Ives used a baseball analogy to suggest the AI boom is still in its early stages, describing it as the third inning of a nine-inning game.
Baseball, naturally, has its prospects. And Ives’ top five picks heading into 2027 are Apple (AAPL), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA) and Palantir (PLTR). All five have gained ground this year, but none more than CrowdStrike, which has surged 129%.
The cybersecurity company’s rally follows a difficult period that began in July 2024, when a faulty software update triggered a global IT outage that affected an estimated 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices, grounding flights and disrupting businesses worldwide. CrowdStrike shares fell sharply in the aftermath, and several Wall Street analysts downgraded the stock over concerns about potential financial and legal fallout.
Shares have since climbed to nearly $270 following a 4-for-1 stock split in July 2026. CrowdStrike’s recovery has been supported by rising demand for AI-related cybersecurity services, broader adoption of its Falcon platform and strong revenue growth, including record net new annual recurring revenue.
As Business Insider reported, the list is a significant departure from Ives’ June recommendation, when he was still at Wedbush Securities. Palantir is the only company to appear on both lists.
Still, Ives says he sees opportunities beyond his top five picks, particularly in enterprise software, a sector he believes was prematurely written off over fears that AI would replace traditional software services.
Software stocks are poised for a comeback
Enterprise software stocks were hammered during the so-called “SaaSpocalypse,” as investors worried that autonomous AI agents could make traditional software products obsolete and undermine industry profits.
At the height of the selloff in early February, software stocks shed roughly $1 trillion in market value, Reuters reported. The S&P 500 Software & Services Index, which includes companies beyond traditional SaaS providers, declined more than 25% between January and April.
Ives says he believes corporate earnings results have challenged those fears, particularly as AI models become increasingly “commoditized,” meaning they are becoming more widely available and harder to distinguish from one another.
“Enterprise software, written off in the first quarter as AI’s presumed victim, has recovered as the prints showed that models are commoditizing,” he wrote.
