Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) were named top technology picks for July by Mizuho on Wednesday. Cerity Partners' Jim Lebenthal maintains positions in both stocks as he believes both will continue to benefit from the AI boom.
What To Know: Wednesday on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report," Lebenthal made the case for buying shares of Adobe and Oracle at current levels.
"I like both of them. I find them reasonably attractive names that are good ways to play the AI space. Adobe has figured out a way to actually monetize AI, and I think it was held down for too long and is now marching higher as it should be on the back of recent earnings," Lebenthal said.
Adobe shares popped last month after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter and issued strong guidance for the third quarter. Adobe also introduced full-year 2024 guidance that was well ahead of analyst expectations.
The stock has continued to trend higher since Adobe reported earnings as several analysts have weighed in with positive revisions.
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Oracle shares have trended higher alongside Adobe on similar tailwinds. The stock jumped on the company's most recent earnings report in June. Although Oracle fell short of analyst expectations, the company highlighted "enormous" AI demand and announced a partnership with Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Cloud, which sent shares racing higher.
"These data centers that they're building for cloud infrastructure are also being used for artificial intelligence," Lebenthal said.
Although he said the stock looks "attractively priced" at current levels, he recommended waiting for a pullback to buy into the name. Lebenthal noted that he already owns the stock and will "definitely" be holding the shares he currently has.
ADBE, ORCL Price Action: Adobe shares closed Wednesday up 0.43% at $570.15 and Oracle shares finished the day up 0.61% at $144.15, according to Benzinga Pro.
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This illustration was generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.