These tech giants are the main reason indices such as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rebounded sharply in 2023. While tech stocks largely struggled last year, investors poured back into the sector at the beginning of 2023 with hopes of finding bargains, understanding that mature technology companies would likely weather any macroeconomic uncertainty better than their smaller peers.
However, the magnificent 7 are likely not to stay seven for long, and several tech stocks are poised to join the leaderboard in due time. Below are three of them.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) has become well known for snatching market share away from the likes of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). Still, it is about to enter the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor chip race that its competitor, Nvidia, has largely dominated.
In AMD’s second-quarter earnings report released in mid-June, the chipmaker finally announced the MI300x GPU chipset, which will compete directly with Nvidia’s A100 and H100 chips used to train LLMs. the chipmaker announced it expects to sell $2 billion in AI chips next year.
Overall, in 2023, AMD’s shares have performed inconsistently, with some traders betting on the company’s awaited AI chips while others have begun to worry about the slowing PC markets’ toll on AMD’s revenue growth. Either way, as AMD enters the AI race, its market cap is likely to rise astronomically in the coming years, placing it on the “Magnificent 7” leaderboard.
CrowdStrike (CRWD)
While CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) is currently much smaller than AMD in market cap, the cybersecurity firm will likely rise. CrowdStrike is a leading provider of cloud-based endpoint protection and threat intelligence services. The company’s comprehensive platform leverages artificial intelligence, behavioral analytics, and threat intelligence to detect and prevent breaches. CrowdStrike has undoubtedly come a long way and is now, according to IDC, the largest player in the Worldwide Endpoint Security market, even outpacing Microsoft.
CrowdStrike’s financial results in 2023 have continued to be impressive. In particular, the company reported results for Q3 FY2024, beating analysts’ expectations on both revenue and earnings. The company grew its revenue by 34% year-over-year to $786 million, driven by strong demand for its subscription-based products and services.
CrowdStrike’s shares have climbed more than 123% YTD, which places the cybersecurity stock at over $56 billion in market cap, and the company could rise further as it continues to dominate the cybersecurity market.
Palantir (PLTR)
Founders Peter Thiel and Alex Karp formed Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR), initially focusing on serving the United States’ defense and intelligence sectors. However, since its inception, the company has expanded its customer base to include various industries such as healthcare, energy, and finance. For example, a few weeks ago, Palantir won a lucrative contract to manage England’s National Health Service data, exemplifying the traction of the platform outside of its original core end markets.
Palantir’s entrance into AI-enhanced analytics will drive the attractiveness of its platform. Demand for these solutions has already started to pick up, according to the company’s recent earnings report. The company’s “U.S. Commercial business segment” increased revenue figures by 37% year-over-year, driven by demand for Palantir’s Artificial Intelligence Platform.
While Palantir is not yet worth $100 billion in market capitalization, the company could well be on its way to joining the leaderboard of the largest publicly listed tech companies as its business and user base grow.
On the date of publication, Tyrik Torres 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.
Tyrik Torres has been studying and participating in financial markets since he was in college, and he has particular passion for helping people understand complex systems. His areas of expertise are semiconductor and enterprise software equities. He has work experience in both investing (public and private markets) and investment banking.