One of the best ways to make money in the stock market is by buying and holding solid companies for the long run, as this strategy not only allows investors to take advantage of secular or disruptive trends, but also helps them benefit from the power of compounding.
For instance, an investment of $1,000 in shares of Amazon and Netflix five years ago has increased by 2.3x and 2.8x. These companies have helped investors take advantage of growth trends such as cloud computing, e-commerce, and video streaming. That’s the reason why buying and holding on to top artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for the next five years could turn out to be a smart move, thanks to the rapid growth of this technology.
Here’s a closer look at two names in AI that are among the dominant forces in their industries and could deliver outstanding gains to investors over the next five years.
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) is one of the hottest names in the AI software market, as its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) is turning out to be a major success. AIP is a software platform, using which customers can build and deploy AI applications specific to their businesses with the help of large language models (LLMs) in real time.
According to Palantir, customers using AIP have witnessed significant improvements in their operations. For instance, Palantir’s AIP allowed an insurance company to automate the process of underwriting, thereby “reducing the typical underwriting response time from over two weeks to three hours,” according to remarks made on the company’s third-quarter earnings call. Meanwhile, rail transportation products and services provider TrinityRail witnessed a $30 million improvement in its bottom line in just three months following the deployment of AIP.
And customers who have already deployed Palantir’s AIP are expanding the adoption of this software platform. The company pointed out in its November 2024 earnings conference call:
A large American equipment rental company expanded its work with us less than eight months after converting to an enterprise agreement, increasing the account ARR twelvefold; a bottled water manufacturer, a specialty pharmaceutical company, and an agricultural software provider all signed seven-figure ACV deals less than two months after their initial boot camps.
These deals are leading to terrific growth in Palantir’s transaction sizes, customer count, and revenue pipeline. This was evident in Palantir’s latest quarterly report.
Palantir stock shot up 22% in extended trading following the release of its fourth-quarter 2024 results on Feb. 4. The company’s top and bottom lines exceeded expectations, with its revenue growing 36% year over year. Its earnings grew at a faster pace of 75% thanks to robust unit economics, driven by its land-and-expand strategy.