In this article, we will discuss The Next SanDisk: 5 Potential Breakout AI Stocks You Shouldn’t Miss. Please visit The Next SanDisk: 9 Potential Breakout AI Stocks You Shouldn’t Miss, if you would like to see the extended list and the methodology behind it.
5. The Metals Company (NASDAQ:TMC)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 24
The Metals Company (NASDAQ:TMC) is down about 20% so far this year but Redditors believe the stock can rebound massively in the long term and should be bought on the dip. Why? It’s a deep-sea mining company that wants to be the first to extract polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor. The nodules contain manganese, cobalt, nickel, and copper.
Why are they important? These are critical minerals the U.S. desperately needs but currently imports almost entirely from Russia, China, and Indonesia. Trump made energy independence a major priority. He’s been pushing hard to get the U.S. to 100% self-reliant on critical minerals instead of depending on hostile countries. That’s where The Metals Company (NASDAQ:TMC) comes in.
TMC has filed a consolidated permit application covering 65,000 square kilometers of ocean floor. The Metals Company (NASDAQ:TMC) plans to produce 10.8 million tons of nodules annually. Reports suggest the company expects to receive a commercial recovery permit by the end of 2026 or early 2027 and production is targeted to start in Q4 2027.
The upside is huge. Mining companies get valued on the net present value of what they can mine. The Metals Company’s (NASDAQ:TMC) territories have an estimated NPV of at least $10 billion, possibly up to $23.6 billion. The stock is trading at a $2.35 billion market cap. If the company gets the permit and proves it can mine at scale, the stock should move way higher.
However, risks include execution. The Metals Company (NASDAQ:TMC) is pre-revenue. The permit isn’t 100% guaranteed even with Trump’s backing. There are also regulatory and international legal risks. Processing agreements with partners in Japan and Switzerland could face complications. But if it works out, this could be a massive multi-bagger.
4. Fluence Energy (NASDAQ:FLNC)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 31
Fluence Energy (NASDAQ:FLNC) is a battery energy storage systems company that sells large-scale grid-stabilizing battery solutions, software platforms, and maintenance services to utilities, renewable energy developers, and increasingly to massive data center operators building out AI infrastructure. Its primary customers are utility companies managing renewable energy variability, independent power producers developing battery storage projects, and hyperscaler tech companies like the ones powering the AI revolution. Retail investors believe the stock can become the next breakout winner like SanDisk because power supply has emerged as the critical, unglamorous bottleneck in the AI revolution—it’s the one thing hyperscalers can’t easily solve with more software or algorithms.
The stock is only up about 4% so far this year despite the tailwinds, which suggests it’s been largely overlooked while everyone obsesses over GPU makers and semiconductor companies. The real opportunity, according to bulls, is that power supply has become a major bottleneck for AI. Data centers need massive, reliable megawatts of power at times when the existing grid simply cannot deliver it, and Fluence Energy (NASDAQ:FLNC) has positioned itself as the company that solves this problem through packaged solutions combining batteries, control systems, software platforms, and service agreements.
Fluence Energy (NASDAQ:FLNC) has locked in major agreements with hyperscalers and its backlog is at about, $5.6 billion, which covers the entire fiscal 2026 revenue guidance. Fluence is also creating a recurring revenue stream through software subscriptions, service agreements, and warranties.
3. QuantumScape Corp (NASDAQ:QS)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 35
QuantumScape Corp (NASDAQ:QS) is a battery technology company developing solid-state batteries for electric vehicles. The stock has plummeted 37% so far this year, with retail investors believing it could break out once the company actually starts producing batteries commercially. However, the stock carries heavy short interest at 15.36%, meaning a lot of investors are betting against it.
The bear case is straightforward: QuantumScape (NASDAQ:QS) has been making the same tiny 5 amp-hour battery cell for years. That’s small. Like, not useful for actual cars. The company keeps shipping these B and B1 sample cells to partners, but it never scales up to bigger, more powerful versions that vehicles actually need. For a stock that’s raised billions to revolutionize battery tech, that’s a real problem.
