Technology is all about innovation, so it makes sense if you're an investor to consider which companies are doing the most to shape the future. After all, these companies spend billions on research and development to invent new products, improve existing ones, and push the limits of the possible. Achieving success could mean huge returns.
With that in mind, keep reading to see three tech companies that are building the future and could deliver breakthrough returns for investors.
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1. Airbnb
Airbnb (ABNB 0.75%) is best known as the pioneer in home-sharing, disrupting the travel industry in the process. However, the company has aspirations beyond its current offering of homestays and experiences.
The company sees room for innovation beyond its current platform as CEO Brian Chesky has teased some ideas in the media. He told the Financial Times that the company has plans to expand beyond its core travel business, getting into long-term rentals, and aims to expand experiences into concepts like "dining pop-ups."
In general, Chesky sees an opportunity "for Airbnb to become a greater part of your daily life. Not just once or twice a year." In other ways, Airbnb sees itself as more of a way of living rather than just a way to travel.
The Airbnb CEO also envisions using artificial intelligence (AI) as a travel concierge and to do things like summarize reviews and improve its matching and personalization capabilities.
While Chesky said the company needs to fix its core user problems first, like complaints about hidden cleaning fees and chore lists, the company has big ambitions that mean not just transforming travel but housing and entertainment.
2. Tesla
Perhaps no company has a greater reputation for building the future than Tesla (TSLA -1.11%). The company has already succeeded in taking electric vehicles mainstream, and CEO Elon Musk, who also leads SpaceX and aims to colonize Mars, is as much of a visionary as any other business leader.
In fact, Musk spent much of Tesla's recent earnings call talking up the company's ambitions in AI, namely with its robotaxis, full self-driving (or what it calls its autonomous) vehicle technology, and Optimus robot, which Musk said could now do yoga.
Meanwhile, Tesla is also expected to begin deliveries of its Cybertruck later this year, though during the call Musk tamped down expectations for the production ramp of the Cybertruck. Additionally, Tesla continues to expand its energy storage business, contributing to the growth of the renewable energy economy in another way.
The Tesla chief has something of a reputation for overpromising and underdelivering, so it's unclear whether the robotaxis or the Optimus robot will be as transformative as Musk touted. However, it would be a mistake to underestimate Tesla, given how disruptive the company has already been.
3. Meta Platforms
For most of its history, Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META 0.43%) was the dominant social media company and not much more.
However, two years ago, CEO Mark Zuckerberg rebranded the company as Meta Platforms and bet a large part of its future on the metaverse, virtual reality devices like the Quest headsets, and AI.
Thus far, the bet on the metaverse has been a flop, but that could change. Investors will be closely watching the sales figures from the Quest 3 to see whether the company can finally break into devices. Meanwhile, Apple's launch of its Vision Pro headset helps validate the next generation of computing devices and should boost demand for the group of devices as a whole.
Meta is also well positioned to be a major player in AI with its Llama large language model. Llama differs from alternatives like ChatGPT and Google Bard because it's open-source, making it accessible to developers. A number of reviews also say its capabilities are comparable to ChatGPT.
Other AI products Meta is working on include speech-to-text translation, an AI-based chat assistant, and AI-powered creative tools like image editing.
Zuckerberg has set a goal of owning the next computing platform, and Meta looks poised to own a significant stake in the next era of technology.
