Yahoo Finance·2026-01-15 13:24Group 1 - AI stocks have been central to the stock market rally over the past three years, with expectations for continued growth in the new year [1] - Wall Street projections indicate that the S&P 500 index could rise to 7,500 points by the end of 2026, driven by AI infrastructure spending, with Deutsche Bank forecasting an even higher target of 8,000 points [2] - Investors are encouraged to consider AI stocks for potential growth, with Applied Digital and SoundHound AI highlighted as strong candidates for investment in 2026 and beyond [3] Group 2 - Applied Digital is a significant player in the AI hardware ecosystem, focusing on data centers for high-performance computing and AI workloads [5] - The company reported a 250% year-over-year revenue increase to nearly $127 million, surpassing analyst expectations of $88 million, driven by data center services for clients like CoreWeave [6] - Applied Digital has secured lease contracts for 600 megawatts of data center capacity and is in advanced discussions with another hyperscaler, with a projected lease revenue pipeline of $11 billion over 15 years [8]