Stocks to buy

Artificial intelligence technology is transforming many industries and creating new opportunities for businesses and consumers. But as an investor, how can you benefit from this powerful technology? You might think that buying AI stocks is the obvious answer, but that’s not necessarily the case.

Many AI stocks have soared to sky-high valuations in recent months, making them risky and expensive bets. Besides, investing in AI stocks introduces your portfolio to a lot of speculation.

However, there is another way to leverage AI for your portfolio: investing in AI-recommended stocks. You might have heard of some AI-powered ETFs, such as AIEQ, that do this. These ETFs underperformed due to excessive reliance on AI and neglecting human factors.

AI is not a magic ball that can predict the future. Rather, it is a tool that can help you analyze the present. That’s why you still need to use your own judgment and common sense when evaluating a stock, even if AI recommends it.

I will be using Bard today, as it has a much larger dataset than its OpenAI peers. I will review Bard’s suggestions and select the top seven stocks with millionaire potential. In this article, I will share with you these seven AI-recommended stocks and why I think they are worth buying. Let’s get started!

Me: “Hi Bard, I am writing an article about some millionaire-maker stocks. Can you give me some stocks that you think fall into that category?”

Seal Limited (SE)

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Bard: “Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) is a Singapore-based e-commerce company that operates in Southeast Asia. The company is growing rapidly and has a large addressable market. Sea Limited’s e-commerce platform, Shopee, is the most popular e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia. The company is also expanding into other businesses, such as digital payments and gaming.”

Bard has consistently picked Sea Limited in many of my recent articles about AI-recommended stocks. Indeed, it is a very promising company, down 84% from its peak, and has been trading sideways for nearly a year. With the company’s financials improving, an explosive upside breakout seems imminent.

Paying anything below $100 here is a bargain in my eyes, and investors should snap up this stock in this range. The average Wall Street analyst also shares my view, with a consensus analyst price target of $99, implying an upside of 71.2%. Even the lowest price target here is $82, so the risk-reward ratio is heavily in your favor.

But again, that’s just the one-year price target. I have very high hopes for Sea Limited in the long-run. The company operates in arguably the fastest-growing region in the world. China and India are increasingly facing efforts to stimulate manufacturing growth due to stagnant economic growth, limited skilled labor, and inadequate infrastructure.

Southeast Asian countries, especially Vietnam, offer skilled labor and superior infrastructure for manufacturers shifting away from China. Sea Limited dominates the e-commerce segment in this region, and is also growing its influence in the gaming and fintech sectors.

Accordingly, the stock analyst model Gurufocus sees SE’s fair value over $500 by 2026.

Alector (ALEC)

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Bard: “Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s strong drug pipeline positions it to capitalize on the rising demand for disease treatments.”

Alector is not very well known. However, I believe this business is poised for success in the coming months. It offers a very compelling entry point at $6.40, well below its price two years ago at $37. The decline primarily stems from an earnings miss, clinical delays, and the market’s sentiment towards the biotech sector.

However, these factors only makes Alector more compelling in my eyes. Near-term earnings misses for early-stage biotech companies carry less significance to me, as I prioritize evaluating their future potential post-approval. That requires a lot of patience for these catalysts to play out. However, for those patient investors, it can lead to tremendous gains. I believe Alector is one company that can pull off such gains.

Alector has some promising CNS drugs in its pipeline, mainly for Alzheimer’s. The FDA’s scrutiny of Biogen’s (NASDAQ:BIIB) Aduhelm approval is causing delays in the approval process for these drugs. I have confidence in Alector’s numerous candidates, including AL001 (which is in Phase 3 trials), and AL101 (nearing completion of Phase 1).

Both drugs are being developed in partnership with GSK (NYSE:GSK). In contrast, there is also AL002, targeting TREM2, which is in Phase 2 and is developed in partnership with AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV). As the company trades at essentially cash levels with minimal debt, I’d be willing to hold it with patience and see how things unfold.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the average Wall Street analyst has a price target of $18.2, implying 184% upside. Even with the one sell rating, the lowest price target is $10. This certainly qualifies as among the millionaire-maker stocks I think are worth buying here.

Asana (ASAN)

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Bard: “Asana (NYSE:ASAN) is a work management software company that helps teams organize, track, and manage their projects and tasks. The company is growing rapidly and has a large addressable market. Asana’s software is utilized by major global companies, positioning it favorably to capitalize on the growing demand for cloud-based work management solutions.”

Asana is another stock investors shouldn’t take too lightly. The company’s multi-year chart doesn’t look pretty, but I believe the sentiment around this stock can change very quickly. The company demonstrates consistent sales growth, and is projected to achieve 18% year-over-year sales growth in 2023, followed by an acceleration to 23% in 2026.

But sales growth isn’t the only reason why ASAN trades so low. Wall Street has been fixated on profitable companies, and Asana has a very high cash burn due to its marketing spend. That’s why many tout the company’s growth as unsustainable.

Personally, I have a much different view. Asana had $152 million in sales in its last reported quarter and had $61 million in losses. While these numbers may appear unfavorable at first glance, the company has made progress, by reducing losses from $113 million in the previous year, indicating a positive trajectory toward profitability.

Then there’s also the company’s CEO, Dustin Moskovitz. He co-founded Facebook, and has pockets deep enough to tug Asana alone. Indeed, he has been doing exactly that. Dustin Moskovitz is now the majority owner of Asana, and has been continuously buying shares.

With Asana’s main caveat (sustainability) disproven, I see this as a bargain long-term opportunity. Some absurdly low price targets from an RBC Capital analyst at $10 (53% downside) have significantly dragged down the consensus price target for ASAN stock. But the opportunity becomes much clearer if you look at other analysts.

