We recently compiled a list of the 12 AI News and Ratings You Should Not Miss. In this article, we are going to take a look at where ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) stands against the other AI stocks investors shouldn't miss.

As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, investors are closely watching the opportunities emerging in both private and public markets. While some companies have been treated as clear winners, industry experts argue that the race is still in its early stages. Lower financial barriers for startups and increasing demand for AI-driven solutions are reshaping the competitive space, with many companies expected to gain traction in the coming years. The discussion around AI investment is growing, with venture capitalists and analysts weighing in on what the future holds.

The Evolution of AI Investment in Private and Public Markets

Rick Heitzmann, founder of FirstMark Capital, joined 'Closing Bell' to discuss the AI private market and investment opportunities, emphasizing that the industry is still in its early stages. He noted that while some have treated certain AI companies as definitive winners, the sector is still evolving, with both infrastructure and applications continuing to develop.

He agreed with Mark Cuban’s view, who said in an earlier interview that DeepSeek's progress has lowered the financial barriers for AI startups, allowing more companies to compete without massive funding. The shift could lead to increased private investment and a more open playing field for smaller AI firms.

Heitzmann also addressed the lack of public AI companies, agreeing that most investment opportunities remain in private markets. While AI infrastructure firms like CoreWeave and OpenAI may go public soon, many application-layer companies are still establishing their positions. He expects more AI startups to prepare for public offerings in 2025 and 2026 as the industry matures.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by reviewing news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 900 hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

An engineer with a diagram of a systems analysis, illustrating the complexity of its product suite.

ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60

ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) provides engineering simulation software and services for product design, analysis, and optimization across various industries worldwide.

On February 4, Ansys 2025 R1 introduced expanded AI, cloud, and data-driven capabilities to improve collaboration and streamline digital engineering. The release includes updates to Ansys SimAI for improved training data insights, System Architecture Modeler with SysML v2 support, and CFD HPC Ultimate for advanced computational fluid dynamics. Better physics solvers, GPU-accelerated simulations, and AI-driven tools improve speed, accuracy, and efficiency in design and analysis. New features in MBSE and data management optimize workflows, while cloud-based solutions enable faster simulations and broader accessibility. These advancements help teams reduce costs, accelerate development, and improve engineering outcomes.

Overall ANSS ranks 2nd on our list of the AI stocks investors shouldn't miss. While we acknowledge the potential of ANSS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ANSS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.