While the ongoing artificial intelligence boom has spawned penny stocks across industries keen to capitalize on automation and machine learning, it’s only a choice few that may be worth a slot in your investment portfolio.
In this article, we’ll walk you through a list of top artificial intelligence penny stocks with attractive fundamentals to substantiate a long-term holding period and potentially supercharge your returns.
How we picked the top 10 artificial intelligence penny stocks
My strategy to populate our list of stock picks turned to The Globe and Mail stock screener, a go-to tool in many of my previous articles, to search for names with a positive price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, a year-over-year (YoY) return under 1 and a most recent share price under $1.
After conducting the search in both Canada and the US, I ended up with a list of profitable companies experiencing negative investor sentiment, opening up the potential for undervaluation to be confirmed by readers’ personal due diligence processes. Here’s how it all played out in order of YoY loss:
- Intouch Insight, TTM P/E ratio of 22.23, YoY gain of 2.86 per cent.
- AirIQ, TTM P/E ratio of 18.74, YoY return of 0 per cent.
- Everyday People Financial, TTM P/E ratio of 25.96, YoY loss of 7.14 per cent.
- Huize Holding, TTM P/E ratio of 9.86, YoY loss of 32.81 per cent.
- SATO Technologies, TTM P/E ratio of 8, YoY loss of 36.73 per cent.
- Qurate Retail, dramatically reduced losses since 2022, YoY loss of 39.61 per cent.
- SHF Holdings, TTM P/E ratio of 4.3, YoY loss of 53.28 per cent.
- Total Telcom, TTM P/E ratio of 20.45, YoY loss of 57.41 per cent.
- MarketWise, TTM P/E ratio of 4.3, YoY loss of 83.55 per cent.
- MedBright AI Investments, hundreds of millions in potential near-term revenue, YoY loss of 84.78 per cent.
- Note that Qurate and MedBright came back with positive P/E ratios, though both are unprofitable over the past 12 months. This data error called for sourcing alternative metrics to substantiate the attractiveness of these companies, as you shall read.
The top 10 artificial intelligence penny stocks
10. Intouch Insight
Intouch Insight, founded in 1992, offers customer experience management products and services that assist global brands with customer engagement, reputation enhancement and financial performance. Its portfolio spans customer surveys, mystery shopping, mobile forms, operational and compliance audits, geolocation data capture and event marketing automation solutions.
Intouch was an early pioneer in artificial intelligence, integrating it into its portfolio back in 2017 to expedite data processing from multiple sources, improve real-time analysis and make recommendations ever more in line with customer satisfaction and operational performance.
While the company has been net income profitable in four out of the past five quarters, Intouch Insight stock (TSXV:INX) has gained only 2.86 per cent YoY, a crossing of wires that should make any reasonable investor take a closer look to validate a value play. Shares last traded for C$0.36.
9. AirIQ
AirIQ, founded in 1997, is an early mover in the Internet of Things (IoT)-based asset management industry. The company’s solutions allow over 10,000 clients to monitor assets in near real-time through iOS, Android and web-based applications with cloud functionality. Use-cases currently deployed in the marketplace include maintenance, compliance, safety and analytics.
The company’s portfolio employs artificial intelligence to detect and analyze movements, identify potential threats, detect distracted driving, perform preventive maintenance and deliver real-time alerts.
Despite turning a profit in each of the past five quarters, AirIQ stock (TSXV:IQ) is flat YoY, distracting from the fact that management has maintained profitable operations going back five years, resulting in a 91.30 per cent return to date. Shares last traded for C$0.44.
8. Everyday People Financial
Everyday People Financial provides access to affordable credit products, supply chain solutions and financial literary programs in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The company uses artificial intelligence to automate customer engagement, including assessing financial health and generating suitable solutions.
Management has argued a strong case for a share-price re-rating, turning a net income profit over the past three quarters, making the stock’s 7.14 per cent YoY loss seem like market misperception. Shares last traded for C$0.39.
7. Huize Holding
Our next artificial intelligence penny stock is Huize Holding, an insurance technology platform connecting consumers, carriers and distribution partners, primarily in Asia, across the entire insurance life-cycle.
The business leverages artificial intelligence, data analytics and digital technologies to better inform insurance consultation, user engagement, marketing, risk management and claims-related service.
The insurer has managed to make money in four out of the past five quarters following three straight years of losses, a fact that paints HUIZ‘s 32.81 per cent YoY loss as an overreaction worth getting your hands dirty. Shares last traded for US$0.74.
6. SATO Technologies
SATO Technologies has been providing efficient computing power for Bitcoin mining since 2017. The company operates a 20 MW hydroelectric energy facility in Quebec and is actively broadening its services portfolio to include high-performance computing, artificial intelligence hosting and Layer-2 technologies on the Bitcoin network.
SATO is currently accepting new clients interested in harnessing the company’s expertise in power optimization, hardware cooling and maintenance through Bitcoin mining to enhance their artificial intelligence deployments.
Though operations were profitable in 2023 and are in the green through 2024, SATO Technologies stock (TSXV:SATO) has given back over a third of its value YoY. Shares last traded for C$0.31.
