Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Wealth, joined CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on June 27 to discuss how the bull market’s dominant theme is AI. Due to several factors, which include improved dealings with tariffs, calming geopolitics for the time being, declining inflation, and the expectation of a Fed rate cut in September, Keith Lerner stated that the market should continue to move higher, although he cautioned that valuations might limit the extent of the rise. He pointed out that the market has been moving sideways for the past 7 months, but a key development is the re-emergence of AI as the dominant theme of this bull market.
He noted that while the S&P 500 is just reaching new highs, the tech sector has already achieved new highs, which suggests that it will likely pull the rest of the market up. Lerner also mentioned that the last earnings season exceeded expectations, particularly for growth sectors like tech and communications. He reiterated the positive tailwinds of lower interest rates, decreasing inflation, and the prevailing tech theme. Lerner confirmed that Truist Wealth has been overweight in communication services all year and recently became overweight in tech. He remains positive on growth stocks. Additionally, he expressed a positive outlook on industrials and viewed them as an indirect AI play due to their role in power generation and cooling for data centers, which are essential for AI infrastructure.
That being said, we’re here with a list of the 11 best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds.
A doctor in a laboratory, overseeing the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Methodology
We sifted through ETFs and financial media reports to compile a list of the top AI stocks. We then selected the 11 stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q1 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).
11 Best AI Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds
11. Perfect Corp. (NYSE:PERF)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 10
Perfect Corp. (NYSE:PERF) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 27, Perfect Corp. announced that its AI Skin Analysis technology has won the Newsweek AI Impact Award in the “Brand & Retail: Best Outcomes, Customer Experience” category. This prestigious award recognizes Perfect Corp.’s Real-Time Skin Analysis solution for its impact on customer engagement and personalized skincare experiences.
The Newsweek AI Impact Awards celebrate the most innovative and effective applications of AI across various industries and focus on solutions that deliver measurable business outcomes and enhance user experiences. Perfect Corp.’s Real-Time Skin Analysis was particularly recognized for its ability to offer consumers instant, AI-powered skin assessments. Perfect Corp.’s AI Skin Analysis solution employs state-of-the-art AI algorithms that are trained on over 70,000 medical-grade skincare images.
The extensive training enables the technology to accurately detect key skin concerns such as moisture levels, oiliness, fine lines, wrinkles, spots, and acne. The software then provides personalized skincare recommendations in real-time. Beyond AI Skin Analysis, Perfect Corp. offers cutting-edge AI solutions, such as virtual try-ons for makeup, hairstyles, eyewear, jewelry, watches, and fashion accessories, as well as advanced AI-driven analyzers for hair.
Perfect Corp. (NYSE:PERF) is an artificial intelligence software as a service company that provides AI/AR-powered solutions for the beauty, fashion, and skincare industries worldwide.
10. Lantronix Inc. (NASDAQ:LTRX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 13
Lantronix Inc. (NASDAQ:LTRX) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 26, Lantronix announced a multi-year agreement with a Tier-1 US mobile network operator. The agreement is set to digitally transform the management of over 50,000 backup power systems located at wireless cell sites across the US.
The deployment will utilize Lantronix’s Edge gateways, specifically the FOX Series, and its cloud-based Percepxion platform. The solutions will enable real-time monitoring of generator health, which includes critical metrics like fuel levels, battery status, oil pressure, and coolant temperature. This aims to enhance network reliability, reduce service disruptions, and cut operational costs by moving away from traditional and inefficient manual inspections.
The company was selected from a competitive field of more than 20 competitors, which shows the strength and scalability of its solutions for large and distributed asset networks. Volume shipments for the contract have already commenced and indicate immediate revenue generation for Lantronix.
Lantronix Inc. (NASDAQ:LTRX) develops, markets, and sells industrial and enterprise IoT products and services. The company specializes in Edge AI.
9. BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BBAI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 17
BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BBAI) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 11, BigBear.ai announced a partnership in the UAE with Easy Lease and Vigilix Technology Investment. The collaboration aims to accelerate the research, development, and deployment of innovative AI-enabled solutions to support digital transformation across the UAE and the wider region.
The partnership uses the distinct strengths of each entity. BigBear.ai will serve as the primary technology and innovation arm and lead the development, integration, and localization of advanced AI tools and platforms tailored to the UAE’s specific needs. Easy Lease will contribute its operational leadership and extensive market reach. Vigilix Technology Investment will provide regional insight and enablement to ensure successful market impact.
