September syndrome is already visible in U.S. stock markets. Historically, September is the worst-performing month for Wall Street. This year, too, the situation remains challenging. In the first four trading days of this month, the three major indexes — the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite — tumbled 2.9%, 4.2% and 5.8%, respectively.
The extremely overvalued artificial intelligence stocks suffered the maximum brunt of a recent stock market meltdown. Despite the recent mayhem, the AI frenzy remains intact. So far, no negative news appears for the generative AI ecosystem. Therefore, this meltdown provides a lucrative opportunity to enter AI-centric stocks on the dip for near-term gains.
Three such stocks are: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. TSM, Micron Technology Inc. MU and NetApp Inc. NTAP. All three stocks currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Is Recession Nearby or a Knee-Jerk Expression?
Theoretically a recession means contraction of GDP (negative GDP growth rate) for two consecutive quarters. The U.S. GDP grew at 1.4% in first-quarter 2024. The second reading of second-quarter GDP was 3%. On Sept 4, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow projected a 2.1% GDP growth rate for the third quarter.
Some soft key economic data over a period of time never indicate a nearby recession. In fact, the Fed was eagerly waiting for these weak economic data, especially labor market data, along with a gradually declining inflation rate, in order to initiate a rate-cut regime.
Finally, the recent AI turmoil is nothing but profit-taking, especially on the part of institutional investors. Stock markets consist of bull and bear operators. As bulls fly high, bears wait quietly for a suitable time and some reasons to be good enough for profit-booking so that they can reenter the market at a reasonably low level.
So far, this year, buy-on-the-dip remains the best investment strategy. Every dip in stocks, especially in AI-giants, has resulted in more aggressive returns in a short span. This time too, the same outcome will appear.
Three AI-Focused Stocks With Significant Price Upside
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Taiwan Semiconductor has become a new poster boy on the global artificial intelligence frenzy. TSM is the largest manufacturer of AI-based chipsets for the world's best AI chipset developers. The company is experiencing solid demand for its advanced technologies, such as 3-nanometer (nm) and 5nm. TSM's growing efforts to ramp up the production of 3nm and development of 2nm is a plus.
TSM is the largest manufacturer of NVIDIA Corp.'s chipsets. NVIDIA is globally the largest developers of generative AI-based chips. TSM also caters to Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD and Intel Corp. INTC to name a few.
Solid Earnings Estimate Revisions for TSM Stock
TSM has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 23.6% and 24.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-quarter, current-year and next-year earnings has improved over the last 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Huge Price Upside Potential for TSM Shares
The stock price of Taiwan Semiconductor has jumped 50.8% year to date. In the past month shares have fallen 4.7%. Despite this, the short-term average price target of brokerage firms for the stock represents an increase of 25.1% from the last closing price of $156.82. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $170-$250.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Micron Technology Inc.
Micron Technology has been benefiting from the enormous growth of AI applications that boosted demand for its high bandwidth memory chips. MU is a major producer of memory chips used in NVIDIA's GPUs. MU is benefiting from improved market conditions, robust sales executions and strong growth across multiple business units.
Micron Technology anticipates the pricing of DRAM and NAND chips to increase, thereby improving its revenues. The pricing benefits will primarily be driven by rising AI servers, causing a scarcity in the availability of cutting-edge DRAM and NAND supplies. Also, 5G adoption in IoT devices and wireless infrastructure will spur demand for memory and storage.
Strong Earnings Estimate Revisions for MU Stock
MU has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 57% and more than 100%, respectively, for the current year (ending August 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-quarter, current-year and next-year earnings has improved over the last 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Tremendous Price Upside Potential for MU Shares
The stock price of Micron Technology has advanced a meager 1.3% year to date. In the past month shares have fallen 6.2%. Despite this, the short-term average price target of brokerage firms for the stock represents a jump of 80% from the last closing price of $86.38. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $100-$225.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
NetApp Inc.
NetApp's performance is being driven by demand across the all-flash and cloud storage portfolio. In the fourth quarter of 2024, all-Flash Array Business' annualized revenue run rate was $3.6 billion, up 17% year over year.
NetApp expects its expertise in tackling critical customer priorities, such as AI, business analytics, cloud transitions, data security and application modernization, to drive expansion. The enterprise storage products of NTAP will allow users to boost their workload including traditional enterprise applications and generative AI.
Robust Earnings Estimate Revisions for NTAP Stock
NTAP has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 4.9% and 8.8%, respectively, for the current year (ending April 2025). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-quarter, next-quarter, current-year and next-year earnings has improved over the last 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Attractive Price Upside Potential for NTAP Shares
The stock price of NetApp has climbed 29.6% year to date. In the past month shares have fallen 4.2%. Despite this, the short-term average price target of brokerage firms for the stock represents an increase of 13.3% from the last closing price of $114.18. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $108-$155.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
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