The stock market may have witnessed some volatility of late, but it is worth noting that the S&P 500 index has clocked healthy gains of 41% since the beginning of 2023. It’s thanks to a solid rally in technology stocks that outperformed the broader market on account of catalysts such as artificial intelligence (AI).
This explains why the tech-laden Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector index has outperformed the S&P 500 since the beginning of 2023 with astounding gains of 74%. The ability of technology companies to capitalize on disruptive trends over time, such as the internet, smartphones, video streaming, social media, and now AI, is the reason why companies in this sector tend to deliver outsized gains.
That’s the reason why investors would do well to buy shares of Nvidia (NVDA) and SoundHound AI (SOUN) in 2024, as both companies are taking advantage of the adoption of AI in their respective industries and could turn out to be top-growth stocks in the long run. Shares of both Nvidia and SoundHound are already up 135% so far this year, and a closer look at their prospects will tell us that their bull run could be here to stay.
Nvidia’s AI-fueled rally is likely to gain momentum
Though Nvidia has been in fine form on the stock market this year, it has witnessed a slight pullback of late. However, all that could change later this month when the semiconductor giant releases its second-quarter results for fiscal 2025.
Nvidia is set to release its next set of quarterly results on Aug. 28. Analysts are forecasting the company to deliver $28.5 billion in revenue, which is slightly higher than the chipmaker’s forecast of $28 billion. Its earnings are expected to more than double to $0.64 per share from $0.27 per share in the same quarter last year.
It won’t be surprising to see Nvidia beating Wall Street’s forecasts once again — just like it has done in the past four quarters — because of its dominant position in the AI chip market.
The company has witnessed terrific demand for its AI graphics processing units (GPUs), which are powering the growth of Nvidia’s data-center business. In Q1 of fiscal 2025 (which ended on April 28), Nvidia’s data-center revenue rose 427% year over year to $22.6 billion. Its overall revenue shot up 262% year over year to $26 billion.
Nvidia’s terrific data-center growth is likely to continue in fiscal Q2 and beyond despite recent rumors that its next-generation Blackwell chips are likely to face a delay of four to six weeks before going into production. That’s because Nvidia is witnessing robust demand for its existing H100 and H200 processors.
CFO Colette Kress remarked on Nvidia’s May earnings conference call that the company kept increasing the supply of its previous flagship processor, the H100, despite the availability of a new chip such as the H200. At the same time, Nvidia was finding it difficult to meet the demand for the H200 and expects this chip to remain supply constrained next year.
Concerning the company’s next-generation Blackwell processors, sources suggest that Nvidia could generate a whopping $210 billion in revenue from their sales next year. That would be a huge increase over the $47.5 billion data-center revenue the company generated in fiscal 2024. All this explains why analysts are expecting Nvidia’s revenue to nearly double in fiscal 2025 (which will end in January next year) to $120.5 billion from $60.9 billion in fiscal 2024.
Also, as the following chart tells us, analysts have been raising their growth expectations for Nvidia over the next couple of fiscal years as well.
All this indicates that Nvidia could continue to remain a top growth stock in 2024 and beyond, making it an ideal bet for growth-oriented investors looking to take advantage of the fast-growing adoption of AI.
SoundHound AI is gaining traction within a fast-growing AI niche
SoundHound AI provides a platform to customers to help them develop voice AI solutions, such as chatbots and conversational voice assistants. The company believes that its total addressable market (TAM) could be worth a whopping $140 billion, and the good part is that it is well on its way to capitalizing on this opportunity.
The company reported an impressive year-over-year jump of 54% in revenue in 2024’s Q2 to $13.5 million. SoundHound AI also acquired enterprise AI software company Amelia for $80 million so that it can expand its reach in the generative AI-powered customer-service space. SoundHound says that after the acquisition, it will be serving 200 marquee customers across the globe, including top banks and Fortune 500 companies.
Thanks to this acquisition and SoundHound’s growing traction in the restaurant and automotive markets, the company raised its 2024 revenue guidance to at least $80 million as compared to the earlier guidance of $71 million. What’s more, SoundHound expects revenue to increase at a terrific pace again in 2025 and exceed $150 million.
SoundHound’s 2024 revenue guidance indicates that its top line is on track to increase 74% this year, which would be an improvement over its 2023 revenue growth of 47%. Even better, the 2025 guidance indicates that the company is expecting to deliver an 87% increase in the top line next year.
We have already seen that SoundHound sees a massive addressable market for its voice AI solutions, which is why there is a good chance that it will be able to sustain its outstanding growth in the long run. So, investors looking to buy a growth stock right now can consider adding SoundHound to their portfolios. Its shares have started taking off after its latest results, and based on the company’s prospects, they could keep heading higher.
— Harsh Chauhan
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Source: The Motley Fool