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It’s not just their politics that are attracting attention these days. As politicians demonstrate a remarkable ability to outperform the market, investors are increasingly interested in the stock picks of senators and representatives. Take, for example, Peach State Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been an avid stock buyer so far in 2024.
But it is artificial intelligence (AI) stocks in particular that appear to be the focus of Greene’s interest in the first half of 2024. In addition Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD)Greene also picked up shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)And Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM).
Greene became widely known in the AI industry
Greene began her 2024 stock purchases in April, buying shares of both Qualcomm and Microsoft. Although the exact value of the transactions is not known, Greene reported in regulatory filings that each transaction was worth between $1,001 and $15,000. Both purchases provided Greene with notable – yet diverse – exposure to the fast-growing AI industry.
Qualcomm, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, is focusing on generative AI applications for mobile devices with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile platform. In addition, it offers AI functionality to personal computers with its Snapdragon X Elite Platform and cars with Snapdragon Digital Chassis. Focusing on software, Microsoft’s commitment to offering cutting-edge AI solutions is demonstrated with Copilot – an AI tool available across Microsoft’s suite of products from Word and Excel to Designer, where users can create unique images with DALL-E 3.
The following month, Greene expanded her exposure to AI with positions in Apple and Advanced Micro Devices in two trades valued between $1,001 and $15,000 each. Apple has made a concerted effort to provide more AI capabilities and has been working on its own large language model (LLM), called Ajax. At the beginning of June, Apple also unveiled Apple Intelligence. Available across devices, Apple states that Apple Intelligence “combines the power of generative models with personal context to deliver intelligence that is incredibly useful and relevant.”
Like Qualcomm, AMD also produces the hardware that powers AI. In addition to the MI300 accelerators (specialized microprocessors) designed for generative AI and large language models, AMD produces Ryzen PRO 8000 processors, which the company characterizes as “the first processors with dedicated, on-chip AI accelerators for commercial desktops.” [personal computers].”
At the end of June, Greene clicked the ‘buy’ button at cybersecurity specialist CrowdStrike. Powered by AI, CrowdStrike helps customers protect a variety of devices, including laptops, mobile devices, and devices connected to the Internet of Things. In addition, CrowdStrike has developed a generative AI security tool, Charlotte AI, that integrates with various aspects of the company’s Falcon platform.
You may be green with envy over Greene’s picks, but that doesn’t mean you should buy these AI stocks
While following politicians’ stock picks is a smart strategy, blindly imitating their purchases is foolhardy at best. It’s important that individual investors do their due diligence and assess whether the stock in question is a smart choice for them. That being said, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Apple and AMD are all market leaders trading at premiums to their historical valuations.
As a result, value investors may want to keep these names on their watchlists rather than hastily adding them to their portfolios. Of course, valuation isn’t the only factor investors need to consider, so long-term investors may not want to investigate these tickers further before deciding to watch them from the side of the road.
However, CrowdStrike has been in a different boat since it caused a global outage last week. With the sell-off that followed news of the global outage, CrowdStrike stock got a lot cheaper today, giving back most of its 2024 gains. As unfavorable as the news may be for CrowdStrike, it is critical for investors to remember that this event in itself does not spell doom for the company.
Computer code is complicated and the error in the company’s update is unfortunate, but not an indication that there is something fundamentally wrong with the company. For those determined to ride out some short-term volatility, CrowdStrike could be a great addition to investors looking for a leading cybersecurity stock.
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Scott Levine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool holds positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, CrowdStrike, Microsoft, and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls to Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls to Microsoft. The Motley Fool has one disclosure policy.
Marjorie Taylor Greene likes AI stocks. Here are five she bought in the first half of 2024. was originally published by The Motley Fool