Citigroup Identifies AI Stocks Priced Reasonably
Investment Strategy: Citigroup analysts recommend exploring lesser-known stocks that capitalize on the AI boom while offering growth at a reasonable price (GARP), amidst concerns of an AI investment bubble affecting tech sector performance.
Stock Selection Focus: Emphasis is placed on selecting companies with strong cash returns on growth capital expenditures, while avoiding those unable to self-fund, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq has underperformed compared to the S&P 500.
Diverse Stock Recommendations: Citigroup has compiled a list of stocks across various industries, including Adobe, Nvidia, and Eaton, which are seen as having reasonable valuations and strong future earnings potential, despite some red flags regarding inflated growth expectations.
Market Outlook: Analysts caution that earnings disappointments could lead to market corrections, highlighting the importance of focusing on GARP strategies within AI to build a resilient investment portfolio.
Trade with 70% Backtested Accuracy
Analyst Views on META
About META
About the author

- Investment Scale: Meta is set to invest $65 million in 2023 to support state politicians favorable to the artificial intelligence industry, marking its largest election investment to date and indicating a growing emphasis on political engagement.
- New Super PACs Established: The company is quietly launching two new super PACs, one backing Republicans and the other supporting Democrats, aiming to leverage political influence to counter regulatory threats to the AI sector.
- Funding Flow and Utilization: Last year, Meta allocated $45 million to the American Technology Excellence Project, with expectations that these funds will flow into the newly established PACs, thereby enhancing the company's political clout.
- Initial Spending Plans: Meta's expenditures are set to commence this week in Illinois and Texas, primarily backing incumbent Democratic and Republican candidates, reflecting the company's strategic inclination to maintain the existing political landscape.
Software and Services Stocks Resilience: Contrary to expectations, software and services stocks are not facing demise due to the rise of artificial intelligence.
AI's Impact on the Market: The introduction of AI technologies has not negatively impacted the performance of these stocks as previously feared.
- User Base Growth: By the end of 2025, Meta Platforms reported 3.58 billion daily active users, reflecting a 7% year-over-year increase, solidifying its position as the world's largest social media company with over 40% global population coverage, significantly enhancing its appeal as a digital advertising platform.
- Advertising Revenue Surge: In 2025, Meta's total ad impressions and average price per ad increased by 12% and 9%, respectively, driving a 22% rise in total revenue, showcasing its robust performance in the advertising market despite rising cost pressures.
- Profitability Challenges: Despite strong growth in advertising, Meta's operating margin dipped to 41% in 2025, primarily due to increased costs from AI infrastructure and losses in its Reality Labs segment, compounded by a one-time $15.9 billion tax charge in Q3 that impacted EPS by 2% for the year.
- Future Growth Potential: Analysts project that Meta's revenue and EPS will grow at CAGRs of 20% from 2025 to 2028, and if its stock trades at a more favorable 25 times forward earnings by early 2028, it could rise over 60% to exceed $1,000 within the next two years, indicating strong long-term investment value.
- Market Performance: Tech stocks exhibited weakness on Thursday afternoon, indicating a decline in investor confidence in the sector, which could lead to short-term capital outflows.
- ETF Dynamics: The underperformance of the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF reflects a decreasing market interest in tech stocks, potentially impacting the stock prices of related companies.
- Investor Sentiment: As tech stocks falter, investors may reassess their portfolios, leading to a shift of funds towards other more attractive sectors, thereby affecting the financing capabilities of tech companies.
- Future Outlook: The weak performance of tech stocks may signal market concerns regarding future growth, prompting investors to closely monitor industry trends to adjust their investment strategies.
- Growing AI Demand: India's AI infrastructure buildout is accelerating, with Tata Group and Tata Consultancy Services collaborating on a project to scale up to one gigawatt, which will drive demand for chipmakers, particularly AMD.
- Local Production Considerations: Super Micro Computer Inc. is weighing options to increase local production in India to meet the expanding AI market, with Managing Director Vik Malyala stating that the company is engaging closely with Indian customers to understand buyer requirements and is adding local staff to support deployments.
- Intensifying Competition: As companies like NVIDIA expand partnerships and infrastructure in India, AMD faces an increasingly competitive landscape, where early design wins and ecosystem relationships will significantly influence long-term chip adoption.
- Supply Chain Pressures: The AI infrastructure buildout is colliding with ongoing supply constraints and allocation concerns in the accelerator market, necessitating AMD to secure long-term memory supply to address the expanding global AI demand.
Best Trade in 2026: The most profitable investment strategy in 2026 has been to buy semiconductor stocks while selling software companies.
Performance of Semiconductor Stocks: The iShares Semiconductor ETF has increased by 19% in 2026, following a 40% gain in 2025.
Struggles of Software Companies: In contrast, software companies have faced significant losses, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF down 22% this year.
Quarterly Decline: The software sector also experienced an 8% decline in the fourth quarter of the previous year.










