16 beaten-down AI stocks that are beloved by BofA analysts - Morningstar

By Hannah Pedone A recent selloff in AI-linked stocks offers opportunities for investors across the hardware, internet and energy sectors, according to analysts BofA analysts see a buying opportunity in Meta's battered stock. Some artificial-intelligence stocks that got knocked off their pedestals, in part due to a bruising July selloff, now represent attractive opportunities for investors, according to BofA analysts. The analysts recently took a look at hardware, energy and other AI-adjacent stocks that were off at least 20% from their 52-week highs, but commanded buy ratings from the BofA analysts who cover them and were among those analysts' "preferred" picks. Below is their list of standout stocks - featuring those that are part of the "well-trodden AI-infrastructure story which, at least temporarily, got so popular that it suffered from a wave of profit-taking," BofA wrote. Stock % o? from 52-week high Meta Platforms -25% Lam Research -23% Micron Technology -24% Seagate Technology Holdings -20% Celestica -26% Flex -26% Vertiv Holdings -24% Atlassian -18% Robinhood Markets -35% Aktis Oncology -30% Oracle -55% CoreWeave -31% Talen Energy -21% Vistra -33% Albemarle -41% Cameco -28% Source: Bloomberg as of 8/12/2026, BofA Global Research One underappreciated AI stock is Meta Platforms (META), according to BofA analyst Justin Post. The stock was off 25% from its 52-week high as of the writing of the note. Post believes that Wall Street is underestimating the social-media giant's ability to monetize its AI assets, including frontier models and custom chips. Moreover, Meta stands to improve the returns on its AI investments by integrating models into its advertising technology even more, Post noted. He said that Meta's potential to generate new revenue streams through enterprise deals could help offset concerns about the company's heavy AI spending. Potential stock catalysts include the release of new large language models and proprietary chips, in his view. In another corner of the AI ecosystem, CoreWeave (CRWV) stood out to BofA's Tal Liani, who cited the company's "ambitious" data-center expansion plan. "CoreWeave's combination of market leadership, execution against a rapidly growing backlog and accelerating profitability underpins our positive outlook," Liani wrote. Micron Technology's stock (MU) has been a highflier over the past year, but came under pressure recently due to concerns about the sustainability of the memory cycle. BofA analyst Vivek Arya sees its selloff as a buying opportunity. Arya argued that memory supply should continue to remain tight, as new supply will likely only begin to show up around the middle of 2027 and then into 2028. On top of that, he pointed out that Micron has been instituting long-term agreements, which lock in contracts with customers to sell capacity in advance and can limit volatility down the road. The BofA analysts identified a number of other stocks from across the AI ecosystem. Those down the most from their 52-week high included cloud giant Oracle (ORCL), power company Vistra (VST) and chemicals manufacturer Albemarle (ALB), a major producer of lithium for electric-vehicle batteries. Those stocks were down 55%, 33% and 41% from their 52-week highs, respectively, as of the publication of the note. See also: Software stocks are fading - but these 4 could shine through the rest of the year -Hannah Pedone This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 08-14-26 1509ET Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 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