Exploring Stocks Poised to Thrive with Agentic AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has dominated recent headlines, but the next frontier could be agentic AI. While generative AI creates content like text, images, and videos based on user prompts—such as ChatGPT providing answers—agentic AI allows automated agents to perform tasks without needing constant human oversight. Let’s examine two companies that are focused on benefiting from this emerging technology.
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UiPath: Charting a New Course
UiPath (NYSE: PATH) began as a robotic automation company, helping clients automate tedious tasks, like data entry, with software robots. Its platform still offers low-code development tools and document processing, alongside quality assurance testing.
While robotic automation focuses on tasks with structured data, agentic AI can handle unstructured data and make autonomous decisions. UiPath is now transitioning towards agentic AI, recently unveiling its plans for this new direction during its user conference in October.
The company introduced features like the Agent Builder, which enables customers to create AI agents alongside its software robots. These agents can be developed from scratch or through provided templates, ensuring integration with third-party robots as well.
Additionally, UiPath announced Agentic Orchestration, allowing seamless collaboration between humans, robots, and AI agents. This solution aims to design, implement, monitor, and optimize complex business workflows. UiPath emphasizes its unique position in the market, claiming it can support AI agents from various vendors while managing them effectively.
UiPath has faced challenges during its shift towards agentic AI, but its founder has returned as CEO, signaling a new vision. Despite this upheaval, the company still reported a 9% revenue increase last quarter, with a 17% rise in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Notably, customer retention remains strong, with a net dollar retention rate of 113%. To grow its customer base, UiPath has partnered with SAP, Microsoft, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young.
Currently, the stock is trading at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 4.8 times projected fiscal 2026 estimates, presenting a potential opportunity for investors as the company launches its new agentic AI offerings.
Image source: Getty Images.
Salesforce: Leading the Way in CRM Innovation
Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is a frontrunner in customer relationship management (CRM) software and is uniquely positioned in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market. The company has expanded into automation, analytics, and employee communication through strategic acquisitions, including Mulesoft, Tableau, and Slack.
Moving forward, Salesforce is heavily investing in agentic AI with its new Agentforce solution. This platform allows users to create and customize autonomous AI agents easily through no-code and low-code tools.
These AI agents are versatile and can be used across various industries. For instance, in healthcare, they might serve as patient-service agents to help answer questions and schedule appointments. Similarly, in the public sector, they can assist in DMV operations regarding vehicle registration and licensing inquiries.
Since launching Agentforce in October, Salesforce saw rapid adoption, closing 200 deals by December and subsequently announcing over 1,000 additional deals. Such momentum indicates a strong market demand for agentic AI solutions.
Agentforce operates on a usage-based model, costing $2 per conversation. The company aims to deploy 1 billion AI agents by the end of fiscal 2026 (ending January 2026), demonstrating its commitment to scaling this technology.
Currently trading at a forward P/S ratio of 7.6 times fiscal 2026 analyst estimates, Salesforce presents a reasonable investment opportunity, particularly given the potential growth of agentic AI.
Should You Consider Investing in UiPath?
Before investing in UiPath, it’s important to note that:
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Geoffrey Seiler has positions in UiPath. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Microsoft, Salesforce, and UiPath. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
