Evercore Selects 8 AI Concept Stocks with Resilient Business Models

Investing.com—Evercore ISI analysts stated in a report sent to investors on Monday that recent sell-offs in high-exposure artificial intelligence companies have been “undifferentiated,” creating opportunities for investors to identify companies with lasting strategies as AI applications accelerate in adoption.

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The firm mentioned that the market is exhibiting a “sell first, ask questions later” mentality, regardless of a company’s “business model, strategy, moat, or AI profit potential,” with stock prices being pressured across the board.

Evercore ISI analyst Julian Emanuel said that AI is reshaping enterprise strategies across the entire economy.

The firm noted that in 2023, it estimates “every sector and profession will be driven by generative AI,” adding that as companies rethink workflows and competitive positioning, the scope of applications is expanding from early infrastructure providers outward.

The firm also believes that companies that adopt early and build protections around “orchestration, secure enterprise fences, and cross-isolated data agent execution” will perform well.

The report states that as AI enters what Evercore ISI calls the “key acceleration phase of 2025-2026,” investor pressure for management to “act immediately” is increasing.

Against this backdrop, the firm highlights eight stocks it considers most likely to benefit from AI applications: Microsoft, Snowflake, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon, Booking Holdings, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Waystar, and Apollo Global Management.

“EVR ISI’s Kirk Materne expects most investors to adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude, despite data points indicating a disconnect between market perceptions of software and fundamentals, as the ‘survival risk’ debate continues,” Evercore wrote. “In this context, ‘scaffold’ stocks—including MSFT and SNOW—are favored more than application stocks.”

Palo Alto Networks is viewed as “the most likely company in cybersecurity to become a major beneficiary of enterprise AI applications,” while Amazon is “deploying AI to boost its cloud business (evidenced by AWS acceleration) and retail operations (Rufus agency commerce, which will help accelerate growth).”

Regarding BKNG, the firm believes “online travel agencies could become major beneficiaries of AI, diversifying their traffic sources further through LLMs and generating their own agent products to improve conversion rates.”

Evercore pointed out that “CHRW has increased market share and expanded profit margins during the longest freight market downturn in history by applying lean AI principles to improve productivity.”

Meanwhile, “WAY benefits from AI through revenue cycle management automation, including claims clearing, denial prediction, and workflow optimization,” and APO is described as a “defensive-focused relative winner.”

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