If you missed the boat on Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR | PLTR Price Prediction) stock’s incredibly multi-bagger surge over the past year and aren’t remotely interested in chasing the stock, especially as some insiders offload their shares for a huge profit, you’ve come to the right place. Indeed, there’s nothing quite as painful as hearing a story about how someone, perhaps one’s friend, made a quick fortune off a soaring stock. But the key thing is paying more attention to the road that lies ahead of a company rather than what’s now behind.
That means conducting a careful analysis and valuing a company according to the rate of growth you expect moving forward. Indeed, if there’s too much expectation and frothiness in a name, there’s no issue with taking a raincheck. After all, there will be more opportunities to swing once the better pitches (or better prices) are finally thrown your way.
It could take a few weeks, a couple of months, or even more than a year before the next opportunity in a name you’re keen on buying becomes a decent value. In any case, there are a lot of great growth plays that aren’t named Palantir that are well worth consideration as the market rally heats up this summer. Some of the names, I think, have more room to run compared to the AI software juggernaut that suddenly became an enterprise worth north of $336 billion.
Here are two worthy, but still severely underhyped tech companies with AI tailwinds at their back that I think have a good shot at outrunning Palantir stock in the second half of 2025.
International Business Machines
International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) stock may have caught Wall Street by surprise when it reached an inflection point back in the first half of 2023. Indeed, the company’s AI efforts (think Watson) are finally starting to be appreciated by investors and analysts.
Still, I think the masses may underestimate the old-school software behemoth’s ability to profit from the coming AI wave. Yes, it’s an old company that had its heyday decades ago. But I think it’s a mistake to think it can’t return to its former glory as its AI bets start really paying dividends. After soaring close to 114% in two years, it feels like the opportunity to snag a quick double has come and gone. At 49.1 times trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) or 26.1 times forward P/E, IBM shares are the most expensive I’ve seen them in well over a decade.
Either way, I’m a massive fan of CEO Arvind Krishna and think he’s done a fantastic job of investing in all the right places. Whether we’re talking about AI, the cloud, or the hot ticket to quantum computing and even embodied AI (robotics), IBM is pretty much like a one-stop shop for all next-generation innovations. Given this, I find shares to be cheap as analysts catch on to the long-time tech underdog’s capabilities.
At long last, Big Blue has a growth multiple on its stock. And it’s a well-deserved one, in my humble opinion.
Salesforce
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is arguably the software company to play in the rise of the age of AI agents. Yet, shares have been stuck in a funk since December 2024. Now down 27% from that peak, I find CRM stock to be one of the more misunderstood names in all of big tech. Recently, Morgan Stanley stated that the firm’s recent price hikes have gone “underappreciated.” They think such price hikes could boost revenue as far as fiscal year 2028.
I think they’re right on the money. Like IBM, Salesforce is a profitable tech titan that knows what it stands to gain as the AI revolution enters its next innings. At 23.9 times forward P/E, CRM stock stands out as a magnificent bargain that probably won’t fly under the radar of AI investors for all too long. Though it’s tough to tell when the name will break out of its bear market, I’d be willing to bet that CRM will outdo PLTR in the second half of the year, especially if we’re due for another value rotation.
CEO Marc Benioff is an incredible top boss, and he’s just getting started as Salesforce looks to lead the charge in applied AI in the workplace.
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