5. Qurate Retail
Qurate Retail, a Fortune 500 company, is the largest player in video commerce, reaching more than 200 million homes worldwide through 14 television channels, as well as streaming platforms, websites, mobile apps, social pages, print catalogs and in-store destinations. The company offers exposure to six leading retail brands: QVC, HSN, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill and Grandin Road.
Qurate uses an artificial intelligence-enabled chatbot to respond to queries on its official website and will be putting more resources towards algorithm enhancement as it pivots to a more streaming and social media-centric business model in 2025.
Qurate Retail stock (NASDAQ:QRTEA) is down by 39.61 per cent year-over-year, even though management has delivered on a cost-cutting and restructuring plan that has seen net losses drop from over US$2.5 billion in 2022 to US$145 million in 2023, followed by an only US$4 million loss in 2024 through Q3. Shares last traded for US$0.40.
4. SHF Holdings
SHF Holdings operates Safe Harbor Financial, whose fintech platform is among the first to offer compliance, monitoring and validation services to financial institutions providing traditional banking services to cannabis, hemp, CBD and ancillary operators. Over the past eight years, Safe Harbor has enabled over $23 billion in deposit-based transactions for businesses in over 41 states and US territories with regulated cannabis markets.
No stranger to artificial intelligence, SHF has turned to the technology numerous times in its almost decade-long history, including to streamline advertising and improve lead quality, as well as to manage risk, ensure compliance and continually improve the client experience.
SHF Holdings stock (NASDAQ:SHFS) has shed over half of its value YoY, unfairly discounting how the underlying business has generated net income in three out of the past four quarters. Shares last traded for US$0.32.
3. Total Telcom
Next on our list of top artificial intelligence penny stocks is Total Telcom, a developer of proprietary remote asset monitoring, tracking, control and communication products and services built around low-earth orbiting satellites. The company generates revenue through hardware sales and monthly software fees across North America, including multi-industry market shares spanning environmental, fisheries, forestry, military, off-road racing and recreational vehicles.
Total Telcom’s technology makes use of sensors, GPS, satellite telemetry and other smart electronics, enabling clients to engage in proactive decision-making and stay ahead of their operational goals.
The apparent pessimism behind Total Telcom stock (TSXV:TTZ) and its over 57 per cent YoY loss is but smoke and mirrors, obscuring an efficient operation that has generated cash in each of the past five fiscal years and in three out of the past four quarters. Shares should arguably be much higher than their last pass through the ticker tape at C$0.23.
2. MarketWise
MarketWise is a subscription services platform offering financial research, software, education and tools for investors. The company boasts an over 25-year track record and a community of millions of paid and free subscribers across its numerous brands, including Stansberry Research, InvestorPlace and Chaikin Analytics.
MarketWise has long been a proponent of artificial intelligence and its ability to optimize efficiency and positively impact its bottom line. Notable initiatives include contracts with Snowflake in 2018 for data platform unification and SubScale in 2022 for data science, enhanced analytics and machine learning.
Investors have left MarketWise stock (NASDAQ:MKTW) for dead, saddling high-conviction investors with an over 80 per cent YoY loss, despite profitable operations over the past two fiscal years and in each of the past five quarters. Shares last traded for US$0.51.
1. MedBright AI Investments
Our final artificial intelligence penny stock is MedBright AI Investments, an investment company dedicated to building a portfolio of healthcare technologies. MedBright’s multi-disciplinary management team and advisors include physicians and professors from Yale University Hospital, artificial intelligence specialists, as well as healthcare industry finance and management specialists, offering it a well-rounded foundation to identify exponential return opportunities. The company’s portfolio includes investments in:
- MedMatrix, its flagship artificial intelligence platform for predicting patient needs, marrying resources and goals, and improving revenue.
- Limmi, a technology company providing artificial intelligence-powered, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Food and Drug Administration-compliant data and analysis for healthcare and life sciences.
- Healthcare Accretion AI, which has developed proprietary trained models that harness data, formulate predictions about patients, increase revenue and decrease costs.
- NetraMark Holdings (CSE:AIAI), whose algorithms allow scientists to gain insights from multi-modal datasets and expedite the development of clinical trials.
Turning a blind eye to management’s goal to increase revenue from zero to hundreds of millions over the near term – as detailed in the company’s most recent investor presentation – investors have banished MedBright AI stock (CSE:MBAI) to the bargain bin, tanking it by almost 85 per cent YoY. Shares last traded for C$0.035.
Join the discussion: Find out what everybody’s saying about the top 10 artificial intelligence penny stocks on the Intouch Insight Ltd., AirIQ Inc., Everyday People Financial Corp., Huize Holding Ltd., SATO Technologies Corp., Qurate Retail Inc., SHF Holdings Inc., Total Telcom Inc., MarketWise Inc. and MedBright AI Investments Inc. Bullboards and check out the rest of Stockhouse’s stock forums and message boards.
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All data as of Nov. 18, 2024.
(Top photo of an artificial intelligence robot and a rising stock chart: Adobe Stock)