Artificial intelligence and computing are all the rage in the stock market these days. With the rapid buildout of AI platforms, companies have been racing to develop new and improved software that leverages the emerging technology.
And the best thing about many software stocks is that even though many are mature businesses with secure management and an established business model, the market sees incredible potential for future growth.
According to analysts surveyed by Yahoo! Finance, Oracle (ORCL 2.26%), Microsoft (MSFT 1.51%), Palantir Technologies (PLTR 2.06%), and Adobe (ADBE 5.78%) look like great buys right now.
Image source: Getty Images.
Oracle
Oracle has a broad portfolio -- it gets revenue from cloud services, hardware, and software. The company's software division generated $5.87 billion in revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (ended Nov. 30, 2025). That's about 36% of the company's $16.05 billion revenue for the quarter. The stock has a consensus price target of $270, representing an 82% gain from its price at the time of this writing.
NYSE: ORCL
Key Data Points
"Oracle is in a unique position to embed AI in all three layers of our software products: our Cloud Datacenter software, our Autonomous Database and Analytic software, and our Applications software. All three of these Oracle software businesses are already big -- AI will make them all better and bigger," CEO Mike Sicilia said recently.
Microsoft
Microsoft is a member of the "Magnificent Seven" group of stocks that has an outsize impact on the stock market due to its sheer size. It currently has a market capitalization of roughly $3 trillion, making it the fourth-largest publicly traded company in the world.
The company's suite of office software is well known, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Nearly 4 million companies use Microsoft 365, giving the company massive reach and a dedicated revenue stream to accompany its fast-growing Azure cloud computing division. Overall revenue was $81.3 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (ended Dec. 31, 2025), up 17% from a year ago.
Microsoft stock has a price target of $596, which indicates a potential 49% gain in stock price.
Palantir Technologies
Palantir Technologies is on this list because it has developed a series of software products in high demand. Palantir's Gotham, Foundry, and Apollo platforms run in conjunction with its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which incorporates large-language models, allowing users to input detailed prompts to generate insights and real-time analysis from hundreds of data sources across Palantir's network.
NASDAQ: PLTR
Key Data Points
Palantir's software does everything from helping commercial customers with competitive analysis to supply chain management, market trends, and inventory control. It also partners with government agencies, including the military, intelligence agencies, Homeland Security, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Fourth-quarter earnings were $1.407 billion, up 70% from a year ago, as the company closed $4.26 billion in total contract value in the quarter. Analysts have a consensus price target of $186 for Palantir stock, representing a potential 38% gain.
Adobe
Adobe is best known for its cloud software products, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Illustrator, which are used for media creation and marketing, as well as Acrobat, which is most often used to create PDFs.
The company has also released Firefly, a generative AI model that allows users to create graphics, images, and text effects from written prompts. Firefly is incorporated into its Creative Cloud apps, such as Illustrator and Photoshop.
NASDAQ: ADBE
Key Data Points
Shares have fallen more than 25% this year on fears that AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT will make Adobe's media products obsolete. But the company's revenue continues to rise, indicating that Adobe still has a lot to offer. Revenue in the fourth quarter was $6.19 billion, up 10% from a year ago.
Adobe stock has a price target of $408, which presents a possible $58% gain in stock price.
