We Asked AI Which Stocks to Buy in September. Here's What It Said

AI use cases now run the gamut. From early cancer detection and digital companionship to helping frustrated readers find Waldo, there seems to be an implementation for every aspect of life. That's true for money management, too.

While the efficacy of AI stock-picking remains a subject of debate, there is no denying that the technology's applications in personal finance and investing are increasingly popular. Dozens of apps and websites offer AI stock advice, and even more aim to help users improve their financial skills.

Accordingly, Money decided to tap into those platforms to see which stocks — and the sectors in which they operate — are being recommended by AI right now. Going one step further, we conducted our own research to determine whether any trends or notable takeaways could be gleaned from those suggestions (and then theoretically applied to retail investors' portfolios).

Here are some stocks that AI says could outperform the market in September.

AI's stock picks reflect the market's rotation

At the beginning of August, tech stocks sold off, a movement underscored by Palantir falling nearly 17% from recent highs. While an exodus from tech is concerning from a short-term growth perspective, defensive sectors that were left out of the market's rally from its bottom in April are now being included in the ongoing bull market.

That's a trend AI picked up on, as its picks for September reflect a rotation into defensive sectors such as utilities, consumer staples and health care. Health care specifically has performed well of late, having gained 2.23% over the past month. One of Gemini's picks for September fell into that sector: Eli Lilly, maker of Mounjaro and Zepbound.

The stock is down nearly 22% from its year-to-date high but is coming off of a second-quarter earnings report that showed surging sales of its weight-loss drugs. As a result, the pharmaceutical company recently hiked its forward guidance. Beyond recent strong earnings, Eli Lilly's profits increased more than 102% from 2023 to 2024 — a trend likely to continue when it reports full-year earnings in early 2026.

Gemini rounded out its September predictions with GE Vernova, a utility play that it also liked last month (see results below), and Nvidia, which reported strong second-quarter earnings Wednesday after becoming the first company with a $4 trillion market cap earlier this summer.

ChatGPT also recommended a utility company. It picked NRG Energy, citing the successful $12 billion acquisition of LS Power, which doubled its generation capacity and boosted its financial projections. The stock is up nearly 54% in 2025 but has been mostly flat since May. Still, analysts (and AI) like it as infrastructure stocks are benefiting from surging energy demand from AI data centers.

ChatGPT's other two selections point to buying the dip in tech with Palantir, which recently took a sizable hit, and cloud services company Oracle.

Lastly, Danelfin's top three picks — each of which received a proprietary AI Score of 9 out of 10, were the most diverse. Danelfin chose a legacy communications company (Nokia), a consumer staples behemoth (Walmart) and an aviation company (Archer Aviation) that's developing electric vertical take-off and landing — or eVTOL — aircraft.

These picks, as always, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Since 1945, September is by far the worst-performing month of the year for the S&P 500, with an average loss of 0.6% (April and December are historically the best, with average gains of 1.6%). Additionally, uncertainty remains elevated, with tariff headwinds, market concentration and concerns about an AI bubble collectively tamping down investor sentiment.

How AI's picks performed in August

August began with a bump in volatility amid the aforementioned tech sell-off, which sparked the market rotation that's underway. Still, all three major indices managed to hit all-time highs despite the tech sector sliding 3.47% from Aug. 12 to Aug. 21.

But last month, the S&P 500 gained 3.56%, the Nasdaq gained 3.90% and the Dow gained 4.49%.

At the same time, Danelfin's top two picks from last month — U.S. Bancorp and Barclays PLC — gained 22% and 2.77%, respectively, with both stocks outperforming the market. (Of note: Danelfin's AI aims to outperform the market over 90 days, so there is no guarantee that the stocks it recommends will outpace the S&P 500 in the month of September.)

Meanwhile, Gemini's tech and two utility recommendations produced a mixed bag. Nvidia gained 0.26%, failing to outperform the index. Meanwhile, GE Vernova — which it picked again for September — and Vistra Corp. delivered losses of 6.63% and 9.10%, respectively.

ChatGPT, which also picked Nvidia, chose Eli Lilly for August, which lost 3.90% last month.

With analysts having recalibrated their stock market outlook for the remainder of 2025, there's a good chance AI's picks perform well in September. We'll find out in one month's time.

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