Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be the major talking point on Wall Street in 2024. This makes the case for the best cheap AI stocks to buy. 

There are several companies that have skyrocketed this year due to their innovation and earrings growth driven by the sector. The future growth potential is undeniable, but many stocks have gotten way too ahead of themselves. For instance, stocks including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) have already more than doubled in price. This might leave newer investors with very little room for potential upside.

However, there are still players within the space with relatively attractive valuations. They are not companies that are just selling you hopes and dreams, but are well established with strong moats and robust earnings growth potential. For investors who are concerned about an AI bubble, dollar-cost averaging into these stocks can be a prudent strategy for outsized returns in the coming years.

Now, let’s discover the top three cheap AI stocks to buy to 3X your money by the end of the decade!

Meta (META)

Meta (NASDAQ:META) is the first on the list for investors considering the best cheap AI stocks to buy in August. The company’s ongoing investments into generative AI and the metaverse are on track to pay serious dividends through 2030. 

Meta is no stranger when it comes to technological innovation. It currently owns and operates some of the world’s largest technology-led brands including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. These companies garner billions of monthly visitors, and are the source of its unprecedented advertising revenue growth over the last decade. Additionally, the 2023 fiscal year which was characterized as the ‘’year of efficiency’’ proved successful. Cost-cutting measures led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg significantly boosted revenue, earnings per share and free cash flow. Now, management is making strategic investments in the metaverse and its open sourced LLM, Llama 3. The recently released version 3.1 of the Llama 3 added additional language and context capabilities. As competition in the space heats up, Meta is staying ahead of the curve and well positioned to grow profitably in the years ahead.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) is another top contender with a relatively attractive valuation among AI companies in Q3. With a dominance in search engine technology and growing cloud computing presence, Alphabet still holds incredible value in 2024. 

Alphabet is at the forefront of AI research, technology and development. Over the last year, its team significantly ramped up its investments in its large language model (LLM), Gemini AI. This multi-modal model means that it can process data simultaneously, such as text, images and speech. Moreover, its Gemini 1.5 update in 2024 offers higher speed, efficiency and longer context understanding. The update made it the largest context window of any foundational model released on the market. But the cherry on top of the company’s AI innovations is its growing cloud computing platform, Google Cloud. In the second quarter, cloud revenue exceeded $10 billion for the first time, with notable strength at Google Search and YouTube. This continued strong performance serves as a positive sign for the future ahead.

Qualcomm (QCOM)

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) is the final boss among cheap AI stocks to consider in 2024. The company’s AI-enabled Snapdragon chips positions it as a leader in the AI revolution. 

Qualcomm experienced a 13% drawdown in its stock price over the last month despite the stock up 25% year to date. 2024 has been a recovery year for the semiconductor giant as it was largely impacted by inflation and higher interest rates. The handset market, which is Qualcomm’s bread and butter, experienced a significant slowdown. Unfortunately, this heavily impacted the company’s revenue and earnings in the 2023 fiscal year. However, with nearly all segments of its business recovering, the future remains bright. Some of the markets it serves include chips, smartphones, PCs, automotive, IoT and cloud segments. Additionally, it recently secured a blockbuster deal to power Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) new surface PC’s, which should add some extra juice to its top line revenue. Trading at 15 times forward earnings, QCOM stock is in a sweet spot for investors seeking long term upside potential.

 On the date of publication, Terel Miles did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

On the date of publication, the responsible editor held LONG positions in GOOG and NVDA.