Want to hop off the AI trade? Goldman says buy these stocks that have nothing to do with it
It may feel like the artificial intelligence trade is sucking all the oxygen out of the stock market these days, but Goldman Sachs says that there are still noteworthy companies to buy that don’t have anything to do with AI. The strength of the AI trade has pushed the S & P 500 and technology-dominant Nasdaq Composite indexes to multiple intraday and closing record highs this year, with the latest records achieved just last week. That left Goldman Sachs analysts in a May 15 report highlighting the challenge of finding investment opportunities that are separated from tech and AI. “With AI and Momentum moving hand in hand and driving the direction of the S & P 500, many investors have expressed the view that the equity market today is ‘one big trade’ rather than ‘a market of stocks,'” wrote, Goldman’s chief U.S. equity strategist. “We believe investors should continue to focus on equities with fundamental support from earnings growth and revisions, whether those earnings are driven by AI or other tailwinds.” Low sensitivity Snider highlighted a portfolio of Russell 1000 stocks with low price sensitivity to both the AI trade and the market’s pricing of economic growth. The chosen stocks in the table below have also recently seen positive earnings revisions by analysts. Eli Lilly has slipped around 1% this year, and Goldman believes that only about 9% of the drugmaker’s recent returns have been driven by the U.S. economic outlook and AI. Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating Lilly. Analyst Terence Flynn’s $1,344 price target implies upside of 26.2% from where shares closed on Friday. “LLY markets Mounjaro OUS for T2D and obesity, and sales the last 4 quarters have come in ahead of consensus, driven by share gains and accelerating GLP-1 obesity adoption/growth. Our new analysis suggests consensus estimates for 2026 may still prove conservative,” the Morgan Stanley analyst wrote, referring to sales outside the U.S. to treat type 2 diabetes. By contract, cybersecurity stock Fortinet is up 68.7% this year. Goldman attributes 19% of its recent return to the U.S. economic outlook and AI. Earlier this month, BTIG analyst Gray Powell upgraded Fortinet to buy from neutral following the company’s “blow out Q1 print.” Shares of Fortinet closed at $133.93 on Friday, above Powell’s $125 price target. “While our checks heading into the print were positive and had up-ticked vs. prior quarters, we were surprised by the magnitude of the beat. Revenue was 7% ahead and operating income was 22% above Street forecasts,” Powell wrote. “All in, we are now more confident in FTNT’s ability to sustain mid-teens revenue growth over the next few years.” At pet food and supplies retailer Chewy , Goldman sees the AI trade and U.S. economic outlook only driving 11% of the stock’s recent return. Shares of Chewy have tumbled 37% this year. But in a note from last week, Wolfe Research called Chewy one of its top internet picks. “While we view FY’26 guide as a modest risk with Chewy becoming a show-me story … current price reflects the downside/conservatism, in our view,” wrote analyst Shweta Khajuria, who currently has an outperform rating on the Plantation, Florida-based company. The analyst’s $39 price target is nearly double where shares closed on Friday, at $20.73.
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