This has been a fantastic year for stocks, starting out on a bright note, with the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) confirming the market's presence in bull territory. The benchmark then went on to hit multiple record highs and today is heading for a 26% annual increase.

Two prominent companies in this area are quantum computing company IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) and semiconductor-giant Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Through Dec. 11, IonQ's share price was up around 140%, and Nvidia's had risen about 180% in 2024.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is proving to be a game-changing technology and with it, several companies are emerging as winners in this sector of the economy. The stocks for many of these companies have already seen large gains.

Artificial intelligence stocks have helped propel the markets to all-time highs, but can the momentum really keep going?

Market researcher IDC forecasts that global AI-related spending could hit $337 billion next year and jump to a whopping $749 billion by 2028. As a result, technology companies selling AI-related hardware and software should ideally witness healthy growth in their businesses next year.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) has been one of the hottest stocks on the market in 2024, logging amazing gains of 319% as of this writing. The company's artificial intelligence (AI) software platform has been in terrific demand from customers and governments looking to integrate generative AI into their data analysis.

Despite Recent News, Analysts Still Say Artificial Intelligence Stock Nvidia Is a Buy. Here's Why.