Missed Out on the Initial AI Rally? These 3 AI Stocks Are Just Getting Started.

It has been pretty hard to ignore the incredible artificial intelligence (AI) rally that has occurred since April began: Numerous stocks in the sector are up big-time. If you missed out on that rebound from the year's rocky start, it would be understandable to be disappointed. However, I don't think investors need to panic if they weren't on board. Several AI stocks still look like great bargains, including Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), Micron (NASDAQ: MU), and Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS). I think investors can purchase them at these levels with expectations of strong multiyear returns.

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Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms is best known for the family of social media apps it owns: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads. These platforms generate a ton of money, primarily from advertising, with nearly all of Meta's revenue coming from these sources. In the first quarter, Meta's revenue rose by 33% -- one of the fastest rates in big tech. Despite that, Meta's stock isn't valued at a very high level relative to its expected earnings.

META PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts

It trades for less than 19 times forward earnings -- less than the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), which trades for 22.2. That's a big discount on an established tech company that is known for producing solid results. I think Meta could see a strong rally throughout the end of 2026 to get back to at least market-average pricing, which would result in solid returns for investors.

Micron

Micron may feel like an odd inclusion on a list of stocks with more potential due to its massive recent rally. The stock has more than doubled since April began. However, Micron has a lot more room to run. It's one of only a few large producers of high-end memory chips, and it's thriving amid the current memory chip shortage. As a result of the shortage, all of the producers have pushed the prices of those components skyward, and Micron is making a fortune.

This year, Wall Street analysts expect Micron's revenue to grow by 193%. For next year, they anticipate a still-impressive growth of 57%, bringing the top line to $173 billion. For comparison, Nvidia generated $216 billion in revenue last fiscal year and is a $5 trillion company. In that light, it's clear why there could be more upside ahead for Micron if it continues to grow at this pace and the memory shortage persists. As a result, it's still a solid stock to consider now.

Nebius

While Micron may be growing rapidly, it's nothing compared to Nebius' pace. The average analyst expects it to achieve 550% growth this year and 219% growth next year, with its revenue expected to rise around 20-fold from 2025 to 2027. This rapid growth all stems from its neocloud platform, which is tailored to run AI workloads.

Nebius has announced major partnerships with companies like Meta Platforms, and has inked an agreement with Nvidia that allows it to obtain the GPU leader's cutting-edge processors before other customers. This makes Nebius an excellent choice for organizations that need power to run AI workflows, and also makes it a strong investment. Even though the stock has doubled since April began, there is still a ton of room for it to run based on growth alone. Nebius is an exciting stock to watch, and if it can continue posting jaw-dropping results as it did in Q1 (its revenue growth was 684% year over year), it will be a long-term winner in the AI build-out.

Keithen Drury has positions in Meta Platforms, Nebius Group, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.