Market noise is everywhere. Financial headlines focus on the same handful of stocks while important opportunities – the kind that can meaningfully impact your portfolio – often fly under the radar.
That’s exactly why we publish this watchlist each week.
While most investors get distracted by mainstream stories, we’re digging through earnings reports, analyzing technical setups, and monitoring where institutional money is flowing to identify companies at potential turning points. Our focus isn’t on what’s already priced in, but rather on what the market hasn’t fully recognized yet.
Each week, we spotlight three stocks that deserve your attention. We look for opportunities where timing, valuation, and potential catalysts align to create favorable entry points.
Here’s what caught our eye this week:
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Advanced Micro Devices has emerged as a legitimate challenger to Nvidia’s AI chip dominance, with shares gaining renewed analyst support following the launch of its MI350 series graphics processing units. Trading around $146 per share after a 14.6% year-to-date gain, AMD has attracted significant attention from HSBC analysts who upgraded the stock to buy with a $200 price target, suggesting 44.5% upside potential.
What makes AMD particularly compelling at current levels is the competitive performance and pricing premium of its newly launched MI350 series, which analysts believe can compete directly with Nvidia’s Blackwell line, specifically the HGX B200 AI graphics processing unit.
The strategic significance of AMD’s MI350 product line extends beyond technical specifications:
- HSBC analysts revised their average selling price expectations for the MI355 to $25,000 from previous assumptions of $15,000
- Reflects the premium pricing AMD can command for performance comparable to Nvidia’s B200 chips
- AMD’s MI350 chips can be deployed using existing data center infrastructure
- Reduces implementation costs and complexity compared to alternatives requiring specialized installations
This pricing advantage becomes particularly attractive to customers seeking alternatives to Nvidia’s solutions. The company’s planned 2026 release of its full-server Helios AI rack built on next-generation Instinct MI400 series GPUs further shows AMD’s commitment to challenging Nvidia across the entire AI infrastructure stack.
AMD offers a compelling alternative to Nvidia’s premium valuation while providing similar exposure to AI infrastructure demand. The company’s ability to achieve performance parity with Nvidia while potentially offering better pricing creates significant competitive advantages that should drive market share gains in the rapidly expanding AI chip market.
The timing appears particularly favorable as hyperscalers and enterprise customers seek to diversify their AI chip suppliers to reduce dependence on a single vendor.
IonQ (IONQ)
IonQ represents a pure-play investment opportunity in quantum computing technology, trading around $42 per share with an $11 billion market cap as the company pioneers a different approach to quantum systems development. Unlike competitors that require expensive near-absolute-zero cooling systems, IonQ’s trapped-ion technology operates at room temperature, potentially providing significant cost advantages for widespread commercial deployment.
What makes IonQ particularly compelling is its unique all-to-all connectivity approach:
- Allows every qubit to interact with each other
- Rather than limiting interactions to neighboring qubits in grid-like systems
- Results in industry-leading 99.9% two-qubit gate fidelity
The company’s strategic partnerships validate its technological approach and provide pathways to practical applications. IonQ’s collaboration with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab, one of the nation’s leading government laboratories, shows the military’s confidence in the company’s quantum computing capabilities.
This partnership not only provides revenue opportunities but also positions IonQ at the forefront of quantum computing development for national security applications, potentially creating significant barriers to entry for competitors while establishing the company as a trusted technology partner for sensitive government work.
From an investment perspective, IonQ offers exposure to quantum computing’s transformative potential while acknowledging the inherent risks of early-stage technology development. The company remains in the pre-revenue phase for meaningful commercial applications, making this investment thesis dependent on quantum computing’s eventual widespread adoption rather than current financial metrics.
The “quantum computing or bust” nature of IonQ’s business model creates significant risk, as failure to achieve commercial viability could result in total loss of investment. However, for investors seeking exposure to potentially revolutionary computing technology through a leader in quantum innovation, IonQ’s different technical approach and strategic partnerships provide a compelling risk-reward profile.
SoundHound AI (SOUN)
SoundHound AI presents a compelling opportunity in the voice-powered artificial intelligence space, trading around $12 per share after declining nearly 50% from its all-time highs despite the broader AI market’s continued expansion. With a market cap of approximately $5 billion, the company has established itself as a leader in conversational AI through its innovative Houndify platform and SoundHound Chat AI systems that enable natural speech interaction with AI tools.
What makes SoundHound particularly intriguing is its specialized focus on contextual speech recognition:
- Partnerships like Hyundai’s in-vehicle AI system
- Can understand nuanced questions like “Do I need an umbrella today?”
- Correctly interprets the user’s intent to provide weather information
The company’s growth trajectory remains impressive despite recent stock weakness:
- Quarterly revenue increasing approximately 150% year-over-year
- Trailing twelve-month sales exceeding $100 million
- Wall Street analysts project revenue of $160 million for 2025 and $203 million for 2026
SoundHound’s technology addresses a critical market need as organizations seek to improve customer satisfaction through more intuitive AI interactions, positioning the company to benefit from the broader adoption of agentic AI systems that can understand context and reduce communication friction.
However, investors must acknowledge the inherent risks associated with SoundHound’s current financial profile:
- Operates at a loss with approximately $188 million in net losses over the past twelve months
- Negative free cash flow of around $107 million
- Balance sheet maintains roughly $250 million in cash (approximately two years of runway at current burn rates)
The competitive landscape also presents challenges, with tech giants like Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft investing tens of billions in AI development. For growth-focused investors willing to accept higher risk in exchange for exposure to the voice AI revolution, SoundHound offers significant upside potential if the company can successfully execute its technology roadmap.
Bottom Line
This week’s picks represent three distinct opportunities in emerging technology sectors. Advanced Micro Devices offers a compelling alternative to Nvidia’s premium valuation with competitive AI chips and attractive pricing power, IonQ provides pure-play exposure to quantum computing’s transformative potential through its differentiated technical approach, and SoundHound AI presents a specialized play on voice AI technology with strong growth momentum despite recent stock weakness. Each stock combines innovative technology positioning with clear competitive advantages, though investors should carefully consider the varying risk profiles and position sizes appropriately within their portfolios.