Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) was one of the best-performing stocks of 2024. A strong start to the year for the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered enterprise software company went into overdrive in September.

A rate-cutting campaign by the Federal Reserve, a resilient economy and strong corporate earnings provided another solid backdrop for the stock market in 2024. After a stellar 2023, it was a great year for growth stocks in the software space like Palantir Technologies and AppLovin after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite confirmed new uptrends in early November 2023 with one-day gains of more than 1.

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.

Two of the hottest artificial intelligence (AI) stocks heading into 2025 are Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN). Both stocks had a phenomenal 2024, with Palantir's stock up almost 400% and SoundHound AI's gaining nearly 900%.

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) have enjoyed contrasting fortunes on the stock market in 2024, with one of these names delivering stellar gains while the other one is in the red.

SoundHound AI's voice AI and conversational intelligence solutions are being rapidly adopted across various sectors. The company's self-built Polaris foundation model helped improve the accuracy of its offerings while reducing hosting costs.