Wall Street analysts and traders alike earn their pay by connecting the dots in the stock market. This includes knowing that when there is one big winner, a suit of associated stocks could soon follow. In today’s market, it is clear to most that the technology sector has gotten most of the attention—and capital—from investors, with a specific interest in the artificial intelligence and semiconductor spaces.
Knowing that NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) leads the pack in this dynamic, investors can either follow the masses behind this massive company and its financial results in the future or connect the dots and get a much better risk-adjusted return. In other words, shareholders in similar stocks might experience strong gains with less volatility.
That is exactly where today’s list of lateral players comes into play, riding on NVIDIA’s tailwinds and the artificial intelligence race as a whole. Stocks like Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), and even Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) all play a vital role in the development of artificial intelligence. Some could even say that they also play a vital role in NVIDIA’s continued success.
Recent Optimism Boost For Taiwan Semiconductor
Some on Wall Street decided that waiting for NVIDIA was not the most effective use of their time and capital. They expressed the view that the market leader would have a pretty bullish quarterly announcement to make, therefore boosting Taiwan Semiconductor’s demand and production as well.
Knowing that the odds are now stacked in favor of the bulls, there are more signs showing up in this stock pointing to potentially higher prices ahead, something investors can see through the current 9.0% collapse in short interest over the past month, a clear sign of bearish capitulation today.
Be that as it may, these weren’t the only players on Wall Street to express such an optimistic view of Taiwan Semiconductor. Analysts from Barclays decided to reiterate their Overweight ratings on the chipmaker and keep a $255 price target on it, implying the stock can still deliver a net rally of up to 16% from where it trades today.
Now, considering valuation metrics, Taiwan Semiconductor trades at a much lower price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.0x, which would give value investors a chance to cap the potential downside compared to NVIDIA’s valuation of 41.0x P/E today, fitting the definition of a better risk-adjusted return mentioned earlier.
Dell Stock Quietly Brewing Double-Digit Upside
Through a partnership with NVIDIA’s artificial intelligence capabilities, Dell has started to float both its hardware and software offers to develop new platforms and services created from this advancement in technology. What that means for investors is simple: Dell’s upside has been renewed quietly, so there’s a chance to tap into it before the masses get a hold of it.
According to analysts from Bank of America, that upside looks more like a 40% rally from today’s prices. They reiterated their Buy rating on Dell stock as of February 2025 alongside a valuation of $150 per share. Now, the stock did decline in their most recent quarterly earnings announcement, giving back up to two points on the price despite an earnings beat.
Through the company’s investor presentation for the quarter, it becomes evident that the financials are as good as ever, expecting enough growth to keep the stock going, though the only excuse is that this growth is not up to what the markets had been expecting, being under the impression that only NVIDIA-like growth is acceptable today.
Institutions Chose Oracle Stock
Oracle stock is a vital player in the artificial intelligence development of NVIDIA’s chips since it provides the cloud computing platform under which these chips can shine by training the computing models that the whole market seems to be after today.
Investors can see this connection at play through the 20.5% boost in holdings from institutional buyers at UBS Asset Management, who, as of February 2025, have built up a stake worth as much as $2.3 billion in a bet that this NVIDIA supplier has got to see higher prices ahead.
By trading at only 83% of their 52-week highs, Oracle shares start to fit into this risk-adjusted return area for investors looking for upside in their portfolios. This is especially true when they consider the recent Market Outperform rating just reiterated by analysts at JMP Securities, who also valued the stock as high as $205 per share.
From today’s price, this valuation would call for up to 13% upside, not to mention a new 52-week high, which could potentially start to drive in further momentum buyers, who systematically buy stocks that break out near or past these important price levels.