A top fund manager says the AI sell-off is creating selective buying opportunities, noting that the demand picture is stronger than market turbulence suggests.
In a new CNBC interview, Hightower’s Stephanie Link says the market pullback masks a surge in real spending tied to artificial intelligence, with large-cap leaders already showing profitability and scale.
She points to accelerating enterprise demand as the key driver.
“Well, I mean, we have had a really good run in the AI, the whole theme. But we’re seeing massive amounts of spending happening because these companies can’t meet the demand. They can’t meet the demand.”
Link notes that investors should focus on firms monetizing AI rather than buying every name tied to the theme.
“First and foremost, the money does exist. There are companies that are monetizing… You don’t want to own every single AI play, but you want to pick and choose where you’re seeing companies where they’re profitable and where I don’t mind that they’re spending to grow.”
She highlights Meta as a clear example of revenue and margin momentum tied to AI deployment.
“So not only did they grow revenues 26%, operating margins expanded, family of apps grew 26%, but advertising grew 26%, and impressions grew 14%. And that enabled them to see price per ad up 10% so they are monetizing it right.”
Link says Microsoft’s (MSFT) cloud surge and commercial bookings show similar adoption dynamics.
“Microsoft, they beat across the board. They had commercial bookings up 111%. Their cloud business is growing 39% for a company of this size.”
Another name on her list is Amazon (AMZN), which she says has lagged. Beyond big-tech platforms, she points to infrastructure beneficiaries powering data-center expansion.
“But let’s find other names, too, that are going to benefit from this whole theme. Eaton is a perfect example. Vertiv is a perfect example. These are companies that are helping build the data centers, and they are profitable, and the valuations are not extreme.”
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