We all benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) right now, even if we're not fully aware of it. For instance, if you found this article through an internet search engine, there's a high probability AI recommended it to you.
AI is also used by entertainment platforms like Netflix to recommend content that users are most likely to enjoy, to keep them engaged longer. And whenever you send money to another person or business online, AI is working in the background to detect potential fraud.
Those are just a few examples of the current uses of AI. According to one estimate, the technology will soon be everywhere.
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An overwhelming majority of companies could be using AI by 2030
According to research firm McKinsey, 70% of organizations will be using AI in some capacity by 2030. Thanks to the technology's ability to boost productivity, the firm projects it will add a whopping $13 trillion to global economic output by then.
For investors, the important part here is to note that early adoption will help separate the winners from the losers. McKinsey predicts companies that integrate AI right now -- and continue developing it until 2030 -- will see a 122% increase in their free cash flow by that time. On the other hand, businesses that adopt the technology closer to the end of the decade might only see a 10% boost, and those that don't use AI at all could see a 23% decrease in free cash flow!
Why the disparity? McKinsey analysts think the benefits of AI won't be linear, but will accelerate over time instead. Therefore, early adopters could experience exponential growth in their financial results, whereas those late to the party will be stuck playing catch-up.
Here are two companies getting a head start on their competitors. Investors might want to buy shares in them right now.
1. Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks (PANW 0.91%) recently claimed it's the largest AI-based cybersecurity company, and it might be right. It certainly has one of the largest product portfolios in the entire industry, and given that its stock currently trades at an all-time high, its market valuation of $73 billion dwarfs all of its competitors, too.
The company has three areas of specialization -- cloud security, network security, and security operations -- and it's working to integrate AI across them all. Data is king when it comes to training AI, so cybersecurity companies with a large customer base fending off attacks in their ecosystems tend to have the most potential to produce accurate models.
Palo Alto management says the company's network security tools analyze 750 million data points each day and detect 1.5 million unique attacks that have never been seen before through that process. Overall, its AI models block a whopping 8.6 billion attacks on behalf of customers every single day.
Using AI-powered tools to fight cyber threats is increasingly important because as SentinelOne recently noted, malicious actors have started using AI as well to launch sophisticated attacks.
Thanks in part to its leadership in AI, Palo Alto is the cybersecurity provider of choice for large organizations. In the recent fiscal 2023 third quarter (ended April 30), the company saw deal volume soar for its top-spending customers. Bookings among customers spending at least $10 million per year jumped 136% year over year, making it the company's fastest-growing cohort. Bookings from customers spending at least $5 million rose a more modest 62% year over year.
Palo Alto's pipeline of work continues to expand as well. While its revenue increased 24% year over year to $1.7 billion in the third quarter, its remaining performance obligations (RPOs) rose by 35%, topping an all-time high of $9.2 billion. Considering RPOs are expected to convert to revenue over time, the result bodes well.
Despite the all-time price high in the stock, Wall Street is still incredibly bullish. Of the 42 analysts who follow the stock and are tracked by The Wall Street Journal, not a single one recommends selling, and 76% of them have given the stock the highest-possible buy rating. Investors might do well to follow their lead.
2. Duolingo
Duolingo (DUOL 3.64%) is the world's largest digital language education platform, with more than 500 million downloads. The company takes learning out of the classroom and drops it into the user's pocket, aiming to create a fun, engaging, and interactive experience in the process.
Behind the scenes, Duolingo incorporated incrementally improved versions of AI into its products for 10 years, a process that accelerated recently thanks to a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
The chatbot powers two revolutionary features on the Duolingo platform designed to speed up the learning process. The first is called Roleplay, which enables users to converse with an AI-generated partner to improve the user's speaking skills. The second is Explain My Answer, which uses AI to offer personalized advice to users based on their mistakes in each lesson.
OpenAI's new GPT-4 technology is having an even more profound impact on Duolingo. It's helping the company's developers write new lessons at a lightning-quick pace thanks to its ability to form sentences in several different languages. That gives Duolingo's employees more time to focus on building new experiences, rather than writing monotonous, repetitive lesson content.
These are exactly the sort of productivity gains that underpin McKinsey's estimate that AI will add trillions of dollars to the global economy in the long run.
Duolingo is monetizing at a growing rate. The platform is free to use, but 4.8 million of its 72.6 million monthly active users were unlocking additional features by paying a subscription fee during the first quarter of 2023. That was an all-time high, and it drove the company's revenue to $115.7 million in the quarter, up 43% year over year and well above its prior guidance. As a result, Duolingo raised its full-year revenue forecast to $509 million from $498 million previously.
And things might get even better in the future, because Roleplay and Explain My Answer were only recently released, and users need to buy the new Duolingo Max subscription tier to have access to them. It's more expensive than the traditional Super Duolingo tier, which could result in more revenue for the company.
Overall, when it comes to language education, Duolingo is solidifying its position at the top of the industry by taking the lead on AI to help users learn more effectively. That's likely to be a tailwind for its stock price over the long term.
