In this article, we are going to look at the 5 AI Stocks Making Moves on Wall Street: Nvidia, Micron, and More. For a longer list, you can go to 14 AI Stocks Making Moves on Wall Street: Nvidia, Micron, and More.
5. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 138
On June 29, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse raised the price target on Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) to $850.00 (from $650), maintaining an Overweight rating. Despite the PT raise and rating affirmation, the firm sees more limited upside to EPS compared to peers.
The firm continues to like AMAT, alongside LRCX and KLAC. ASML, on the other hand, has the strongest EPS upside among semiconductor stocks.
In Semi Equipment, we see the most EPS upside from ASML. Considering being a significant underperformer, we see a meaningful catch-up trade here. We do continue to like LRCX, AMAT, and KLAC, but we see more limited upside to EPS here (we could see modest relative underperformance here through earnings like we did last earnings season).
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is a leader in materials engineering solutions engaged in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries.
4. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 154
Micron’s growing base of Strategic Customer Agreements (SCAs) has had Wall Street bullish on the Micron Technology. Recently, on June 25, JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur raised the price target on the stock to $1,540.00 (from $550.00) while maintaining an “Overweight” rating.
The firm believes that Micron’s expansion from a single 5-year contract, which was announced last quarter, to 16 signed agreements, may offer meaningful protection to its revenues and margins. Instead of operating as a cyclical commodity producer, the company could become a more stable supplier with multi-year contracts.
Commenting on its latest quarterly results, the firm noted how May quarter revenue of 41.5 billion beat Street consensus estimates of $35.6 billion. Meanwhile, gross margins reached an all-time high of 84.9%.
Both DRAM and NAND average selling prices increased 63% and 87% respectively as supply remained structurally constrained. Looking ahead, Micron has guided for an estimated $50 billion in August quarter revenue. While the rate of price increase is expected to slow down, the firm believes that MU’s already achieved prices will likely remain stable due to the SCA structure.
Critically, the 14 of 16 SCAs with defined price bands collectively represent ~$100B of cumulative revenue at floor pricing (i.e. minimum committed), with mgmt explicit that the floor-price gross margins are “well above peak margins in any past cycle” (vs. last cycle peak GM of ~62%), effectively establishing a higher and more durable margin floor than at any time in MU’s history. Customer commitment is also reflected in $22B of cash deposits and related financial commitments (of which $18B is unrestricted cash; ~$10B to be received in F4Q26 alone), which sit on MU’s B/S during the contract term.
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) develops and sells memory and storage products for data centers, mobile devices, and various industries worldwide.
3. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 170
On June 29, Loop reiterated the stock as “Buy.” The firm noted that its channel checks show Apple is looking into China for “memory relief.”
Following up on our previous trail of breadcrumbs pointing towar ds AAPL looking deeper into using local content in/from China for myriad reasons, the recent news of AAPL lobbying the US Government to allow for procurement of DRAM from Chinese CXMT [ChangXin Memory Technologies} is right on course with our ongoing research.
Apple has reportedly begun launching a lobbying campaign seeking clearance from the Trump administration to source memory chips from CXMT, as per The Financial Times. CXMT is blacklisted in the U.S. owing to its alleged ties to the Chinese military.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon updated the 1260H list which blacklisted memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC as well as dozens of other Chinese groups based on their alleged links to the People’s Liberation Army. Even though Apple is not prohibited from buying chips from CXMT or YMTC, such deals can lead to reputational risks for U.S. firms.
Apple is a technology company known for its consumer electronics, software, and services.
2. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 275
On June 29, Bernstein reiterates Nvidia as “Outperform,” stating that the AI chipmaker is a key player in the humanoid space. The firm highlighted both Nvidia and Qualcomm are at the forefront of developing advanced processors that serve as the central processing units for robotics.
Compute and software platform providers also have a clear path to building moats with NVDA and QCOM at the forefront of developing processors that function as the ‘brain’ of the robot, allowing it to process sensor data, reason, plan, and execute actions quickly.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) specializes in AI-driven solutions, offering platforms for data centers, self-driving cars, robotics, and cloud services.
1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 282
On June 26, Deutsche Bank reiterated the stock as “Buy,” noting that the stock is underappreciated.
We are planting our flag and affirming that current AI businesses across the cloud providers we cover are indeed value creative and based on current economics in the market constitute a sustainable commercial foundation.
In other news, a recent Jefferies survey of 40 IT executives revealed that Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Palo Alto Networks and ServiceNow emerged as the strongest performers.
Analyst Brent Thill revealed that the survey showed accelerating software budgets, with CIOs expecting 6.2% growth in 2026 versus 4.8% in 2025.
The firm noted how enterprise AI spending is accelerating rather than slowing. “Tokenmaxxing is real,” with an estimated 68% of CIOs now holding a dedicated AI budget, 73% reporting that year-to-date token and API spend is tracking above initial expectations.
This, the bank noted, is “a pragmatic scaling phase, not a pullback.” Microsoft stood out amongst the vendors, with 85% of CIOs expecting to spend more in 2026 and none planning to spend less.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a global technology company that develops and sells a wide range of software, cloud services, devices, and business solutions, serving both individual users and enterprise customers worldwide.
While we acknowledge the potential of MSFT 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 MSFT and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 10 AI Stocks That Are Surging and 10 Most Undervalued Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2 Years.
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