Marjorie Taylor Greene loves AI stocks. Here are 5 she bought in the first half of 2024.

It’s not just their political posturing that’s generating interest these days. As politicians demonstrate a remarkable ability to outperform the market, investors are increasingly interested in the stock picks of senators and representatives. Take, for example, Peach State Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been an avid buyer of stocks so far in 2024.

But it is primarily stocks in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) that seem to be the focus of Greene’s interest in the first half of 2024. In addition to Progressive Micro Devices (AMD 2.83%)Greene also acquired shares of Apple (AAPL -0.16%), CrowdStrike (CRWD -13.46%), Microsoft (MSFT 1.33%)And Qualcomm (QCOM 4.70%).

Greene gained a broad understanding of the AI ​​industry

Greene began her 2024 stock purchases in April, buying shares of Qualcomm and Microsoft. Although the exact value of the transactions is not known, Greene said in regulatory filings that each transaction was worth between $1,001 and $15,000. Both purchases gave Greene a notable — but diverse — presence in the fast-growing AI industry.

Qualcomm, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, is targeting generative AI applications for mobile devices with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile platform. In addition, the company offers AI functionality for PCs with its Snapdragon X Elite platform and for cars with Snapdragon Digital Chassis. Microsoft’s focus is on software and its commitment to delivering sophisticated AI solutions is evident with Copilot – an AI tool available across Microsoft’s product range, from Word and Excel to Designer, where users can create unique images with DALL-E 3.

The following month, Greene expanded her AI exposure with positions in Apple and Advanced Micro Devices in two deals valued at $1,001 to $15,000 each. Apple has been making a big push to offer more AI capabilities and is working on its own large language model (LLM), which it calls Ajax. In early June, Apple also unveiled Apple Intelligence. Apple says that Apple Intelligence, available on its various devices, “combines the power of generative models with personal context to deliver incredibly useful and relevant information.”

Like Qualcomm, AMD also produces the hardware that powers AI. In addition to its MI300 accelerators (specialized microprocessors) designed for generative AI and large language models, AMD makes Ryzen PRO 8000 processors, which the company describes as “the first processors with dedicated, integrated AI accelerators for commercial desktops (personal computers).”

In late June, Greene clicked the “buy” button on cybersecurity specialist CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike uses artificial intelligence to help its customers protect a variety of devices, including laptops, mobile devices and those connected to the Internet of Things. In addition, CrowdStrike has developed a generative AI security tool called Charlotte AI that integrates with various aspects of the company’s Falcon platform.

You may be green with envy of Greene’s picks, but that doesn’t mean you should buy these AI stocks too

While following politicians’ stock recommendations is a smart strategy, blindly mimicking their purchases is foolish at best. It’s important for individual investors to do their due diligence and assess whether the stocks in question are a smart choice for them. However, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Apple and AMD are all industry leaders that trade at a premium to their historical valuation.

Therefore, value investors may want to keep these names on their watchlist rather than rushing to add them to their portfolio. Of course, valuation isn’t the only factor investors should consider, so long-term investors may want to take a closer look at these tickers before deciding to watch them from the Street side.

CrowdStrike, however, is in a different boat, having caused a global blackout last week. After the sell-off that followed the news of the global blackout, CrowdStrike stock is much cheaper today, giving back most of its 2024 gains. As unfavorable as the news may be for CrowdStrike, it’s important for investors to remember that this event in and of itself does not spell doom for the company.

Computer code is complicated, and the error in the company’s update, while unfortunate, is not an indication that there is anything fundamentally wrong with the company. For those determined to weather short-term volatility, CrowdStrike could be a great addition for investors looking for a leading cybersecurity stock.