The stock market moved sharply higher on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.11%) picking up more than 1% shortly after noon. Despite lingering concerns about the state of the economy and the likely response of policymakers toward interest rates, investors appeared ready to declare an end to the bear market and get themselves squarely back into a bullish mood.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a key trend lifting markets, and there are plenty of AI stocks in the Nasdaq. Two companies in particular have made AI a big part of their future business models, and on Thursday, both Adobe (ADBE 0.40%) and Nvidia (NVDA 4.35%) made sizable gains that further added to the furor surrounding the trend.
Adobe releases AI tools
Shares of Adobe were up 5% early Thursday afternoon. The creative software specialist is aiming to be at the forefront of the AI revolution as it pertains to content creation, and it announced a host of new innovations to help its clients get more from artificial intelligence.
Adobe's conference for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region kicked off in London on Thursday, and the company released a lot of news. Adobe said that it would offer its Firefly generative AI package as part of its Adobe Express all-in-one app, in the hopes of making AI a more integral part of content creation more broadly. A new content supply chain solution will also incorporate generative AI capabilities and help brands with high-volume needs to be as efficient as possible while keeping overall costs down. And on the marketing side, the Sensei GenAI service will help marketing teams and other clients focused on customer experience keep productivity high.
Adobe stock also benefited from numerous increases in price targets from analysts that responded favorably to the news. Former price targets in the $415-$430 range got boosted to between $460 and $500, with many analysts pointing directly at the company's attempts to incorporate generative AI capabilities as a key driver of longer-term growth.
There's no doubt that many industries will face disruption from the rise of artificial intelligence, but the ability to create content prolifically is among the most obvious. That puts Adobe in a great position to be a first-adopter in embracing AI as part of its business model, and shareholders like that idea a lot right now.
Nvidia invests more in AI
Shares of Nvidia were up more than 3%, adding to its amazing run during 2023. The semiconductor giant has made a name for itself by fueling AI innovation across the tech industry, but it's also putting money to work to help other companies put artificial intelligence to the test.
Privately held AI foundation model specialist Cohere announced a successful funding round. Cohere raised $270 million, with Nvidia among those helping to back the round.
The news is important because Cohere is trying to offer an alternative to OpenAI, which Microsoft (MSFT 0.46%) has embraced as its core AI partnership. Large companies like Nvidia don't necessarily want to lock themselves into a Microsoft-defined framework to take advantage of opportunities in the AI space, especially this early in its development.
Some have argued that Nvidia stock has come too far, too quickly, as it has repeatedly flirted with the $1 trillion market capitalization mark. If AI turns out to be as big as many believe, though, then Nvidia could still have a lot further to go in the years ahead.
