The Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution began more than two years ago with the debut of ChatGPT in November 2022. since then, Nasdaqcomposite stocks have risen by more than 74% nvidia We made it forward with an astounding 685%.
But like all revolutions, there are stages in the AI ​​revolution. Clearly, Nvidia, the global leader of Graphic Processing Units (GPUs), dominated the first wave of AI. But what will come next? Which stocks can control the second stage of AI?
probably The second phase of the AI ​​revolution Intention See AI-based platforms go up to center stage. Here we reveal that three miscellaneous fools contributors are looking at the stock: Cloud StrikeHoldings(NASDAQ: CRWD), alphabet(NASDAQ: GOOG)and apple(NASDAQ: AAPL).
Image source: Getty Images.
Jake Larch (Cloud Strike Holdings): My choice is Cloud Strike Holdings.
As AI systems continue to improve, one thing is becoming clearer. AI-powered tools will be much more powerful than existing systems. Furthermore, these tools are used for both ethical and unethical purposes.
Cybercrime in particular is already a major issue. According to the FBI, cybercrime costs in the US alone reached $12.3 billion in 2023. It is true, unfortunately, that criminals will try to use them as the models that drive AI will multiply and grow more powerfully.
As a result, organizations need to fight fire with fire. That’s where CrowdStrike comes in. It is equipped with the company’s AI Cybersecurity The tool is dynamic – it is built to learn on the spot and adapt to the threat when it appears.
Just as the age of personal computers required firewalls and anti-virus software, the age of AI requires dynamic AI-powered cybersecurity to keep your networks, endpoints and data safe.
What’s more, the new AI era will do that Become an average organization They are more vulnerable than ever as they work in real time to centralize, sort and analyze their data. Simply put, it becomes a lot of organizations Sitting A duck for cybercriminals who can do great harm by stealing data, stealing operations, and stealing both.
All this provides great market opportunities for Cloud Strike. As a result, the company’s revenues have more than doubled from $1.6 billion to $3.7 billion over the past three years. In the future, analyst estimates compiled by Yahoo! Finance Predict could generate $4.8 billion in revenue by the end of fiscal year 2026 (12 months ending January 31, 2026 ).
In other words, cloud strikes are good for scaling as AI grows. Therefore, investors looking to acquire the next stage of AI growth should consider Crowdstrike stocks.
It’ll be Healy(alphabet): In the competition for AI leadership, investors appear to have amortized the industry’s pioneer alphabet.
In fact, many analysts and investors questioned the market leadership of Google’s parents after Openai’s GPT-4o functionality became publicly known. While some doubt the future of Google search amid advances in AI, the release of Google Gemini’s generative AI platform did not necessarily alleviate these concerns.
Still, Deepseek’s breakthrough could ultimately serve as an opportunity for the alphabet to increase its competitive advantage in this next phase of AI development. Low-cost AI should increase the use of its AI services and products. This should work well for the company as they try to succeed in this fast-growing industry.
To that end, the alphabet is currently betting huge resources on recovery. The company has pledged to spend $75 billion in capital expenditure (CAPEX) in 2025, but most of it will be devoted to AI-related spending. Some may recognize it as a sign of despair, Amazon and Meta Platform I also spent an equivalent amount on CAPEX.
Plus, the alphabet can probably afford this. In addition to its $96 billion in liquidity, the company generated nearly $73 billion in free cash flow in 2024, which does not include CAPEX. And the nearly $53 billion spent on CAPEX in 2024 shows that Alphabet can generate large free cash flows even with additional investments.
Alphabet stocks have risen nearly 25% from last year. So, it’s not running like some peers, but stock remains in growth mode.
Finally, if the P/E ratio is 23, it is the lowest cost inventory in Magnificent Seven. This means that growth stock returns can be offered at reasonable prices to raise competitive games in this new AI realm.
Justin Pope (apple): Artificial intelligence is steadily entering its next stage. AI Hyperscalers continue to spend billions of dollars on chips and other hardware, but the focus could soon move to AI platforms and applications that bring technology to consumers and businesses. I think Apple will be a massive long-term winner here.
The company is well known for its sticky ecosystem, including iPhones, wearable accessories, tablets and computers. The user experience is butter-smooth thanks to software that connects everything seamlessly. Earlier this year, Apple has around 2.35 billion active IOS devices worldwide. Its enormous footprint provides an internal track for Apple to gain market share in AI for consumers.
Early iterations of Apple Intelligence have seen the first iterations of Apple Intelligence, an Apple package that introduces Apple introduced through software updates on the latest devices. So far, Apple Intelligence reportedly failed to make a great first impression with iOS users. But it’s very quickly. It takes years for a full deployment to allow iOS users to upgrade to AI-enabled devices and Apple can experiment and improve Apple Intelligence.
The stock trades at a price-to-earning ratio of more than 31, but some argue that it is expensive for companies looking to rekindle growth. However, assuming Apple is successful with AI, inventory should be fine in the long term. Analysts estimate that Apple will increase by around 14% per year over the next three to five years.
Unless your competitors appear and dig into Apple’s vast user base, it seems appropriate for your company to benefit from doubt. Apple has remained a world-class company that has generated nearly $100 billion in free cash flow in the last four quarters alone. Until proven otherwise, Apple is at the pinnacle of consumer mountains, perhaps the most obvious consumer-oriented AI stock, and can be comfortably bought and held for the next five to ten years.
Consider this before purchasing inventory on Cloud Strike.
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John Mackey, former CEO of Amazon subsidiary Whole Foods Market, is a member of Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development, Facebook spokeswoman and sister to Metaplatform CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of the board of directors of Motley Fool. Jake Larch There are positions for Alphabet, Amazon, Crowdstrike, and Nvidia. Justin Pope There is no position in any of the stocks mentioned. It’ll be Healy There is a position in Cloud Strike. Motley Fool has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Crowdstrike, Meta Platforms and Nvidia. To Motley’s fool Disclosure Policy.
