10 AI Stocks Analysts Say You Should Watch Closely

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In recent news, it has come to light that Nvidia’s RTX6000D, its newest artificial intelligence chip custom-made for the Chinese market, has seen only tepid demand. In fact, some major tech firms have opted not to place orders for the chips.

According to people with knowledge of the matter, RTX6000D is being considered expensive for what it does. The tailor made AI chips is intended mainly for AI inference tasks. Sample testing have shown that its performance lags the RTX5090 – a chip banned by the U.S. for use in China.

A Reuters report has revealed that the RTX5090 is available through grey market channels at less than half the RTX6000D’s price which is around 50,000 yuan ($7,000).

Nvidia begun shipping the RTX6000D this week, with a spokesperson saying how the “market is competitive” and that “we offer the best products we can.”

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. The hedge fund data is as of Q2 2025.

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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points  (see more details here).

10 AI Stocks Analysts Say You Should Watch Closely

10. Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ:FRSH)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35

Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ:FRSH) is one of the 10 AI Stocks Analysts Say You Should Watch Closely. On September 12, Needham analyst Scott Berg reiterated a Buy rating and $25.00 price target on the stock following the company’s Analyst Day.

According to the firm, Freshworks outlined building blocks to support its FY28 financial model, aiming for faster organic revenue growth and incremental FCF leverage to reach a “Rule of 45” framework.

The firm said that even though margin leverage seems highly achievable, there is risk sustaining 20% growth in the EX segment and scaling ITAM ARR beyond $100M.

Increasing deal sizes, more competitive products (i.e with Device42) and new partner motions are growth drivers for the stock.

“We attended Freshworks Analyst Day yesterday where the company detailed individual product building blocks to support its new FY28 financial model highlighted by modestly accelerating organic revenue growth and incremental FCF leverage driving towards a “Rule of 45″ framework. While we find the margin leverage to be highly achievable, we view the risks to the company’s $1.3B ARR target to be centered in sustaining a 20% growth rate in its EX segment and driving to $100mm+ in ITAM ARR. Mgmt notes increasing deal sizes, more competitive products (i.e with Device42) and new partner motions can support the growth but we do see law of large numbers as a potential headwind. We view targets for the CX, ESM, and AI segments to be relatively achievable versus current CX growth levels and what we believe is high demand for the ESM and AI modules.”

Freshworks Inc. is a software development company that provides software-as-a-service products.

9. GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB) is one of the 10 AI Stocks Analysts Say You Should Watch Closely. On September 11, Guggenheim analyst Howard Ma initiates coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a price target of $70.00.

According to the firm, AI tools will enhance, not undermine, demand for software platforms for names such as Atlassian and GitLab. Particularly for GTLB, the firm noted how the company is a “leading enterprise-focused DevSecOps platform with 95% gross retention.

It further said that concerns regarding AI coding assistants replacing developers and threatening GitLab’s seat-based model were “overblown.”

GitLab’s paid user base has accelerated at a double-digit pace over the last year, driven largely by its Duo AI suite and Ultimate tier. The firm believes that this trend is likely to sustain.

“Key Message: We’re initiating coverage of GTLB shares with a Buy rating and $70 price target, representing 43% potential upside. Based on our due diligence, GitLab is the leading enterprise-focused DevSecOps platform. Its strengths in managing the end-to-end software development lifecycle (SDLC) and advanced security features have contributed to >95% gross retention and peer-high growth. Yet GTLB’s valuation, especially on a growth-adjusted basis, has been depressed, due to concerns that AI coding tools will replace software developers, threatening Gitlab’s seat-based model. AI could also disrupt the entire SDLC, putting GitLab’s core value proposition at risk. In our view, these risks are overblown; meanwhile, GitLab has a formidable offensive strategy in play. We estimate GitLab has nearly 2M paid users today, only a fraction of global developer headcount, which continues to rise, even despite AI-driven productivity benefits. On its F2Q26 earnings call, GitLab shared that paid seats have grown double digits y/y and at an accelerating rate over the last four quarters, which we expect to continue. Additionally, GitLab’s Duo AI suite offers more comprehensive features than standalone AI tools today. Together, Ultimate and Duo are driving healthy paid user growth and enterprise expansion, while there is opportunity for price increases, including usage-based pricing for Duo that is in the works. Following 29% revenue growth in F2Q26 marked by significant Total New ARR acceleration, we see GitLab ultimately growing 27% in FY26 (vs. consensus +24%) and 26% in FY27 (8% above consensus, which is at +20%). With peer-high gross margin (90%), we also see room for material FCF margin expansion (vs. 21% in FY26E), making for a sustainable near Rule of 50 status.”

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB) develops software for the software development lifecycle in the US, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.

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