Two of the hottest artificial intelligence (AI) stocks heading into 2025 are Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN). Both stocks had a phenomenal 2024, with Palantir's stock up almost 400% and SoundHound AI's gaining nearly 900%.

A rate-cutting campaign by the Federal Reserve, a resilient economy and strong corporate earnings provided another solid backdrop for the stock market in 2024. After a stellar 2023, it was a great year for growth stocks in the software space like Palantir Technologies and AppLovin after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite confirmed new uptrends in early November 2023 with one-day gains of more than 1.

Seemingly overnight, artificial intelligence became a major growth industry. The AI boom is driving demand for semiconductors, which are crucial components in AI systems. Two compelling semiconductor companies to consider are Wolfspeed (NYSE: WOLF) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD).

The bad news is that the company's fortunes aren't likely to change anytime soon, following the release of the company's fiscal 2025 first-quarter results on Dec. 18, covering the three months that ended Nov.

This has turned out to be a forgettable year for Qorvo (NASDAQ: QRVO) investors as shares of the chipmaker are down 38% as of this writing, which is in stark contrast to the 23% gains clocked by the PHLX Semiconductor Sector index in 2024.

ASML is the exclusive maker of EUV lithography tech for making the most advanced AI chips. Taiwan Semiconductor manufactures cutting-edge chips for large customers such as Nvidia. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a boon to the semiconductor industry.