After a great run over the past couple of years, top artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have stumbled out of the gate so far in 2025. High valuations, concerns about the economy (and demand for semiconductors), and the near-term direction of spending on data centers are contributing to negative sentiment for these stocks right now.
While the semiconductor industry is cyclical, it has grown for decades, and AI is the catalyst that should lift leading chip stocks higher over the next decade. Dell’Oro Group believes spending on data center infrastructure could surpass $1 trillion in five years. The following stocks are well-positioned to profit from this opportunity.
Shares of Nvidia(NASDAQ: NVDA) are down 23% from their recent highs. While the near-term impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies is still unknown for Nvidia and the broader semiconductor industry, Nvidia’s lead in graphics processing units (GPUs) provides ample opportunities for long-term growth and shareholder returns.
Nvidia said during its fourth-quarter earnings call in February that demand for its chips needed for AI inferencing is accelerating. Inferencing is where most of the value for chip companies will come over the long term. This is the stage of AI development in which models become smart enough to make predictions on their own from new data, and it requires significantly more computing power.
Nvidia says AI models that can reason at a very high level will require 100 times more compute per task. This is why companies are investing in its new Blackwell computing platform, which provides up to 25 times more throughput for data units, or tokens, while lowering costs compared to older hardware. Revenue from Blackwell hit $11 billion in the fourth quarter and should increase as production ramps this year.
Large cloud service providers, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet‘s Google, totaled nearly half of Nvidia’s $35 billion in data center revenue last quarter. But there are plenty more tech companies scrambling to get their hands on the company’s powerful GPUs.
xAI is adopting Nvidia’s GB200 chip to power its Grok AI models. Meta Platforms is using Nvidia’s Grace Hopper super chip for running ads on Instagram and Facebook. Meta said it plans to spend between $60 billion to $65 billion in capital expenditures this year to support plans in generative AI and other business operations, and that’s to Nvidia’s benefit.
Overall, Nvidia’s total revenue grew 12% over the previous quarter and 78% year over year to reach $39.3 billion in Q4. Blackwell will be a key driver in pushing Nvidia’s revenue up to approximately $43 billion in Q1, based on company guidance.
The recent dip has brought the stock’s valuation to 24 times this year’s consensus earnings estimate. That’s below the S&P 500‘s trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) of 29, which seems like a steal considering Nvidia’s $1 trillion opportunity in the data center market.
Marvell Technology(NASDAQ: MRVL) makes various chip products that help companies move data faster and more efficiently. It sells semiconductor products in the data center and wireless communications markets. The stock has been climbing over the past year on growing demand for its custom AI chips and digital signal processors used in server racks and AI workloads.
The stock is down 33% year to date after the company posted its fourth-quarter financial results. Revenue beat expectations, but investors were looking for higher revenue guidance for the first quarter. The company is still positioned for continued growth in its data center business, which makes the dip an excellent buying opportunity.
From a long-term perspective, Marvell is in a strong position. The company is ramping production of its custom AI silicon programs, such as accelerated processing units (XPUs) and an Arm-based central processing unit (CPU), which could drive strong demand over the next few years.
Marvell is also developing more advanced ways to transfer data using optics instead of traditional cable wiring, which should open up more opportunities to grow its data center revenue over the long term. It’s this type of innovation that drove revenue up 27% year over year in Q4, led by a 78% increase in the data center business.
Meanwhile, Marvell’s other markets are mixed. Consumer end markets are experiencing revenue declines, while chips sold into the enterprise networking and carrier infrastructure markets are continuing to recover.
Overall, the stock’s sell-off appears to be more valuation-driven than anything else. Heading into the year, Marvell shares fetched a sky-high 80 times earnings multiple based on this year’s consensus estimate. But after the dip, investors can buy shares at a more reasonable forward P/E of 26.
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Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Ballard has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Marvell Technology and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
