3 AI Stocks Disrupting Trillion-Dollar Industries

Key Points

• Palantir's artificial intelligence (AI) platform generates 46% operating margins, while being embedded so deeply in government operations that switching vendors would take decades.

• Recursion's 65-plus petabytes of biological data and AI models compress drug discovery from 10 years to weeks, with Big Pharma partnerships validating the approach.

• JPMorgan Chase processes 65 million AI transactions daily and trades at just 16 times earnings, despite its $18 billion tech budget dwarfing most fintechs combined.

• 10 stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies ›

The real artificial intelligence (AI) opportunity isn't hiding in the obvious names that dominate headlines. It's emerging in industries that have barely changed in decades -- and are now primed for AI-driven disruption.

Defense, pharmaceuticals, banking, and healthcare aren't just big markets; they're trillion-dollar pillars of the global economy. The companies bringing AI into these arenas are building moats so wide that Silicon Valley can't cross them.

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These three stocks are more than AI plays. These pioneers are reshaping the foundations of industries too critical to fail. Here's why these AI stocks belong on a buy-and-hold-forever list.

The defense contractor's second act

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) spent 20 years becoming indispensable to three-letter agencies before Wall Street noticed. Now its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) is doing for corporations what Gotham did for governments -- making sense of chaos.

Q2 2025 revenue hit $1 billion, up 48% year over year, with U.S. commercial revenue exploding 93% to $306 million. Over 1,000 organizations are running AIP pilots, from Airbus solving supply chain puzzles to hospitals predicting patient surges.

Yes, 243 times forward earnings looks steep. But Palantir generates 46% operating margins, sits on $6 billion in cash and short-term securities, and raised full-year 2025 guidance to $4.14 billion to $4.15 billion. The real moat isn't the technology -- it's the decades of security clearances, the Pentagon integration, and the institutional knowledge that would take competitors 20 years to replicate. When the U.S. military runs your software for mission-critical targeting, switching vendors isn't really an option.

The AI drug factory

Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RXRX) is using AI to industrialize drug discovery. The company's 65-plus petabytes of biological data -- one of Earth's largest proprietary datasets -- feeds AI models that identify drug candidates in weeks, not years. Partnerships with Roche, Bayer, Sanofi, and Nvidia validate the approach, with Sanofi alone contributing $130 million in up-front and milestone payments to date.

Q2 2025 revenue of $19.2 million, up 33% year over year, puts the company on a $77 million annual run rate -- but revenue is the wrong metric for a precommercial biotech. What matters: five programs in clinical trials, 10 approaching human studies, and an AI platform generating drug candidates in weeks instead of years. If even one AI-discovered drug reaches blockbuster status, today's valuation becomes a rounding error.

The AI bank

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) isn't just the world's largest bank by assets. It's becoming the blueprint for AI in finance. The firm processes more than 65 million AI-driven transactions daily, spanning everything from fraud detection to algorithmic trading. Its $18 billion annual tech budget dwarfs most fintechs combined, and the payoff is real: AI systems prevented $1.5 billion in fraud losses last year, while new underwriting models now approve loans in seconds instead of days.

The bank is also moving up the value chain. IndexGPT, JPMorgan's generative AI advisor, is automating wealth management tasks once handled by junior bankers. On the institutional side, AI engines are reshaping risk management and capital allocation at a scale no start-up can match. Q2 2025 earnings underscored the moat: $15 billion in net income on $45.7 billion in revenue.

At just 16 times forward earnings, JPMorgan trades far below the S&P 500's (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) 22 times multiple, despite being the world's most systemically important bank. Its massive deposit base, regulatory licenses, and global footprint sit behind walls no challenger can breach. CEO Jamie Dimon has called AI "extraordinary and groundbreaking" -- and he's backing it up by restructuring the entire bank around it. For investors, JPM isn't just a bank; it's fast becoming the operating system of global finance.

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JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. George Budwell has positions in JPMorgan Chase, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends Roche Holding AG. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.