BigBear.ai is dedicated to fostering long-term and mutually beneficial relationships in the UAE. The collaboration is expected to support the UAE’s innovation agenda through practical AI deployment and R&D initiatives across various high-growth industries, including mobility and industrial sectors.
BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BBAI) provides AI-powered decision intelligence solutions. Easy Lease is a subsidiary of International Holding Company (IHC) and provides integrated mobility and technology-driven solutions. IHC is one of the world’s largest investment firms. Vigilix Technology Investment is a technology investment and strategic advisory firm.
8. Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:RXRX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 19
Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:RXRX) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. Earlier on June 6, a significant advancement in drug discovery was announced with the open-source release of Boltz-2, which is a biomolecular foundation model developed through a collaboration between researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (or MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (or CSAIL) and Jameel Clinic, and the TechBio company Recursion.
Boltz-2 is an AI model that combines the prediction of complex biomolecular structures with binding affinity prediction. It’s a substantial improvement on previous models like AlphaFold3 and its predecessor, called Boltz-1. The model was trained and validated using Recursion’s NVIDIA supercomputer, called BioHive-2, that features 504 NVIDIA H100 GPUs and achieves ~2 exaflops of AI performance.
Boltz-2 achieves accuracy comparable to physics-based Free Energy Perturbation/FEP calculations, which is an industry-standard method for predicting how strongly molecules bind, but at speeds up to 1000 times faster. This increase in speed and efficiency reduces the cost and time involved in large-scale virtual screening, thereby addressing a bottleneck in the early stages of small-molecule drug discovery.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:RXRX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that integrates technological innovations across biology, chemistry, automation, data science, and engineering to industrialize drug discovery in the US.
7. Tempus AI Inc. (NASDAQ:TEM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21
Tempus AI Inc. (NASDAQ:TEM) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 25, Ambry Genetics, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tempus AI, announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The study validates the accuracy of the Ambry CARE Program (or CARE) for hereditary cancer risk assessment.
Titled “Validation of a Digital Tool that Uses National Testing Guidelines to Identify Individuals at Risk for Hereditary Cancer,” the study confirmed that the CARE program interprets NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) with a 99.5% accuracy. This reinforces CARE’s effectiveness as a digital risk assessment tool for identifying patients who could benefit from hereditary cancer-focused genetic testing and personalized care.
About 5% of individuals carry a mutation in a cancer predisposition gene without being aware of it. While NCCN Guidelines are a trusted resource for hereditary cancer testing criteria, their complexity and frequent updates can make them challenging for non-specialist clinicians and digital health tools to apply effectively. The CARE program addresses this by streamlining the hereditary cancer risk assessment process.
Tempus AI Inc. (NASDAQ:TEM) is a healthcare technology company. Ambry Genetics translates scientific research into clinically actionable test results from an understanding of the human genome and the biology behind genetic disease.
6. C3.ai Inc. (NYSE:AI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24
C3.ai Inc. (NYSE:AI) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. Earlier on June 2, C3.ai announced that it secured a $13 million task order from the United States Air Force/USAF Rapid Sustainment Office/RSO. The order is for the expansion of its AI-enabled predictive maintenance system across additional aircraft platforms and sensor-based algorithms.
This task order marks the first to be fulfilled under a recently increased $450 million Production-Other Transaction Agreement awarded to C3.ai. The larger agreement’s ceiling was raised from an initial $100 million on May 29 this year, and extends through October 2029. The company is proud to build on the success of PANDA and continue supporting the Air Force.
PANDA stands for Predictive Analytics and Decision Assistant and was co-developed by C3.ai and the USAF. It is a secure, integrated, and customized application and toolkit for near-real-time analytics and data fusion designed to reduce lifecycle costs through improved readiness and fleet availability. The application is powered by the C3 Agentic AI Platform and the C3 AI Readiness application. The new $13 million task order will specifically scale the USAF’s predictive maintenance implementation on PANDA.
C3.ai Inc. (NYSE:AI) is an enterprise AI application software company.
5. IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 28
IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 25, IonQ made headlines with a significant breakthrough in fundamental physics by achieving the first known simulation of neutrinoless double-beta decay using its quantum computer.
