Wall Street bulls pushed the stock market to new all-time highs to end June, as investors bet on a cease-fire deal in the Middle East. The strong end to the second quarter capped off a historic rebound from the early April lows.
The Nasdaq soared over 33% since April 8, driven by mouth-watering gains from Nvidia and other growth stocks benefiting from the artificial intelligence revolution.
The market might face some near-term selling pressure and volatility in the coming weeks. Still, the combination of trade deals, cooling inflation, and strong earnings growth expectations provide a bullish launching pad for stocks in the second half. The S&P 500 has also posted a positive July for 10 straight years.
Let’s dive into three highly-ranked Zacks stocks benefiting directly from the artificial intelligence spending boom to consider buying in July.
Behind-the-scenes technology stock Vertiv (VRT) soared1,445% in the past three years to outclimb AI chip powerhouse Nvidia’s 990% charge. The digital infrastructure and continuity solutions company is poised to benefit from the AI spending boom and become a long-term AI winner no matter who commercializes artificial intelligence and which AI hyperscalers gain the largest market share.
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Vertiv’s hardware, software, analytics, and ongoing services portfolio is focused on power, cooling, and IT infrastructure, operating across AI data centers, communication networks, and commercial/industrial environments. The Ohio-based firm’s growing portfolio helps make sure the high-density computing power that drives technological innovation and the economy runs as smoothly as possible 24/7.
VRT, which has partnered with Nvidia (NVDA) to help solve critical AI challenges such as cooling, averaged 16% revenue growth in the past four years.
“We continue to see accelerated scaling of AI deployments across the data center market, with strong demand signals reinforcing both our near- and long-term growth outlook… Our partnership with NVIDIA and our reference designs for their GB200 and GB300 NVL72 platforms position Vertiv at the forefront of AI factory deployment at industrial scale,” CEO Giordano Albertazzi said in prepared remarks last quarter.
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Vertiv is projected to grow its revenue by 19% in 2025 and 14% next year to $10.87 billion—double its 2021 total. The soaring tech company is expected to boost its adjusted earnings by 25% and 24%, respectively, following 60% growth in 2024 and 236% in 2023. VRT reaffirmed its 2025 outlook in late May, and its upbeat EPS revisions earn it a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Wall Street loves the dividend-paying AI stock, with 15 of the 19 brokerage recommendations we have at “Strong Buys.” Despite its Nvidia-beating run over the past three years, VRT trades 16% below its highs and it’s on the verge of completing the bullish golden cross where the shorter-dated 50-day moving average climbs above the 200-day.
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Vertiv trades at a 30% discount to its highs at 32.1X forward 12-month earnings. Its strong longer-term earnings growth outlook helps the stock trade at a 33% discount to Tech, even though VRT has crushed the sector over the past five years.
Physically building the most complex, cutting-edge semiconductors in the world makes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) a straightforward, all-encompassing tech investment across AI, electronics, and future tech innovations.
Taiwan Semi’s foundry-only model slowly transformed it into one of the only games in town for semiconductor manufacturing, especially at the bleeding edge. This backdrop is why TSM stock has skyrocketed 2,600% over the past 20 years, more than tripling the Tech sector’s performance.
Taiwan Semi reportedly holds a roughly 60% share of the entire foundry market and 90% of advanced chip manufacturing, boasting Apple and other tech titans as key clients. Nvidia’s massive AI expansion likely wouldn’t be possible without TSMC.
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TSMC is also critically addressing its geopolitical fears by expanding its manufacturing footprint outside Taiwan into Japan and the U.S. Taiwan Semi pays a dividend, and its balance sheet is solid.
Taiwan Semi is boosting its industry-leading 3-nanometer production, fueled by demand from AI chip companies Nvidia and AMD. The pure-play foundry company said 3nm chips accounted for 22% of total wafer revenue in the first quarter of 2025, up from 9% in the year-ago period, with advanced technologies accounting for 73%.
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TSMC is projected to grow its revenue by 29% in FY25 and 17% in FY26 (following a 25% expansion last year) to surge from $90 billion in 2024 to $137 billion in 2026. Taiwan Semi is projected to grow its adjusted earnings by 32% in FY25 and 16% next year.
The company’s recent positive earnings revisions earn it a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and extend its stretch of improving, AI-boosted earnings growth. And TSMC has topped our estimates for nearly five years running.
Taiwan Semi stock might be a little overheated from a technical standpoint after its massive rally saw it hit new highs at the end of June alongside Nvidia and other tech standouts. That said, TSMC still trades at a 33% discount to its highs and 18% below Tech at 22.6X forward 12-month earnings.
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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Any pullback to its 21-day or 50-day moving averages could represent a more enticing buying opportunity. Others might want to wait for its second-quarter earnings release on July 17. Long-term investors might avoid the market timing game and buy TSMC now.
MYR Group Inc. MYRGisaU.S.-based specialty contractor that builds and maintains electrical infrastructure, such as power lines and substations, for utilities, renewable energy projects, and beyond.
The electric construction firm’s growth outlook is stellar. MYR Group is set to ride the massive energy and electrification infrastructure spending boom that’s just kicking off due to soaring AI energy demand and decades of underspending on critical energy infrastructure.
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MYRG’s Transmission and Distribution segment focuses on electric transmission lines, distribution networks, substations, clean energy projects, EV charging infrastructure, and much more for utilities and developers.
MYR Group’s Commercial and Industrial unit provides electrical wiring, maintenance, and repair services for a diverse range of facilities, including airports, hospitals, AI data centers, industrial plants, as well as clean energy infrastructure.
