How some of 2023's biggest AI winners have fared a year after ChatGPT's launch

Published Sat, Dec 2 20238:58 AM EST

A year after ChatGPT's debut, technology stocks are on a tear , artificial intelligence is the new Internet , and the investing community can't seem to get enough of the limitless use cases for large language models. ChatGPT's launch – and the excitement that followed – came as an unsuspecting knight in shining armor for a sector desecrated by rising rates and the Federal Reserve's most aggressive hiking cycle in decades, which contributed to the worst year for stocks since 2008 . Within two months of ChatGPT's launch, the groundbreaking chatbot amassed 100 million users, wowing investors, consumers and Wall Street with its ability to compose human-like text and hold a conversation. A year later, Wall Street hasn't stopped obsessing over it. The frenzy's spread beyond the technology sector, popping up in conference calls from industrial giants, banking majors and energy behemoths as Wall Street bets on the potential for AI tools. The craze has made it worth taking a look back at how some of the biggest AI beneficiaries have fared since ChatGPT disrupted markets and how the next chapter of this story plays out. Nvidia , far and away, has dominated as one of the major winners as its graphics processing units underpin many large language models. Year over year, the stock's surged more than 176% , rising nearly 15% during November's rally. NVDA 1Y mountain Nvidia shares over the last year Other chipmakers have also benefited , with shares of Advanced Micro Devices and Marvell Technology up more than 56% and about 20%, respectively. Megacap technology stocks also prospered amid the newfound investor focus on AI. Early in 2023, tech bellwethers Alphabet and Microsoft battled for the top chatbot , with Microsoft funneling another multibillion investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI. In February, Alphabet joined the ring with its Bard competitor . Early Wall Street insight and investor sentiment painted Microsoft with a slight advantage over Alphabet, although they cautioned writing off the search giant as a major AI contender. That sentiment seemed to prove itself out, with the Alphabet now up more than 31% since ChatGPT's launch and 49% year to date. Microsoft, meanwhile, has gained more than 48% since Nov. 30, 2022, and about 56% since the start of this year. MSFT 1Y mountain Microsoft shares over the last year Rounding out the megacap list, both Meta Platforms and Amazon have rallied more than 177% and 51%, respectively. Both companies have launched AI initiatives, with Meta disclosing its custom computer chips to assist with artificial intelligence and video processing tasks in May. CEO Mark Zuckerberg also touted the company's "incredible breakthroughs " in generative AI to employees in June. While viewed by some investors as a late entrant to the artificial intelligence fight, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC in July that investors shouldn't count out the e-commerce and cloud computing giant. This week, Amazon also announced a new chip for training artificial intelligence chips known as Trainium2 and said it would offer access to some of Nvidia's chips. Semiconductor companies powering many AI models appeared to dominate AI chatter in 2023, but some software and so-called secondary or tertiary winners have begun to reap the rewards. META YTD mountain Meta shares year to date That includes Salesforce and Oracle , with shares up 57% and 40%, respectively, over the last year. Salesforce shares surged more than 9% during Thursday's session on the back of a stronger-than-expected quarterly print . The stock has nearly doubled since the start of the year. Jefferies analyst Brent Thill told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday that the move in shares could signal a "catch-up trade" in Salesforce. "Our thesis has been that semis will be the first wave of AI and software will carry us in '24 as these products come out and you start to monetize," he said. "You want to be ahead of that as an investor, and we think investors are now starting to look at the rotation of perhaps some the semi money they made." CRM 5D mountain Salesforce shares over the last week Many investors have also put their hopes on government contractor and software stock Palantir Technologies , betting on its AI-powered services used for public and private organizations. The stock's rallied more than 167% over the last year. Snowflake's also prospered as a potential AI champion, with the stock up more than 31% since ChatGPT debuted. It added 7% on Thursday after posting solid quarterly results and guidance. Altimeter Capital's Brad Gerstner called Snowflake a "sleeper in AI" as investors' laser focus on the major software names during an interview on CNBC's "Halftime Report" on Thursday. Many behemoths are likely using Snowflake as they turn to data stores powered by the company to run their AI models. If "you think about the primitive ingredients here to the next wave of AI, data is one of the most important ones," he said. "Snowflake is at the tip of the spear."