Palantir and CrowdStrike: Daniel Ives Reveals His Top AI Stocks for 2026

AI has been generating hype and headlines over the past three years, since OpenAI launched the generative AI revolution with the release of ChatGPT. Since then, AI stocks have been driving the market’s bull run, and fueling gains in the tech sector – gains that, in some cases, have been measured in the trillions of dollars.

Wedbush’s Daniel Ives has been looking into the sector, and putting his finger on the pulse of leading stocks at all scales. The analyst describes AI as a new Industrial Revolution, with potential to reshape the economy and the larger world for decades to come.

Describing what’s likely to happen in 2026, Ives writes, “Heading into 2026 investors are both excited and nervous about the AI Revolution. On one hand this is a 4th Industrial Revolution taking shape with the US leading China on tech for the first in 30 years…while on the other hand the trillions of dollars needed to reach the heights of enterprise/consumer AI Revolution have caused nervousness among investors. We believe both sides can be right at the same time and it ultimately speaks to 2026 being an inflection point year for the AI Revolution.”

The 5-star analyst, rated by TipRanks among the top 4% of Wall Street’s stock experts, has followed this by tagging Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) as two of his top AI stocks for 2026, shares that should bring solid gains for investors. Let’s take a closer look at them, and find out how Ives’ stance compares to the overall Wall Street view.

Palantir Technologies

The first of Ives’ picks that we’ll look at is Palantir, one of the better-known names in the AI industry. The company was founded in 2003, and offers its users a set of platforms and tools designed to make AI intuitive at the user end, by matching up the speed of AI computing power with the flexibility of human operators. Following this approach, Palantir has become a powerful mega-cap player in the field, with a ~$427 billion market cap valuation and a reputation as a leader in AI-powered data analytic services that are both innovative and high-end.

Palantir has achieved this by integrating AI tech directly into the user interface of its platform, a key feature that allows human system users to interact directly with the AI, entering data and queries in natural language and receiving replies the same way. This cuts out the need for complex computer or coding languages, and makes Palantir’s products accessible with a bare minimum of training.

In short, what Palantir does best is to make AI-powered data analysis readily available. The company’s products have proven widely popular and applicable at many levels, across the public and private sectors.

A couple of the company’s recent announcements show the range of its versatility: this month, Palantir announced a joint effort with Teton Ridge to bring real-time AI and computer vision to the rodeo niche, in a move that will enhance the sport’s experience for athletes, partners, and fans; and Palantir has announced a partnership with the US Navy, a $448 million plan to bring Palantir’s AI Platform into the Navy’s shipbuilding sector.

Palantir’s continuing fast growth was visible in its last earnings reports, which covered 3Q25. The company reported 63% year-over-year growth at the top line, which reached $1.18 billion and exceeded expectations by $89.5 million. The company had a bottom line, non-GAAP EPS of 21 cents, a figure that was 4 cents per share ahead of the forecasts, and it finished Q3 with deep pockets, $6.4 billion in cash and other liquid assets.

Palantir’s fast growth in recent years—the stock is up more than 2,400% in the last three years, and 171% over the past 12 months—has caused investors to worry about overvaluation, but Daniel Ives takes a bullish stance. For Ives, the key point here is the strong demand for the services that Palantir has to offer. He writes of the company, “PLTR continues to see unprecedented demand for AIP across both commercial and government landscapes by taking AI solutions that solve meaningful problems across organizations at enterprise scale driving new customer conversions and existing deal expansions. With the company making strategic moves to remain at the forefront of AI, we believe that PLTR has a golden path to become a trillion-dollar market cap company and will grow into its valuation as Karp and Co. remain one of the largest players in the AI Revolution.”

Ives quantifies his stance with an Outperform (Buy) rating, and a $230 price target that suggests room for a 28.5% gain for the shares over the next 12 months. (To watch Ives’ track record, click here)

This view is the bullish case. Wall Street is somewhat more cautious. PLTR shares have a Hold consensus rating, based on 17 recent analyst reviews that include 5 to Buy, 10 to Hold, and 2 to Sell. Palantir’s stock is selling for $178.96, and its $192.88 average target price implies a one-year gain of 8%. (See PLTR stock forecast)

CrowdStrike

Next up, CrowdStrike is younger than Palantir – it was founded in 2011 – and fits in a different niche, cybersecurity. The company describes its Falcon platform, its flagship product, as the ‘first multi-tenant, cloud-native, intelligent security solution’ to hit the market. Falcon is capable of securing a wide range of endpoints, including laptops, desktops, servers, virtual machines, and Internet of Things, or IoT, devices, against the multifarious threats of today’s digital world.

CrowdStrike operates as a subscription service, offering product bundles that can be tailored to the customer’s needs – and offering a free two-week trial, to see if Falcon is the right solution. The bundles offer a variety of features and pricing points.

When it comes to AI, CrowdStrike recognizes that the tech is both a risk and an opportunity. The company notes that AI technology makes digital security more difficult by increasing the sophistication and automation of attacks – but that it also provides opportunities to enhance security, through improved automation of defense and through accurate simulation of possible attacks. Understanding this, CrowdStrike has incorporated AI detection and response into the Falcon platform.

CrowdStrike’s AI is ‘personified’ as Charlotte AI, and offers the company’s subscribers three important advantages: instant answers to issues, based on actionable context; accelerated triage and response to detected threats; and intelligent, automated agents that can respond to issues at machine speed. It’s operational AI, customizable to the customer’s specs – and subject to the user’s control.

In early December, CrowdStrike reported its fiscal 3Q26 results – with several record-level metrics. The Q3 net new ARR, at $265 million, was a record – and was up 73% year-over-year – and the company’s cash flow from operations and free cash flow also both hit records, at $398 million and $296 million, respectively. CrowdStrike’s revenue in the quarter, at $1.23 billion, was up 22% year-over-year and was $18.6 million better than had been expected. At the bottom line, the non-GAAP EPS figure of 96 cents per share was 2 cents better than expected.

Turning to Ives, we find the top-tier analyst taking an unequivocally upbeat stance on this AI-powered cybersec firm, writing, “CrowdStrike remains one of our favorite tech names and we are seeing deal momentum spread with AI also a clear tailwind for CRWD. We believe increased market and mind share is happening for CrowdStrike among new and existing customers as the company’s product suite continues to expand across the enterprise landscape over the next 12 to 18 months. We believe the Street is underestimating the growth potential for CrowdStrike with cybersecurity remaining a second/third derivative beneficiary of the AI Revolution which speaks to our bullishness.”

Ives’ comments back up his Outperform (i.e., Buy) rating, and he complements that with a $600 price target that points toward a 28% upside over the next year.

CrowdStrike has earned a Moderate Buy rating from the Street’s consensus, based on 34 analyst recommendations that break down to 23 Buys and 11 Holds. The shares have a selling price of $468.02 and an average target price of $562.25, together suggesting a 12-month upside of 20%. (See CRWD stock forecast)

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.