Investment firm Needham has its eyes set on Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) as its big tech frontrunners for 2024. Analysts Laura Martin and Dan Medina are banking on increased ad spending and generative artificial intelligence to lead the charge. Nevertheless, shares of both companies were little changed at the time of writing despite the analysts’ praise.
Google is at the top of their list, thanks to a predicted surge in ad revenues from the automotive, film, travel, and political sectors. Plus, Google’s plan to phase out cookies in Chrome could shake up the entire digital ad scene. Amazon takes the runner-up spot, not just for its strides in generative AI but also for its shift towards being a B2B linchpin in logistics and cloud services.
2023 has been a big year for generative AI, with key players Google and Amazon seeing their shares soar by more than 58% and 79% year-to-date, respectively. It’s also worth mentioning that Needham bumped up its price targets for Amazon from $160 to $175 per share.
What are the Top Technology Stocks?
There’s no doubt that Amazon and Google are considered top technology stocks. However, it appears that Wall Street expects more upside from AMZN stock than GOOG stock. Indeed, Amazon’s $180.31 price target implies over 17% upside potential. On the other hand, Google is anticipated to only deliver gains of approximately 9%.
