Are you looking for emerging AI companies with big potential?
If so, you may be making a wise choice.
Some of the “incumbent” AI companies have gotten so extraordinarily expensive that it’s hard to see them delivering future returns as good as their past returns. There are big U.S. AI companies that trade at over 100 times sales today!
So, there are real risks associated with buying “obvious” AI names. At the same time, the investment case for AI in principle is obvious: this technology has the potential to drive massive efficiencies and make businesses more profitable. In light of this, new, emerging and “under the radar” AI stocks could be just the ticket. Offering the same basic virtues that the incumbent players do, they are often much cheaper. In this article, I will explore three emerging Canadian AI companies with big potential.
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Shopify
Shopify Inc (TSX:SHOP) is Canada’s biggest technology company. It is an “emerging AI company” in the sense that it is much smaller than the incumbent players – model developers, chip makers, etc. It’s big by TSX standards.
Shopify has a relatively more niche AI use case than companies like OpenAI and NVIDIA: using AI to improve shopping experiences. The company develops an e-commerce “shopping cart,” a product that includes a website builder and payment options. It’s popular with businesses that want brand differentiation and a premium feel. Shopify offers these customers AI tools that generate copy, draw images, and create marketing campaigns. Such campaigns are a major cost to businesses, and Shopify’s AI helps them automate it, saving them time and money.
Kraken Robotics
Kraken Robotics (TSXV:PNG) is a Canadian robotics company that develops undersea technologies. These technologies are mostly unmanned submersibles used for tasks like imaging, manipulating objects, and generating 3d models. The company’s products are very well regarded, being used by several major U.S. defence contractors.
Kraken’s AI angle is not so much a pure-play AI product as the integration of AI into all aspects of its products. The company’s software uses AI extensively for object recognition, imaging, and more. This marine tech is still small, with a $1.7 billion market cap, yet it has a big reputation, with buy ratings from several major investment banks. Overall, PNG shares might be worth a look.
Kinaxis
Kinaxis Inc (TSX:KXS) is a Canadian supply chain management software company. It develops a suite of products that companies use to manage things like inventory, customer demand, and sales processes – all the essential components of a modern supply chain. Its best-known product suite is Maestro, which offers comprehensive end-to-end supply chain management.
Kinaxis uses AI in many ways. Maestro’s features naturally lend themselves to automation, so it should come as no surprise that the suite has AI embedded everywhere. It’s used to identify trends in inventory, forecast customer demand, and automate key supply chain processes. Kinaxis is regarded as indispensable by many supply chain managers, and AI is a big part of why it is.
Foolish takeaway
AI is a revolutionary technology, transforming entire industries and changing the way human beings work. It may prove to be a bigger deal than the advent of the internet was. At the same time, the big AI companies are so pricey right now they look set for a pullback. In light of that, the three emerging AI stocks above may be worth looking at.
