“AI requires exponentially more computing power and capacity than was previously imagined.“
— Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman
There’s a gold rush underway in artificial intelligence (AI). The companies that can supply the “picks and shovels” will likely deliver wealth-building gains to their investors. This means the state-of-the-art chips and related computing infrastructure that power the most advanced machine learning applications.
Here are two tech leaders who are providing this vital computing capacity. Both of these AI stocks are particularly strong buys today.
Advanced Micro Devices
Nvidia gets much of the attention among AI chipmakers. That’s certainly understandable. The semiconductor behemoth designs the cutting-edge chips that enable popular AI applications, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. But with so many businesses rushing to reap the productivity and efficiency gains AI promises, many more of these chips are needed — and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) stands ready to supply them.
AMD’s revenue rose by 2% year over year to $5.5 billion in the first quarter. But these sales belie the company’s promising growth prospects. The chip designer’s data center revenue soared by 80% to $2.3 billion as companies scooped up AMD’s latest graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs) to power their cloud computing operations.
Revenue in the company’s client segment increased by an even more impressive 85% to $1.4 billion, fueled by strong sales of its AI-enabled Ryzen 8000 Series processor. These explosive growth metrics were offset by lower video game-related sales, which should rebound when console makers launch new devices in the coming years.
Chip buyers are eager to foster competition in the supply-constrained AI semiconductor market. Tech giants like Microsoft and Meta Platforms are jumping at the chance to deploy AMD’s new MI300 accelerators, which can speed up machine learning workloads in their data centers. At the same time, computer makers like HP and Dell are featuring AMD’s AI-enabled Ryzen processors in their newest line of PCs.
The opportunity in the data center market alone is enormous. CEO Lisa Su estimates that demand for AI accelerators could surge to $400 billion by 2027. For context, AMD expects to generate data center chip sales of roughly $4 billion in 2024.
Super Micro Computer
Strong demand for AI chips is also boosting sales of supporting computing hardware — a boon for Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI). The provider of high-performance servers, data storage systems, and other AI-optimized equipment is enjoying spectacular growth. Yet, today, you have a chance to scoop up its stock at a sizable discount to its recent highs.
Supermicro (as the company is commonly called) saw its sales triple to $3.85 billion in the quarter ended March 31. Its net profit surged an even more remarkable 367% to $402 million. Supermicro is winning market share in the fast-growing AI infrastructure market. The server specialist has close ties to Nvidia, so it’s benefiting disproportionately from the torrid demand for the chipmaker’s AI offerings.
Yet, despite these impressive growth metrics, Supermicro’s shares have pulled back from the prices they reached earlier this year. The stock is now down about 35% from its all-time highs. Shares are trading for roughly 33 times management’s adjusted earnings per share forecast for 2024. That’s quite a bargain for an AI hardware leader projected to grow per-share profits by more than 60% annually over the next five years.
Investing in quality businesses set to cash in on the AI revolution when their shares are temporarily on sale is a smart strategy for wealth accumulation. Today, you have one such opportunity with Super Micro Computer.
Should you invest $1,000 in Super Micro Computer right now?
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Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Blackstone, HP, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Now That Could Make You a Fortune was originally published by The Motley Fool
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