AI Stocks With Rising Earnings That Put Appier Group In Focus

Cooling inflation, shifting rate expectations and active central banks are giving investors fresh reasons to look at companies tied to the ChatGPT and AI trend. With energy prices and bond yields moving around, many are searching for businesses that sit at the heart of today’s most widely discussed technologies, from chips and cloud to AI software and large language models. This AI Stocks screener targets exactly that, helping you focus on companies directly involved in building and supplying these tools. Below, the article highlights 3 notable stocks from this list and explains the factors that currently make each stand out.

Trend Micro (TSE:4704)

Overview: Trend Micro is a Japan headquartered cybersecurity company that sells software and services to protect computers, networks, cloud workloads, emails, identities and data, increasingly using AI to power threat detection and response for enterprises and consumers worldwide.

Operations: Trend Micro generates revenue primarily from Japan at ¥87,873 million, Asia Pacific at ¥77,088 million, Europe at ¥65,128 million and the Americas at ¥55,822 million, with a segment adjustment of ¥3,574 million.

Market Cap: ¥814.5b

Investors looking at AI stocks may consider Trend Micro because it sits directly at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity, with its TrendAI Vision One platform now plugged into leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic to support faster threat detection and vulnerability research. The company relies on multiyear enterprise contracts and managed security partners to support recurring revenue, while using AI to help manage costs. At the same time, there are questions around weaker consumer sales outside Japan, payment system issues and a higher risk funding structure, which could affect results. How those AI investments, margins and buybacks interact over the next few years is a key area of focus for investors.

Trend Micro’s AI security pitch is accelerating, but the real story sits in how those contracts, margins and buybacks fit together, so review the 2 key rewards and 2 important warning signs

Datasection (TSE:3905)

Overview: Datasection is a Tokyo headquartered AI and data analytics company that runs AI cloud and data center services while providing tools that mine social media, web content and in store behaviour to help clients monitor risk, understand consumers and improve marketing decisions in Japan and Latin America.

Market Cap: ¥91.7b

Datasection catches attention because it sits right on the AI measurement side of the ChatGPT theme, turning streams of social, web and image data into insights for brands and risk managers, and has only recently moved into profitability after a period of weaker earnings. At the same time, investors have to weigh a relatively high P/E, a history of earnings declines, substantial shareholder dilution and high share price swings, alongside governance questions such as a young, less independent board and funding that relies entirely on external borrowing. With key results and the AGM scheduled across mid 2026, how those profitability, balance sheet and governance threads come together is what could really matter for anyone watching this stock from the AI screener.

Datasection’s shift into profitability, combined with a relatively high P/E and a fully debt-funded balance sheet, hints at a story where expectations and execution could be pulling apart, so review the 1 key reward and 3 important warning signs (3 are major!)

Appier Group (TSE:4180)

Overview: Appier Group is an AI native SaaS company that helps brands run digital advertising, personalise customer journeys and manage their data, using a suite of AI tools that cover ad bidding, creative generation, messaging, and customer data platforms across multiple industries.

Operations: Appier Group generates all of its ¥46,487 million in revenue from its AI SaaS business, with sales primarily from Northeast Asia at ¥31,579 million, followed by the US and EMEA at ¥9,095 million, the Greater China region at ¥4,586 million and Southeast Asia and others at ¥1,227 million.

Market Cap: ¥92.2b

Appier Group gives AI focused investors exposure to the software layer that helps brands turn data into targeted marketing. Forecasts in the source data point to earnings growth of 34.21% a year and revenue growth of 18.9% a year. Recent Q1 2026 results showed revenue of ¥12,102 million and net income of ¥69 million, and management has lifted Q2 2026 guidance for both sales and operating profit as its Agentic AI solutions scale. At the same time, net margins are relatively thin at 5.6%, return on equity is still modest and the P/E of 36.5x sits above the wider Japan software industry, while the share price has been volatile, which leaves plenty for investors to weigh up around quality, price and execution.

Appier Group’s earnings and revenue forecasts suggest an AI SaaS story that could be accelerating faster than many appreciate, yet its thin margins, modest return on equity and 36.5x P/E raise sharp questions only the analyst forecasts for Appier Group

The three AI stocks in this article are only a starting point, with the full Artificial Intelligence/ AI Stocks screener surfacing 62 more companies that each carry their own potentially compelling AI narratives around chips, cloud, software and large language models. Use Simply Wall St to identify the specific catalysts and business stories that matter to you. Then analyze and filter these AI focused companies to concentrate on the highest conviction ideas across the ChatGPT and broader AI theme.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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