After another astounding year in 2024 where the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index surged by 28%, the outlook for 2025 looks a bit more uncertain. While many tech companies should continue to show strong growth in revenue and earnings,

Known as one of the U.S. government's most important vendors, Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and its data gathering and analytics solutions have been used for such critical tasks as fighting terrorism and tracking COVID-19 cases.

Artificial intelligence (AI) was one of the driving themes in the market in 2024, powering a number of stocks to new highs. While there remains a lot of hype, AI is looking less like a fad and more like a huge technological shift.