For example, JMP securities noted a price target of $30 with a “market outperform” rating last month, implying 38% upside. Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Oppenheimer all upped their targets to ~$25 on average last month. Gurufocus also puts a $73 fair value price tag by 2026.

Okta (OKTA)

Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com

Bard: “Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) is a cloud identity management company that provides a suite of services to help businesses manage user access to applications and data. The company is growing rapidly and has a large addressable market. Okta serves major global companies, positioning it favorably to capitalize on the growing demand for cloud-based identity management solutions.”

Okta is in a similar boat to Asana. Despite impressive revenue, the cloud company’s lack of profits has led to a 50% decrease in stock prices compared to its pre-COVID levels in 2019. Much like Asana, losses are steadily being trimmed, currently sitting around $119 million per quarter, down from $277 at its peak. In comparison, quarterly sales are at $518 million.

These metrics are expected to see tremendous improvement in the coming years. Analysts project revenue growth to stay around 18% year-over-year for the next two years, with an acceleration to more than 21% year-over-year growth in 2026. Additionally, the company’s earnings per share are expected to more than double during this period. The consensus price target here implies a 35% upside. That’s a solid buy in this environment.

Looking at a multi-year timeframe is when it starts to become one of the millionaire-maker stocks. Gurufocus’ model puts a $455 fair price tag on OKTA stock by 2025. It does note it as a possible value trap, due to its lack of profitability. However, I don’t think that’s the case here.

Twilio (TWLO)

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Bard: “Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) is a cloud communications platform that provides APIs for making and receiving phone calls, sending and receiving text messages, and building chat applications. The company is growing rapidly and has a large addressable market. Twilio’s APIs aid major companies worldwide, capitalizing on the surge in mobile communication demands.”

Twilio is another company Bard has been consistently bullish on. Again, Bard has already covered much of the strong suits of the core business, so let’s dive into financials. Twilio also saw its stock price fall off a cliff due to slowing year-over-year growth and a lack of profits. However, the company is expected to pick up the pace pace after next year, and re-accelerate its year-over-year revenue growth rate to 18% in 2026.

The company’s net loss is certainly very high, though Twilio’s $4 billion in cash more than covers its $342 million quarterly losses, ensuring stability amid challenges.

Another aspect I do like here is the company’s involvement with up-and-coming sectors. Twilio constantly innovates, expanding its platform with new products and services. For example, the company announced key partnerships with Frame AI and Google Cloud last month. The first will improve Twilio’s contact center experience. The latter will enhance its customer engagement products. These two partnerships will likely reduce the churn rate substantially in the long run.

According to Meera Vaidyanathan, VP of Product for Twilio Flex, “The contact center experience is one of the most important touch points for businesses. If you are not personalizing these experiences, you are likely losing customers. Over half of customers say they will become repeat customers after a personalized experience, a 7% increase year over year.”

Teladoc (TDOC)

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Bard: “Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC) is a telehealth company that provides virtual healthcare services to patients. The company is growing rapidly and has a large addressable market. Teladoc serves major global healthcare providers. This positions it favorably to capitalize on the growing demand for virtual healthcare services.”

Teladoc has thrived during the pandemic, alongside the surge in Telehealth adoption. The company meets the growing demand for convenient and safe healthcare access from home. The stock has plummeted due to concerns over its post-pandemic growth sustainability, competition from other telehealth players, and even AI. However, I think Teladoc’s stock is attractive at its current price, and analysts have price targets showing 30% upside, on average. In addition, there is also the company’s mental health segment, which is growing fast and can’t be replaced by AI.

The company’s numbers in Q1 2023 were also strong, with $629M in revenue amounting to 11% year-over-year growth. Additionally, total visits grew 8% year-over-year to 4.9 million, a rather impressive number. Finally, the company also expects revenue growth of roughly 10% on the higher end of its range for the full yar.

Teladoc has substantial growth prospects with the telehealth market projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.8% from 2022 to 2030.

Teladoc is well-positioned to capture this growth with its strategic acquisitions, such as Livongo (a digital health platform for chronic conditions), InTouch Health (a provider of enterprise telehealth solutions), and MedecinDirect (a French telehealth provider).

Unity Software (U)

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Bard: “Unity Software (NYSE:U) is a video game engine company that provides tools for creating and developing video games. The company is growing rapidly and has a large addressable market. Unity’s tools are favored by major game developers, positioning it favorably to capitalize on the growing video game demand.”

Bard has already covered most of Unity’s strong points, but there is one more thing that I would like to point out the company’s exposure to AI. The company’s foray into AI has caused the stock to appreciate nearly 50% year-to-date. But that’s also why I am putting U stock at the caboose of this millionaire-maker stocks article, since it no longer offers deep value.

That said, over the next few years, I see this stock appreciating much more, if AI continues to develop and the gaming industry roars back. The latter is much more likely due to ongoing trends with the younger generation.

By 2026, Gurufocus puts a fair value tag of $228. But personally, I believe waiting for a better entry point is an excellent idea. Grabbing it around $30 per share will likely be possible in the next few months.

On the date of publication, Omor Ibne Ehsan did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Omor Ibne Ehsan is a writer at InvestorPlace. He is a self-taught investor with a focus on growth and cyclical stocks that have strong fundamentals, value, and long-term potential. He also has an interest in high-risk, high-reward investments such as cryptocurrencies and penny stocks. TipRanks has consistently ranked him among the top 5% of experts as of July 2023. You can follow him on LinkedIn.

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