In this article, we will look at the 12 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street right now.

Kamil Dimmich, Partner & Portfolio Manager at North of South Capital, recently spoke on CNBC and talked about the divergence in emerging markets’ performance amid geopolitical tensions tied to the Iran conflict.

He noted that domestic economies, particularly in Southeast Asia, are those that remain particularly vulnerable amid elevated oil prices. This has in turn weighed on their equity markets to an extent.

On the flip side, there is the whole AI trade that continues to power select markets such as Korea and Taiwan. These markets, Dimmich noted, have performed well even since the war started. Despite being hugely reliant on energy inputs, these countries have held up well particularly because their equity markets are dominated by semiconductor companies. They are less sensitive to oil prices and are instead benefiting from accelerated AI spend.

The scale of investment in AI underscores this shift. The market, he highlighted, must have seen companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic raise enormous amounts of money. Meanwhile, Sell side analysts continue to revise their estimates and struggle to keep pace, with the momentum appearing relatively insulated from what’s happening in the Middle East.

People are looking at it as a structural shift and game changer, Dimmich said. However, the long-term durability of the trade is yet to be proved.

That said, let’s dive into the top AI stocks in focus on Wall Street.

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 Q4 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 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).

AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street

12. SoundHound AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 22

SoundHound AI Inc. (NASDAQ: SOUN) is part of our coverage of 12 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street. The company has recently announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which it will acquire LivePerson, an enterprise leader in predictable conversational AI.

Following the news, on April 22, DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $14.00 price target. Firm analysts believe the LivePerson acquisition will add scale and value to the stock, supporting its long-term growth and helping it expand its AI conversational platform.

SoundHound announced this morning a definitive agreement to acquire LivePerson, a provider of an AI powered conversational platform to help businesses communicate with customers, for a total enterprise value of ~$250M upon closing.

However, they also acknowledged that the acquisition is SoundHound’s largest till date, and that it also presents some integration risks. However, they still view it favorably as it adds significant scale to the company’s business and is also accretive on a valuation basis.

We reiterate our BUY rating.

SoundHound AI, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOUN) is a voice artificial intelligence company offering voice AI solutions to businesses.

11. Astera Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) is included in our roundup of 12 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street. The company recently received a rating initiation from UBS, with analysts pointing to robust AI networking growth and execution as drivers for the stock. On April 21, analyst Natalia Winkler initiated coverage on ALAB with a Neutral rating and a price target of $180.

While analysts are optimistic on ALAB’s growth, elevated valuation and rising competition, they flagged, may limit upside. Discussing the past five years, analysts appreciated the company for its emergence as a credible AI networking supplier. It has earned this credibility, they noted, in part by robust execution in retimers and successful expansion beyond their initial anchor customer, AWS.

Ever since ALAB launched retimer products, the company has managed to defend  its share with AWS and also broaden adoption across different hyperscalers. As such, its growth outlook looks constructive over the next few years as revenue is expected to modestly exceed consensus.

This modest beat will likely be driven by its retimer business and expansion into PCIe/UA Link switching. However, the firm noted that incremental growth is likely to be more reliant on the competitive switching market.

That said, incremental growth should come from a more competitive switching market (we are 3% below consensus in C2028) and, combined with a high-40s C2027 P/E that is well above AI networking peers and an elevated PEG, leads us to launch at Neutral, seeing more attractive risk-reward in other networking names.

10. Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57

Baidu, Inc. has recently been on the radar owing to its robust AI cloud momentum and improving growth trajectory, earning itself a place in our list of 12 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street.

On April 14, BofA Securities analyst Miranda Zhuang reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $180.00 price target. Discussing expectations, the firm noted how it expects Baidu Core’s first-quarter topline and bottom line to both meet consensus expectations. The firm maintains first quarter topline estimate at a 2% YoY decline and adj. OP at a 24% YoY decline.

Advertising remains under pressure, with the firm adjusting its forecasts by lowering ad revenue to a 19% year-over-year decline from negative 13% previously due to late Chinese New Year and competition. This weakness, however, is offset by raised AI Cloud Infrastructure revenue to 43% year-over-year growth from 25% previously driven by robust AI computing demand.

We expect Baidu’s revenue mix from AI powered businesses to expand to 51% in 1Q, which is a milestone signaling that AI has replaced legacy advertising to become the core of Baidu. Looking ahead, while legacy ad will remain under pressure, ad’s comp base will become easier, and we expect ad’s decline to be offset by robust AI cloud. Hence we expect 1Q to be the trough in 2026 and revenue growth will recover throughout 2Q–4Q26. We reiterate our Buy rating on the strong AI cloud momentum, event catalyst from AI chip business, attractive valuation of 6x FY26 EV/EBITDA (Bloomberg data). Maintain SOTP based PO of USD180/HKD176.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) is a Chinese internet giant and AI pioneer, known for its noteworthy investments in artificial intelligence technology and its position as the dominant search engine within the country.

9. Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 85

Improving visibility around AWS’s Trainium chips and robust near-term demand for optical components has recently led RBC Capital more optimistic toward Marvell. The stock ranks 9th on our list of 12 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street.

On April 21, RBC Capital analyst Srini Pajjuri raised the price target on the stock to $170.00 (from $115.00) while maintaining an “Outperform” rating.

Marvell is seen as a key supplier to AWS, offering a broad range of products including ASICs, networking components, and optical technologies. The firm said it expects that each gigawatt of capacity represents $2.5 billion to $3 billion in addressable market, with MRVL anticipated to account for at least half.

The firm further models an estimated $1.6 billion in custom silicon revenue from AWS this year. However, upside may be constrained due to tight 3nm wafer supply.

We see room for near-term upside primarily from PAM-4 optical connectivity strength and believe that the AWS/Anthropic agreement will help sustain strong double-digit growth momentum into FY28 and beyond. For FY28, our model shows 50% growth at AWS, which we believe has potential upside.

Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) develops and manufactures semiconductors, with a heavy focus on data centers.

8. Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 90

Even though the Snowflake story may seem risky to some, one research firm believes its long-term growth story remains intact. Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is eighth on our list of 12 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street.

On April 21, UBS analyst Karl Keirstead lowered the price target on the stock to $210.00 (from $235.00) while maintaining a “Buy” rating.

Even though AI disruption risks has driven stock weakness lately, UBS believes that there is confidence in the company’s long-term growth and data investment cycle. Shares, the firm noted, are down more than 34% year-to-date despite fundamental outlook remaining solid.

Snowflake shares are -34% YTD despite a FY27 outlook for stable high-20%/30% revs growth and exposure to a still-strong enterprise data investment cycle.

The firm believes that this weakness stems from investor concern surrounding AI disruption. In particular, there is this concern that AI models such as those from OpenAI and Anthropic may disrupt “even the heretofore “safe” data software market over time.”

While these risks exist, the firm believes concerns are manageable. The AI risks are objectively discussed but the firm remains Buy rated, reflecting optimism.

Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is a cloud-based data storage company providing a data analysis, storage, and sharing platform.

7. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96

Intel recently witnessed a core business re-rating driven by server CPU growth and pricing power from HSBC. It is seventh on our list of 12 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street.

On April 21, analyst Frank Lee upgraded the stock from Hold to “Buy” and raised the price target to $95 from $50. This could eventually drive strong earnings upside potential for the stock, as per the firm.

Upgrade to Buy (from Hold), TP USD95 (from USD50) on core business alone: We move to a PE multiple-based valuation but deploy a SOTP valuation based on a 2027e target PE of 26x for the core business.

The firm particularly mentioned that the foundry business isn’t included in their valuation due to external customer related uncertainty that remains. However, expectations of robust growth in server CPU shipments and anticipated price increases has led to the upgrade.

Intel, the firm believes, has “game-changing server CPU potential” which has not yet been priced into the stock.

Our rounded TP of USD95 (from USD50) implies c45% upside and we upgrade our rating to Buy (from Hold) based on the core business valuation driven mainly from server CPU shipment growth and price hikes leading to significant upside earnings potential.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) designs, manufactures, and sells computer products and technologies, delivering data storage, computer, networking, and communications platforms.

6. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 137

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one of the 12 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street. On April 21, BofA Securities analyst Alex Perry reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $460.00 price target. The buy rating on Tesla is driven on the premise that robotaxi opportunity is likely to drive long-term upside for the company, in turn unlocking early-stage autonomy monetization.

The firm is of the view that Tesla is in the early stages of autonomy monetization, with the upcoming Robotaxi fleet seen as a “major embedded opportunity” that isn’t fully reflected in current valuation models.

BofA particularly highlighted how autonomous vehicles (AVs) represent the single largest “change agent” in the Auto 2.0 era. The transition is likely to be steered by high economic value of saved commuting time and improved safety of AI-pivoted travel.

We maintain our Buy & $460 PO as we see significant embedded opportunity from robotaxi, and believe TSLA is at the early stages of monetization of its autonomy capabilities. We see autonomous vehicles spurring the next era of mobility and as the most significant change agent in the Auto 2.0 landscape, offering consumers the prospect of saving time, safer travel, and more accessible transportation.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an automotive and clean energy company that leverages advanced artificial intelligence in its autonomous driving technology and robotics initiatives.

Click to continue reading and see the 5 AI Stocks in Focus on Wall Street: Tesla, Meta, and More.

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.