How to profit from AI job displacement

Today’s issue in preview:

• How to profit from AI job displacement

• The machine sensory perception theme is quietly booming. Are you profiting?

• Two of the world’s most important AI firms have something important to say. Are you listening?

• Our extraordinary track record keeps getting better: Our thematic trades in Edge Computing, Dell Technologies, Machine Sensory Perception, and Cybersecurity are at new highs.

The machine sensory perception theme is quietly booming. Are you profiting?

Credit: SweetBunFactory

Shares of machine sensory perception leader Ouster (OUST) surged almost 9% to a record high on Friday after announcing its technology will be used by drone manufacturer ARGUS Interception.

The big jump puts Ouster stock up about 107% for the year… and confirms our Machine Sensory Perception theme is full of opportunity.

Regular readers know robotics is one of my top investment themes for the next decade. It is a giant, multi-faceted theme that will forever change the world. It will yield greater factory automation, surgical robots, autonomous vehicles, autonomous air taxis, humanoid worker robots, and much more.

This megatrend is moving rapidly. In April, Meta (META) acquired Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI), a robotics startup. Venture capital investment in robotics now tops $20 billion annually (vs $13.8 billion last year). Humanoid robot maker Figure recently raised $1 billion in a single funding round. We’ve seen Amazon deploy its millionth robot.

On October 21, I detailed how “machine sensory perception” is one of my highest-conviction subthemes within the robotics megatrend.

For robots to be safe and useful, they must be able to sense their surroundings. That’s why one of this trend’s most promising facets ismachine sensory perception – robots seeing, feeling, and sensing. This field includes cameras, lasers, heat sensors, force sensors, and magnetic field sensors. Well-positioned machine sensory perception firms will enjoy strong demand for their products and services for years.

Plus, well-positioned machine sensory equipment makers are “picks and shovels” plays on the robotics boom. They sell their products and services to all robot manufacturers. They are not bets on who will make the most popular robots. They are bets that we will simply make a lot more robots soon… which is inevitable.

We recommended Analog Devices (ADI) as a leading machine vision stock on Dec. 18, 2025. Since that recommendation, ADI is up 52% and recently broke out to a new one-year high. We also recommended Sensata (ST), which is up 37% since then and recently hit a new one-year high. Cognex (CGNX) is up 48% since our October note and recently hit a new one-year high.

On May 7, we covered the bull thesis for Ouster. Ouster is a small-cap maker of LiDAR systems. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a machine-sensory technology that creates 3D models of environments. It works by firing rapid laser pulses from a scanner towards surfaces. The sensor measures the “time of flight,” or the time it takes for each pulse to reflect off objects and return. By processing this data, LiDAR calculates precise distances to create detailed maps and models. It is widely used for topographic mapping and autonomous vehicle navigation.

Ouster reported 49% growth year over year to $49 million in the most recent quarter, achieving its 13th straight quarter of revenue growth. This revenue growth and the stock’s new all-time high show the machine sensory perception boom is in full swing.

Every robot deployed needs to see, sense, and perceive its surroundings. Without that capability, the robot is useless. ADI, ST, CGNX, OUST, and AEVA are the picks and shovels of that buildout.

By investing in this area, you are not trying to pick the biggest hit robot maker. You’re selling critical components that all manufacturers must buy. This makes the machine sensory perception theme a great way to invest in the robotics megatrend.

How to profit from AI job displacement

Credit: chriss_ns

Since the revolutionary AI program ChatGPT was released to the public on Nov. 30, 2022, the market value of AI leader Nvidia has increased 1,250%.

Meanwhile, worries over the proliferation of AI have led to giant market declines in “AI vulnerable” firms like foreign language learning app Duolingo (DUOL) and consulting firm Gartner (IT). The two stocks are down 78% and 62%, respectively, over the past year.

These big, fast market-value swings – both to the upside and the downside – show how AI is reshaping our economy at breakneck speed. Huge industries are being transformed in very short time periods. New businesses can spring up and cripple old businesses in under 24 months. Jobs are being changed, created, and eliminated at similar speeds.

I agree with hedge fund manager Harris Kupperman that all this change and disruption is long-term bullish for trade schools.

Trade schools are for-profit businesses that provide educational and training services. Trade schools focus a student’s time and energy on learning how to work in a specific industry, like nursing, welding, HVAC, IT, automotive repair, and dentistry.

This focus runs counter to traditional universities, which often require students to take liberal arts and general education classes. It also ensures students can learn useful skills in relatively short periods and pay much less than the cost of traditional colleges.

The allure of a trade school for many students (and parents who are footing the bills) is that they can get through school relatively quickly and emerge with in-demand skills they can use to make $100,000+ per year… vs. how some people graduate from traditional colleges with $100,000+ in debt and few useful skills.

As AI advances and proliferates throughout the economy, jobs will be transformed, created, and eliminated at a rapid rate. This will lead many people to want to learn new skills and earn new certifications for new jobs… especially in careers poised to boom for a long time, like nursing, construction, and machine repair.

Trade schools also stand to benefit from the backlash against traditional college… which has become notorious for churning out students with big debts and the ability to perform only low-paying jobs… the whole “Starbucks barista with a master’s degree” thing.

