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Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has been a wild ride over the last few months.
Shares of the electric vehicle (EV) maker soared following the election of President Donald Trump in November as CEO Elon Musk closely aligned himself with Trump during the campaign. Investors seemed to believe that having a friendly ear from the president would translate into a win for the company.
However, since the inauguration, Musk has proven himself to be a lightning rod for controversy, due to the layoffs and cost cuts that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is issuing and his other political statements. Now, there is evidence that could be affecting Tesla's business. January registrations, a proxy for sales, for Tesla in Europe dropped 45% even as overall EV sales were up 37%.
As you can see from the chart below, the stock nearly doubled in the weeks after the election, though it has since given up nearly all of those gains.
For investors looking for artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, better options are available. Keep reading to see two of them.
1. The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) has been a top adtech company for over a decade. It's the leading independent demand-side platform (DSP), meaning it helps ad agencies and brands optimize their ad campaigns, and the company is increasingly leaning on AI to innovate and improve its platform.
The Trade Desk's new AI platform, Kokai, uses deep learning algorithms distributed across the buying process, and uses data from more than 13 million advertising impressions every second.
The Trade Desk acknowledged some missteps with its rollout of Kokai in its recent earnings report, as the stock plunged after the company missed its own revenue guidance. The rollout has been slower than anticipated, but it expects to convert all its customers from Solimar, its previous platform, to Kokai this year.
Meanwhile, the sell-off in The Trade Desk stock sets up a good buying opportunity as shares are now down nearly 50% from their peak in the fall. While the fourth-quarter results were disappointing, the company is still growing rapidly with revenue up 22% to $741 million and adjusted earnings per share up 44% to $0.59. With that kind of growth and new AI innovations strengthening its competitive advantages, the stock should be able to rebound over the rest of 2025.
2. Microsoft
Another rock-solid AI stock trading at a discount is Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). The tech giant was regarded as an early winner in AI due to its partnership with OpenAI, but after an initial surge, the stock has lagged the broader market. In fact, the stock is down over the past year as Microsoft has faced skepticism over its growing capital expenditures, and its valuation had been looking stretched.