Artificial intelligence names have become some of the most widely accepted stocks among professional investors, and several AI-related companies have seen the biggest increases in ownership by active U.S. equity mutual funds over the past year, according to a Bank of America study. A new analysis of the bank’s portfolio holdings found that technology companies linked to the AI boom had the largest increase in “ownership coverage,” or the share of funds that own the stocks, making up the majority of the S&P 500 list. Bank of America said the data is based on a monthly analysis of holdings in actively managed U.S. large-cap mutual funds. The firm aggregates these positions into a bottom-up composite to measure how professional portfolio managers are positioned in U.S. stocks. Defense technology company Palantir Technologies led the rankings, with active large-cap mutual fund holdings at 32%, up from just 7% a year ago. Other companies exposed to AI have also skyrocketed in popularity among professional investors. Broadcom and GE Vernova both increased their fund holdings by about 16 percentage points, while fiber-optic connector maker Amphenol and software stock Upravin each rose about 12 percentage points. Networking and infrastructure companies such as Arista Networks and Western Digital also made the list, reflecting strong investor demand for companies related to building data centers and AI computing. The list also includes major technology platforms such as Meta Platforms and Netflix, whose ownership has expanded as fund managers increasingly view AI as a key driver of future growth in areas such as advertising, content recommendations and productivity tools. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