Harris Kupperman recently wrote a good piece on his bull case for trade schools, which centers on AI disrupting all kinds of businesses and careers… and driving demand for useful new skills people can use to make money.

His preferred stocks to play this trade are giant operators Lincoln Educational Services (LINC) and Universal Technical Institute (UTI). Lincoln focuses on training mechanics, welders, IT pros, and health care workers. Universal focuses on training mechanics, electricians, and health care workers.

Lincoln recently reported 22.5% year-over-year quarterly revenue growth and a 19.5% rise in student starts. Both stocks are in strong uptrends, which shows you that the market agrees with the “AI change is bullish for trade schools” thesis.

As AI proliferates throughout the economy, it will have many kinds of investable “ripple effects.” A bullish tailwind blowing in favor of trade schools is one of them.

Two of the world’s most important AI firms have something important to say. Are you listening?

Credit: BING-JHEN HONG

A new month is here… yet the AI bears continue getting the same old brutal treatment.

Over the past years, I’ve frequently highlighted how “AI Boom or AI Bust” is one of the world’s most important financial debates.

More than three years into the AI boom, tech giants Meta, Google, Amazon, OpenAI, and Microsoft are in an epic race to build the world’s best AI models and infrastructure. This year, they are on pace to spend over $700 billion on AI infrastructure, with more than $3 trillion set to follow. It’s the largest collective investment effort of all-time… which has driven many powerful stock rallies.

Whether Big Tech’s big AI bet pays off remains the subject of intense debate.

AI bears say much of this spending is crazy. It won’t generate the revenues and profits required to justify it. Once the world realizes this is the case, GDP growth will stall, and the stock market will plummet.

AI bulls say, “AI is the most transformative innovation of the century. Big Tech leaders know what they are doing. The coming innovations will justify the enormous investments.”

As long as I’ve been analyzing this debate, I’ve urged friends and readers to ignore the AI bears and stay long AI infrastructure. This stance has been rewarded. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is up 149% over the past year.

And importantly, the market values of AI semiconductor chain leaders ASML (ASML) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) recently climbed to new all-time highs. These two firms couldn’t be any more “mission-critical” players in the AI infrastructure boom.

ASML is the only company in the world that can currently create Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV) Machines at scale. These EUV machines are used by semiconductor makers to build the world’s most advanced AI chips. These are among the most complex, value-creative machines ever made… and their price tags reflect that. Modern EUV machines sell for over $300 million apiece. That’s a price range typically reserved for U.S. Navy contractors and the builders of mega yachts.

Taiwan Semiconductor is the world’s largest semiconductor chip maker… so it’s no wonder it is also the world’s largest buyer of EUV machines. It uses EUV machines to build advanced AI chips for companies such as Nvidia and Apple.

The AI boom hinges on ASML and TSM. Both companies are experiencing world-class growth and enjoying incredible customer demand. TSM recently reported 40.6% year-over-year quarterly revenue growth. ASML recently reported 13% year-over-year quarterly revenue growth.

Will the AI Boom eventually suffer a vicious correction or even a prolonged bear market? Of course. All trends go through corrections. All trends eventually end. But for now, it’s boom times for AI.

The tremendous price strength of ASML and TSM – two mission critical players in the AI boom – tell us yet again that the AI bears are wrong… and it’s smart to be long the largest collective investment effort of all-time.

Market Notes

• Our March 27th recommendation to own cybersecurity stocks is still paying off. Palo Alto Networks (PANW), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Fortinet (FTNT), and Okta (OKTA) all hit new highs today. CrowdStrike is up 93% since our recommendation less than three months ago.

• Our recommendation to own Dell Technologies (DELL) remains a big winner. The computer hardware maker is up169% since our recommendation less than two months ago.

• Our recommendation to own One Stop Systems (OSS) to profit from the Edge Computing boom is paying off. OSS climbed 3.3% this morning to reach a new one-year high. The stock is up107% since we recommended it in February.

• Our recommendation to ignore the AI bears and stay long AI infrastructure continues to pay off. Semiconductor giants Broadcom (AVGO), Micron (MU) and Arm (ARM) all broke to all-time highs today.

• Data storage leaders broke out to new all-time highs today. Sandisk (SNDK), Seagate (STX), and Western Digital (WDC) all hit new highs. SNDK is now up 4,528% in the last year.

• Our October 30th recommendation to go long biotech is doing well. AbCellera (ABCL) and Edgewise Therapeutics (EWTX) are now up at new highs.

• Our 5th May recommendation to own Hut 8 Mining Corp. (HUT) is performing well after a stellar earnings report earlier this month. It’s now up 63% since we highlighted it less than one month ago.

Regards,

Brian Hunt
Editor, Money & Megatrends

An urgent message from our colleagues:

June 4: Major BUY Alert Coming Before SpaceX IPO

The SpaceX IPO is days away… Space stocks are ripping… And the NASA ETF is up nearly 70% in eight weeks. But the man behind the most profitable research in Stansberry Research history says most investors are about to make a serious mistake. On June 4, he’s breaking nearly four years of public silence to share what he calls the most important buy call of his career, and a make-or-break issue for Elon Musk that no one is talking about.

Learn more here.