Buying and holding solid companies for a long time is a tested investment philosophy that has helped investors enjoy significant returns. This strategy not only allows investors to capitalize on secular growth trends but also enables them to benefit from the power of compounding.
For instance, an investment of $5,000 in shares of Nvidia a decade ago is now worth a whopping $1.37 million. The graphics card specialist's outstanding returns can be attributed to its impressive growth over the past decade, which has been driven by the demand for its chips from the gaming and data center segments. And now, artificial intelligence (AI) is turning out to be another solid catalyst for Nvidia.
Nvidia, however, is not the only company that is benefiting from AI adoption. Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) and SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) have also received a nice lift from AI proliferation. Of course, expecting these companies to turn $5,000 into a million dollars in a decade (like Nvidia) may seem a bit far-fetched. However, buying and holding these AI stocks as a part of a diversified portfolio may help investors achieve their goal of becoming millionaires.
Let's look at the reasons why.
1. Micron Technology
The booming adoption of AI is creating the need for more computing power, while also driving an increase in cloud storage demand. Precedence Research estimates that the AI-focused storage market could generate annual revenue of $217 billion in 2033 as compared to $23 billion last year, growing at a healthy annual rate of 25% during this period.
Similarly, smartphones, personal computers (PCs), and servers are now being equipped with faster and bigger dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips to tackle AI workloads. Market researcher TrendForce estimates that the average DRAM content in smartphones and notebooks could increase by 14% and 12% this year, respectively. Meanwhile, the DRAM content in servers is expected to jump to 17.3% this year following a 13.6% increase in 2023.
More importantly, the DRAM content in these niches is also expected to increase in 2025 as AI adoption improves. Micron Technology is one of the best ways to play this secular growth trend, and the company is already witnessing a significant surge in its top and bottom lines thanks to AI.
Micron's revenue increased 50% in the first nine months of the current fiscal year to $17.3 billion. Meanwhile, its loss per share dropped to $0.10 from $4.03 per share in the same period last year. Micron is expected to finish the current fiscal year with $25 billion in revenue, which would be an increase of 61% from the previous year. Additionally, the company is expected to post an adjusted profit of $1.22 per share as compared to a loss of $4.45 per share in the previous year.
As the following chart indicates, both metrics are expected to head higher over the next couple of fiscal years.
MU Revenue Estimates for Next Fiscal Year data by YCharts
There is a good chance that Micron will be able to sustain such healthy growth for a much longer period considering the impressive growth opportunity in the memory market thanks to catalysts such as AI. We have already seen that AI-driven storage demand could generate annual revenue of more than $200 billion after a decade. Similarly, the revenue from sales of high-bandwidth memory that's used in AI chips is expected to jump to $38 billion in 2029 from $14 billion this year.
Meanwhile, the overall market for memory chips is forecast to hit $321 billion in annual revenue in 2030. Micron stock could deliver robust long-term upside and be an ideal pick for those looking to capitalize on the fast-growing adoption of AI technology.
2. SoundHound AI
SoundHound AI has been one of the hottest stocks on the market this year, clocking gains of 175% as of this writing. Of course, shares of the company that provides voice AI solutions to customers have witnessed a lot of volatility in 2024, but there is no denying the fact that its offerings are finding impressive traction among customers.
The company's revenue in the first quarter of 2024 increased 73% year over year to $11.6 million. The full-year revenue outlook ranges between $65 million and $77 million, the midpoint of which would translate into a 54% jump over the prior year. For comparison, SoundHound delivered $46 million in revenue in 2023, which was an increase of 47% over the prior year.
Even better, SoundHound expects its top-line acceleration to continue in 2025, forecasting revenue of more than $100 million next year. The company estimates that its total addressable market is worth a whopping $140 billion. If that's indeed the case, SoundHound AI could be at the beginning of a massive growth curve.
The company is building a nice customer base across diverse industries that could help it tap this outstanding opportunity. SoundHound currently has customers in the automotive, restaurant, entertainment, television, and customer service markets. Looking ahead, it aims to expand into the retail, financial, healthcare, education, and contact center markets.
SoundHound AI's solutions are being deployed by the likes of Stellantis in the automotive space, while it has a host of customers such as Applebee's, Church's Chicken, and other quick-service restaurants. Thanks to the growing customer base and the huge addressable market that SoundHound is tapping, the company has been able to construct a healthy revenue pipeline.
This is evident from its cumulative subscriptions and bookings backlog of $682 million, a number that grew a solid 80% year over year. According to SoundHound, this metric consists of committed customer contracts as well as the potential revenue that the company thinks it can achieve from its existing customer base where it is "the leading or exclusive provider."
There is a good chance that this metric could continue improving in the long run as SoundHound taps more of its addressable market. All this makes SoundHound AI a solid AI stock to buy and hold for the long run as its bright prospects could play a solid role in helping investors become millionaires .
Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Stellantis. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
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