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MYR Group went on a massive run between 2017 and 2023, before facing short-term setbacks in 2024, driven by project delays, cost overruns in clean energy contracts, and more. MYRG’s beat-and-raise first quarter helps it earn a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Its backlog jumped 8% YoY in Q1 to $2.43 billion. MYRG is projected to grow its revenue by 3% and 6%, respectively, in 2025 and 2026. Better yet, its earnings are expected to bounce back massively after a rough 2024 to the tune of 260% growth in 2025 and 14% next year to reach $7.48 a share, blowing away its previous 2023 record of $5.42 a share.
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The electric construction stock climbed 960% in the past 15 years, crushing the Utilities sector’s 45% and the S&P 500’s 480%, including a 450% surge in the past five years. MYR Group recently broke out to new all-time highs. Yet, MYRG trades at a 20% discount to its highs at 25.8X forward 12-month earnings.
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Russia allegedly field-testing deadly next-gen AI drone powered by Nvidia Jetson Orin — Ukrainian military official says Shahed MS001 is a ‘digital predator’ that identifies targets on its own
Ukrainian Major General Vladyslav (Владислав Клочков) Klochkov says Russia is field-testing a deadly new drone that can use AI and thermal vision to think on its own, identifying targets without coordinates and bypassing most air defense systems. According to the senior military figure, inside you will find the Nvidia Jetson Orin, which has enabled the MS001 to become “an autonomous combat platform that sees, analyzes, decides, and strikes without external commands.”
Digital predator dynamically weighs targets
With the Jetson Orin as its brain, the upgraded MS001 drone doesn’t just follow prescribed coordinates, like some hyper-accurate doodle bug. It actually thinks. “It identifies targets, selects the highest-value one, adjusts its trajectory, and adapts to changes — even in the face of GPS jamming or target maneuvers,” says Klochkov. “This is not a loitering munition. It is a digital predator.”
Even worse, the MS001 is allegedly operating in coordinated drone groups, persisting in its maximum destructive purpose despite the best efforts of Ukraine’s electronic warfare and other anti-drone systems.
Frustrated with warfare tech development speeds
Klochkov signs off his post by informing his LinkedIn followers that “We are not only fighting Russia. We are fighting inertia.” What he appears to wish for is an acceleration of Ukraine’s own assault drone capabilities. The Major General seems particularly disappointed in the Ukrainian system of procurement rounds, slowing field-testing and deployment of improved responses to new Shahed drone generations.
Shahed drones are originally an Iranian design but have gained great notoriety due to their sustained use by the Russian army to attack Ukrainian targets. The MS001 is substantially upgraded in the ‘smarts’ department thanks to Western/allies technologies.
Klochkov says the MS001 is powered by the following key technologies:
Nvidia Jetson Orin — machine learning, video processing, object recognition
Thermal imager — operates at night and in low visibility
Nasir GPS with CRPA antenna — spoof-resistant navigation
FPGA chips — onboard adaptive logic
Radio modem — for telemetry and swarm communication
Cute AI dev board with deadly potential (Image credit: Nvidia)
Western tech sanctions are supposed to neuter this kind of military threat from nations like Russia and Iran. This news indicates that such trade barriers are leaky, at best, and probably not taken seriously enough.
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Not the first Russia-deployed drone discovered using Nvidia AI
This isn’t the first Russian drone system that is thought to have adopted Nvidia’s Jetson Orin as a key component.
A month ago, Ukraine’s Defense Express site said that a new “smart suicide attack unmanned aerial vehicle with artificial intelligence,” dubbed the V2U, was powered by Nvidia’s little AI computer.
While the Shahed MS001s use an Iranian design, the V2U looks like it is more reliant on Chinese tech, including the Chinese-made Leetop A603 carrier board.
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As artificial intelligence reshapes the business landscape, fintechs stand poised to usher in a fresh wave of disruption as the industry emerges from a prolonged slump.
Editorial
This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.
According to a new report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and seasoned fintech investor QED, ‘Fintech’s Next Chapter: Scaled Winners and Emerging Disruptors’, the sector has emerged from a tough funding environment stronger, more disciplined, and with greater growth prospects than ever.
In 2024, fintech revenues grew by 21% — up from 13% in 2023 — marking a threefold increase over incumbent banks. Meanwhile, the average Ebitda margin of public fintechs climbed to 16%, and 69% of public fintechs are now profitable. Importantly, much of this performance is being driven by a new class of scaled players generating $500 million or more in annual revenue. These now account for approximately 60% of total fintech revenues.
“A class of scaled fintechs is coming of age. Investors are demanding greater maturity, and regulators want more accountability,” says Deepak Goyal, a managing director and senior partner at BCG. “Meanwhile, emerging disruptors are harnessing next-generation technologies like agentic AI and pioneering new business models, pushing established players to continuously innovate.”
The report pinpoints agentic AI as the next wave of disruption, changing the game in commerce, vertical SaaS, and personal financial management.
At the same time, challenger banks are scaling fast: 24 institutions with over $500 million in annual revenues are growing deposits at 37% annually — 30 percentage points higher than traditional banks.
The funding environment is also maturing, with private credit emerging as a key tailwind for fintech lending.
“Fintechs are winning in spaces where traditional banks have largely ceded the competitive ground, such as banking for lower-income households and buy now, pay later,” says Nigel Morris, managing partner at QED Investors. “Fintechs are growing three times faster than incumbents as they leverage digital distribution channels and increasingly utilize AI. Having emerged from the last two years with stronger fundamental unit economics and high net promoter scores, it’s easy to see why there’s an appetite for IPO-ready companies that deliver profitable growth. Fintech is ushering in a new era in financial services.”