But the company says the cell size doesn’t matter yet. What matters is they figured out how to actually make these cells reliably. They upgraded their manufacturing process from something called Raptor to Cobra. The separator—the internal layer that keeps battery parts from touching—works way better now. Fewer defects. Faster production. They built a pilot line called Eagle Line and proved they can scale it up.
Then there’s Volkswagen. VW sold over 50,000 electric vehicles in March alone and owns huge chunks of the EV market globally. The company’s battery subsidiary, PowerCo, has a deal to manufacture QuantumScape’s cells at actual commercial scale once they work. QuantumScape gets royalties on every cell sold.
So the bet isn’t that QuantumScape becomes a battery factory. The bet is that the technology works, Volkswagen handles manufacturing and distribution, and QuantumScape collects royalties.
2. Amprius Technologies (NYSE:AMPX)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 36
Amprius Technologies (NYSE:AMPX) is up 92% this year, but Redditors believe the stock has a huge upside potential.
Amprius Technologies makes batteries for drones, satellites, aerospace, and robots. They use silicon-anode technology instead of the standard graphite anodes that most battery makers use. Their batteries are more energy-dense, which means they can store more power in less weight. Drones fly longer with their batteries. Satellites weigh less and their launch process becomes cheaper.
Robots don’t need to charge constantly due to their battery tech. Q1 revenue rose 150% year over year. Revenue on a trailing 12-month basis rose 3x. For 2026, revenue guidance shows growth of 78%.
1. AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 39
AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) is frequently mentioned on Reddit by investors speculating about which stock could become the next SanDisk. Redditors believe ASTS can break out because the company is positioned at an inflection point where execution drives a paradigm shift. After the SpaceX IPO, investor attention on the entire space sector is skyrocketing, and ASTS will be the only pure-play D2D satellite service story in front of retail and institutional eyes.
AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) sells space-based 4G/5G cellular broadband connectivity delivered directly to mobile phones without any hardware upgrades. Its customers are rural Americans stuck with sub-7 MBPS internet (2.6% of the US population willing to pay premium pricing), mobile network operators who’ve already signed partnerships with the company, and increasingly, the US government.
Defense revenue is the hidden story the stock’s bulls point to. Management emphasized in their recent conference call that defense will be a major contributor to 2026 revenue, and they’ve explicitly guided that the US government alone represents a $500 million revenue stream in 2027 alone—with roughly half of the company’s total projected $1 billion 2027 opportunity coming from government contracts. AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) is already conducting tests for the Space Development Agency on radiolocation capabilities, working on 10 different use cases spanning both communications and non-communications applications for national defense.
Crossroads Capital stated the following regarding AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS): Q1 picked up exactly where Q4 left off. The company’s transition from R&D-stage startup to operational scaleup, which we described last quarter, went from “underway” to “unmistakable” over the course of the last three months. There was one setback, as BB7 was placed in the wrong orbit by the New Glenn 3 rocket, sparking a downturn that had everything to do with Blue Origin’s vehicle misplacement, not any failure of AST’s technology. Nonetheless, the setback served as a healthy reminder that navigating the space frontier is never without challenges, particularly for a mission of this scale.
The company’s early March earnings update showed full-year 2025 revenue came in at $70.9M, at the top end of the guided range, driven by 15 commercial gateway deliveries across nine MNO customers on five continents and milestones against ten active government contracts. 2026 revenue guidance is $150–200M, at least a doubling, and management gave clarity and context to the $1.2B of contracted backlog and government-related scaling we should see into next year. Q1 2026 revenue of $14.7M was light relative to consensus, but guidance was reaffirmed and management noted revenue will be heavily weighted toward the second half of the year as launches begin and commercial service activates…” (Click here to read the full text)
While we acknowledge the potential of ASTS 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 ASTS and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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