This development has profound implications for understanding the universe’s matter-antimatter imbalance and suggests that quantum computers could unlock new realms in physics processes previously beyond the reach of classical systems. The simulation was performed on IonQ’s Forte Enterprise quantum system, using 32 qubits for the main problem and an additional 4 qubits for error mitigation.
This involved 2,356 two-qubit gates and allowed for the real-time observation of a “lepton-number violation.” The achievement resulted from a year-long co-design effort with researchers from the University of Washington’s InQubator for Quantum Simulation (IQuS) and the US Department of Energy’s Quantum Science Center.
IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) develops quantum computers and networks in the US.
4. Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33
Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 25, Cobalt Credit Union announced a partnership with Upstart. The collaboration aims to broaden Cobalt’s digital reach and provide more accessible and tailored loan solutions, such as personal loans, Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs), and auto refinance loans.
Cobalt Credit Union initiated its lending activities on the Upstart Referral Network in March this year, with plans to introduce auto refinance loans later in the year. Through this network, qualified loan applicants on Upstart.com who align with Cobalt’s credit policies will receive customized offers and seamlessly transition into a Cobalt-branded online application and closing experience.
Cobalt will also continuously acquire portfolios of HELOCs from Upstart’s affiliate, called Upstart Mortgage. Upstart’s AI models and cloud applications enable lenders to approve more borrowers at lower rates. More than 90% of loans facilitated through Upstart are fully automated and require no human intervention.
Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) is a cloud-based AI lending platform in the US. Cobalt Credit Union is a prominent financial institution.
3. UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41
UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 25, UiPath announced a significant internal transformation of its Enterprise Resource Planning/ERP system. The ambitious project involved a collaboration with Deloitte to migrate UiPath’s ERP to SAP S/4HANA. Dubbed the “Customer Zero” initiative, the goal was to set a new benchmark for ERP modernization by using intelligent, agentic automation to enhance operational efficiency and scalability.
UiPath embarked on this overhaul to address challenges stemming from its rapid business growth and increasing global demands. The company was contending with fragmented systems, time-consuming manual billing cycles, and complex multi-GAAP reporting processes.
The “Customer Zero” initiative adopted an “automation-first” approach, deeply embedding the UiPath Platform for agentic automation. The platform includes technologies like RPA, intelligent document processing/IDP, UiPath Apps, and AI-powered orchestration. The integrated approach allowed UiPath to streamline SAP data migration, improve system integrations, and eliminate manual bottlenecks across its core finance operations.
UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH) provides an end-to-end automation platform that offers a range of robotic process automation/RPA solutions internationally.
2. SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 44
SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 26, SoFi Technologies announced that the company expanded its digital financial services, particularly through new crypto-powered capabilities and blockchain innovations. This positions SoFi as a modernized financial services provider.
SoFi is relaunching crypto investing, which will allow members to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum later this year. The company also intends to offer stablecoins and services like crypto-collateralized lending and staking features over time.
Additionally, eligible SoFi Money members will be able to initiate self-serve international money transfers to dozens of countries later this year. These transfers will be fully automated within the SoFi app. The company’s financial performance over the past 3 years demonstrates significant long-term investor confidence, with a total return of 190.25%.
SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) provides various financial services in the US, Latin America, Canada, and Hong Kong.
1. Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS) is one of the best AI stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 23, Nebius announced the winners of its inaugural AI Discovery Awards. The program was established to provide essential computational resources and expertise to companies utilizing AI. The awards distributed over $850,000 in GPU cloud and inferencing credits to support these pioneering efforts.
A distinguished panel of 19 independent judges, with experts from leading biotech, pharmaceutical, research, and venture capital organizations, evaluated 257 global applications. They selected 4 primary winners, each receiving $100,000 in GPU credits for the Nebius AI Cloud. These winning companies were recognized for their validated AI solutions and their potential for market impact.
In addition to the main award recipients, second and third-placed companies in each category received $50,000 and $30,000 in GPU credits, respectively, along with mentorship and networking opportunities. Furthermore, 7 “honorable mentions” in each category were granted $5,000 in GPU cloud credits, and all participants in the AI Discovery Awards received inferencing credits for Nebius AI Studio.
Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS) is a technology company that builds full-stack infrastructure to service the global AI industry.
While we acknowledge the potential of NBIS to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NBIS and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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