These 4 self-driving and AI stocks could be 2025's dark horses, Wall Street analysts predict
Analysts say four U.S. tech companies could be 2025’s unexpected winners in the AI and self-driving sectors; some of them you may have never heard of.
Aurora Innovation (AUR), a self-driving technology company focused on autonomous trucking, is expected to hit $12—a 73% jump from Monday’s close, according to Morgan Stanley.
“It has been four years since [Aurora Innovation] went public, but the market is finally noticing its autonomous leadership, and the stock is up over 3x,” wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker in a recent note to clients.
He continued, “However, this is just the beginning if our view of the opportunity runway ahead materializes,” adding that “trucking finally appears to be at the cusp of an autonomous future.”
The stock is up 184% from a year ago but has dropped significantly from its February 14 peak. Even with the pullback, the company outperforms bigger names in the self-driving space:
Tesla (TSLA) is up 96% in the past year, Alphabet (GOOGL) 33%, Amazon (AMZN) 15%, Uber (UBER) down 6%, General Motors (GM) 15%, and Samsara (IOT) 27%.
More than 72% of U.S. freight moves by truck, employing 3.5 million drivers. Aurora’s CEO insists the technology won’t replace today’s truckers but says the future of trucking will be more automated.
AI’s next surge
AI stocks took a hit last month, partly due to China’s cheaper DeepSeek launch, but lesser-known chipmakers could see a rebound this week, according to Bank of America (BofA) analysts.
“We expect beat/raise results from [Broadcom] AVGO, [Marvell] MRVL, and [Credo] CRDO to re-energize interest in AI,” said BofA analyst Vivek Arya. Arya sees U.S. cloud and AI sectors as one of the few bright spots in the economy.
The three chipmakers are down this year as part of the broader tech sell-off. In Arya’s view, that could change with earnings reports on deck and increasing U.S. protectionism against China.
Credo, reporting earnings Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET, has an average price target of $83.73—well above its $50.42 close on Monday and offering a bigger upside than NVIDIA.
Marvell’s financial results, set for Wednesday at 4:45 p.m. ET, will likely highlight its partnership with Amazon. Analysts peg Marvell’s price target at $126.21, compared to its $85.82 close on Monday.
Broadcom will announce its end-of-year earnings Thursday at 5 p.m. ET. “We expect management to reemphasize the $60-$90 billion long-term market in custom chips and networking, with growing engagement with new partners,” Arya said.
The average price target for Broadcom stands at $243.97, up from its $187.37 close on Monday.