its partners are offering customers blueprints to build their own AI agents. At CES last week, Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang spoke of five blueprints from partners integrating the Nvidia Enterprise software platform. Huang talked about Nvidia's own new AI blueprint to summarize video footage -- imagine thousands of hours of video quickly analyzed to help a business make factory operations more efficient, for example.
So, right now, AI customers can not only turn to Nvidia for building blocks like graphics processing units (GPUs) to train their models but also go to Nvidia when they're looking to build and use an AI agent. And this equals yet another source of growth for this top AI stock moving forward.
2. Amazon
Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN), the world's No. 1 cloud service provider, is well positioned to benefit from the growth of AI agents. First, Amazon Web Services' (AWS) leadership position means customers are already right there, so it makes sense for them to opt for AWS AI agent services. And these services are up and running.
Today, developers can quickly and easily build AI agents to suit their needs through the Amazon Bedrock platform. Thanks to sales of other AI products and services last year, AWS has already reached a $110 billion annualized revenue run rate. And momentum in AI agents could keep this growth going.
It's also important to note that Amazon itself could greatly benefit from AI agents to help the e-commerce business become more efficient and better serve customers and sellers on the platform. Amazon has already gotten started here, introducing Project Amelia to help sellers better analyze their data and eventually solve complex problems.
All this makes now a great time to get in on Amazon and potentially benefit as agentic AI takes off.
3. SoundHound AI
SoundHound AI(NASDAQ: SOUN) is a conversational AI expert, with industries from automobiles to restaurants using its technology. The company stands out because it turns speech directly into meaning, skipping the traditional text step and resulting in speed and higher quality for users.
And this company could be on the way to carving out a spot in the agentic AI space. SoundHound is quickly growing its AI agent portfolio with agents that could tackle complex tasks across five industries. For example, the AI agent customer experience can streamline payment processes in the financial industry or handle plan upgrades in the telecom space. In under a year, SoundHound's AI agent helped French wholesale broker Apivia Courtage reduce the number of inbound queries handled by its human team by 20%.
SoundHound has also built an AI agent employee experience to assist employees and businesses in areas such as human resources and IT.
This voice AI specialist has seen growth explode in recent times, with revenue advancing 89% in the latest quarter. And though the stock has also soared, it could get another big lift as the agentic AI wave gathers momentum.
Don’t miss this second chance at a potentially lucrative opportunity
Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.
On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:
Nvidia:if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009,you’d have $352,417!*
Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $44,855!*
Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $451,759!*
Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.
JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adria Cimino has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
