MW Here are some attractive stocks that can withstand AI disruption, according to J.P. Morgan
By Hannah Pedone
CrowdStrike, C.H. Robinson and Compass are among stocks that have been unfairly punished by fears of AI disruption, analysts say
CrowdStrike is among the companies actually benefiting from AI, according to J.P. Morgan analysts.
Fears of widespread disruption from artificial intelligence recently reached a tipping point, hitting stocks in industries as disparate as freight, insurance, asset management, healthcare, real estate and even biotechnology.
Many analysts have argued that the broad-based selloff is overdone. But determining which stocks are at legitimate risk of AI displacement and which have been overpunished isn't always straightforward.
So J.P. Morgan analysts recently took a crack at identifying companies with "mispriced" stocks that they believe are "most insulated" from AI disruption.
CACI International $(CACI)$, an information-technology company that provides services to the U.S. government, is one company that fit the research team's criteria.
As of the time J.P. Morgan published its note, CACI's stock was down 7% since the "AI fears trade" began on Feb. 4. Yet the analysts said the company's software-development services are for "bespoke government needs" rather than licensing software, which could be more susceptible to AI replacement.
CACI uses AI to process "immense" amounts of data for the U.S. Defense Department and other agencies, J.P. Morgan noted.
Read more: The stock market is reflecting fears of an AI apocalypse for white-collar jobs
Freight was another sector that some analysts said was subjected to irrational AI fears last week. Shares of the transportation company C.H. Robinson Worldwide $(CHRW)$ fell 15% last Thursday after Algorhythm Holdings $(RIME)$ - once a karaoke-software company, now an AI trucking-software firm - released a new platform said to drastically increase productivity without the need for more workers.
While the J.P. Morgan analysts said C.H. Robinson's stock seemed primed for some pullback due to the sharp rally in transportation shares recently, they viewed the extent of the stock's selloff as overdone. They cited C.H. Robinson's "unrivaled data, deep customer connections and lean operating model" as factors that allow the company to distinguish itself.
The research team also included the asset manager TPG $(TPG)$ on its list, saying the stock has been unjustly "beat down" and wrongly grouped in with other companies more susceptible to AI turmoil.
The company's portfolio actually has "very little software" compared to what peers hold, J.P. Morgan said. The analysts noted that TPG substantially reduced its software exposure from 2020 to 2022.
"If one were to trust an investor to make intelligent technology/software investments since then, we think TPG is at the top of the list given tenure and expertise," they wrote.
Real-estate brokers were also caught in the selloff last week, but the analysts said they don't think that AI will eliminate the industry. They added that "local expertise, negotiation and client services" are core parts of the real-estate business that cannot be replaced by lines of code.
The analysts expect brokerage Compass $(COMP)$ to actually benefit from AI, given the company's size and strong performance record even in challenging housing markets.
See also: Software ate the world. Now, Wall Street is worried AI will eat software.
Before investors started to worry that AI would hit the business models of trucking and real-estate companies, they saw clearer disruption risk for traditional software companies. But some software vendors could fare better than others in the new world order.
Those names include, but are not limited to, Check Point Software Technologies $(CHKP)$, CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD), Datadog (DDOG) and Equifax $(EFX)$.
The J.P. Morgan analysts said these companies are among those that are "better insulated" than competitors because they are "directly monetizing" their own AI products.
"Rather than being substituted by AI, these companies tend to benefit from incremental demand," they wrote.
-Hannah Pedone
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February 17, 2026 14:28 ET (19:28 GMT)
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