With US manufacturing data signalling ongoing softness relative to expectations, investor attention is drifting toward sectors that do not rely solely on traditional industrial demand. Artificial intelligence sits at that crossroads, where chips, software and cloud meet new productivity tools like ChatGPT. This article walks through 3 of the most interesting stocks from our AI Stocks screener so you can see how different business models plug into the same long term theme.
Those three stocks are just a starting sample from this theme, and the full screen surfaced 16 more companies with equally compelling AI narratives that are not covered here. If you want to quickly identify your own angles on this trend, head straight to the Artificial Intelligence/ AI Stocks screener to filter and analyze the highest conviction plays.
SEEK is a Melbourne based online employment marketplace that uses AI powered job ads and candidate matching tools like its Advanced ad product and Talent Search engine to help employers find suitable hires more efficiently. The business is still anchored in employment marketplaces, with A$945 million of revenue from ANZ and A$253 million from Asia, and AI features are embedded within this broader job ad and sourcing toolkit rather than being a standalone segment. At a market cap of about A$5.2b, SEEK is a large listed player in the recruitment and HR tech space.
SEEK gives you exposure to AI where it is already embedded in day to day workflows, as hirers pay for better targeting and faster hiring decisions through Advanced ads, Talent Search and linked tools like JobAdder. ANZ remains a high yielding, cash generative jobs business, while Asia is still at an earlier stage, so stronger digital adoption could change the revenue mix over time. The flip side is that SEEK is currently loss making, carries meaningful debt and is investing heavily in AI, product and platforms like Sidekicker. Execution on monetising these tools and lifting margins therefore matters. For investors seeking exposure to recruitment software that is integrating machine learning into its products, SEEK may warrant closer consideration.
SEEK’s AI push in job matching and its loss making, debt funded profile raises a simple question. Is the risk being priced fairly, or are investors missing a key twist in the 2 key rewards and 2 important warning signs
Xero is a cloud based accounting and business platform that helps small businesses handle bookkeeping, payroll, payments and tax, with Syft providing AI driven reports, forecasts and dashboards that tie it directly into the ChatGPT and analytics theme. The company reports a single line of revenue from providing online solutions for small businesses and their advisors, which reached about NZ$2.8b across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US and the rest of the world. Xero is a large listed software stock with a market cap of roughly A$15.2b.
