Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have been in the limelight in 2023, as the growing adoption of this technology has given several companies a nice boost. This includes the likes of Adobe (ADBE -0.94%) and Shopify (SHOP 1.61%).
Shares of creative software provider Adobe have shot up 41% so far this year, with almost all its gains coming in the past month, as it emerged that the company's efforts to integrate generative AI into its offerings could turn out to be a solid long-term growth driver.
Shopify's stock, on the other hand, has delivered eye-popping gains of roughly 80% this year. Just like Adobe, a big chunk of Shopify's surge has taken place since the beginning of May, when the company released its first-quarter 2023 results and announced a strategic shift that will allow it to focus better on its core e-commerce platform.
However, it is not too late for investors to buy these potential AI winners despite their recent rallies, as they seem primed for more upside. Let's look at the reasons why.
1. Adobe
Adobe, maker of the popular Photoshop software, has been rapidly deploying generative AI tools that could disrupt the content creation space.
The company launched the Firefly generative AI tool in March this year, claiming that it will "empower customers of all experience levels to generate high-quality images and stunning text effects." Adobe has integrated this platform into the Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, Experience Cloud, and Adobe Express applications, and users will be able to use the service to create content using text prompts.
And now Adobe has taken things a step further by announcing that it is launching Firefly for Enterprise, opening its generative AI model to commercial customers who can now use the tool to instantly generate content at scale. Adobe points out that Firefly for Enterprise will allow anyone in an organization to "create amazing on-brand assets in seconds using simple text prompts." The company also points out that enterprise customers will be able to ramp up output and reduce costs simultaneously.
Adobe believes that content created using Firefly won't run into copyright infringements. That's why the company is providing cover to its clients against the threat of any potential lawsuits arising because of using its text-to-image generation platform. As such, Adobe now seems to have put itself into a solid position to tap into booming content demand.
According to a study of 2,600 marketing and customer experience professionals conducted by Adobe, 88% of the respondents said that content demand has doubled in the past year. What's more, two-thirds of respondents said that they expect a jump of 5x to 20x in content demand over the next couple of years.
The overall digital content creation market is expected to clock annual growth of nearly 26% over the next decade, according to third-party estimates. The size of the market is expected to jump from $19.5 billion last year to more than $181 billion in 2032. This should pave the way for an acceleration in Adobe's growth.
Analysts are expecting the company to finish the ongoing fiscal 2023 with $18 billion in revenue, which would be a jump of just 2.5% over the prior year. However, consensus estimates suggest that Adobe's top-line growth is likely to improve going forward.
ADBE Revenue Estimates for Next Fiscal Year data by YCharts
So it won't be surprising to see Adobe stock maintain its impressive momentum and jump higher, which is why investors should consider buying it before it is too late. The stock is currently trading at 47 times trailing earnings. While that's expensive compared to the Nasdaq 100's trailing earnings multiple of 29, it is lower than Adobe's five-year average price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 49. Also, Adobe's forward P/E ratio of 31 points toward healthy bottom-line growth, giving investors yet another reason to buy this AI stock, as it looks to be able to sustain its bull run.
2. Shopify
Shopify provides a cloud-based e-commerce platform that allows merchants to build online stores to sell their items, collect payments, and manage inventory and shipping, among other solutions. And now the company is turning toward AI to further improve its platform.
In April, the company launched a new generative AI tool known as Shopify Magic. This tool allows merchants to create product descriptions for their offerings by feeding specific keywords based on the search results they are looking to target. This tool could come in handy for merchants operating on Shopify's platform to boost their sales, as there are reportedly millions of products across Shopify's online stores that don't have a description.
Proper product descriptions would allow merchants to drive more traffic to their sites and improve conversions. What's more, Shopify management points out that it will add generative AI tools to more solutions in the next year. This is a smart thing to do, as the deployment of AI in e-commerce is estimated to increase at a solid pace of 40% through 2026. Shopify's integration of the technology can help drive stronger returns for merchants, and this could drive stronger adoption of the company's e-commerce solutions.
The good part is that Shopify's top-line growth is already expected to accelerate in the next couple of fiscal years, and AI could turn out to be an added catalyst.
SHOP Revenue Estimates for Next Fiscal Year data by YCharts
However, investors will have to pay a premium if they wish to buy Shopify now, as it is trading at 14 times sales. While that's quite rich when compared to the S&P 500's price-to-sales ratio of 2.5, Shopify's current sales multiple is well below its five-year average of nearly 30. So, investors are getting a relatively good deal on Shopify stock right now, and they should consider grabbing this opportunity, given its potential to deliver robust growth going forward.
