UndertheRadar – Earlybirds Invest

1. Solana

Ethereum competitor Solana (SOL 2.74%) is a bit more centralized, focusing more on high-speed, low-cost transactions. The upside to more centralization is that Solana can handle up to 65,000 transactions per second while Ethereum is typically limited to around 119 transactions per second. Solana’s feeds are also lower, especially during periods of high network congestion.

These advantages have attracted many projects to Solana’s architecture, but not as many as on Ethereum’s. But those who believe Solana’s hybrid approach will be superior long term have a strong investment case. Investors should track network usage and the size of Solana’s developer community to gauge the project’s success over the long term.

2. Ripple

While its price has been volatile in the past, XRP (XRP -3.22%) has done incredibly well this year, rising in value by more than 40%. Bulls believe that XRP, also known as Ripple, could eventually replace much of the global financial system, allowing banks to perform cross-border transactions faster, cheaper, and more transparently than current solutions.

The total addressable market for Ripple is about $200 trillion. That’s the total annual value of cross border transactions. Ripple wouldn’t collect that much revenue, skimming a very small fee off these massive transaction volumes. Even so, the coin is looking at a huge long-term opportunity.

Of course, there’s a long way to go before Ripple established widespread institutional buy-in for its technology. But when it comes to under the radar projects with truly large long term potential, Ripple tops the list.

3. Tron

Tron (TRX -1.10%) is currently one of the top 10 crypto projects in the world by market cap. The network is geared toward stablecoin and DeFi transactions, making it a viable investment for investors bullish on those two categories. Its network uses a delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism — an arguably more efficient system than proof-of-work or traditional proof-of-stake systems on their own.

Tron’s founder, Justin Sun, often makes the headlines with a variety of publicity efforts. But he’s a bona fide crypto veteran. He’s associated with other notable projects including BitTorrent, Poloniex, and Huobi.

Source: Getty Images

4. Hedera

With a $10 billion market cap, Hedera (HBAR -7.03%) is focused on real-world application development by large corporations. Companies like Boeing and IBM are already testing its architecture. Hedera’s focus on security better allows for enterprise adoption versus more decentralized networks. Its unique directed acyclic graph (DAG) mechanism allows the network to achieve consensus without mining — a key differentiator that few other projects can match.

5. Litecoin

Founded in 2011, Litecoin (LTC -3.13%) is one of the longest-tenured crypto projects. You can think of this project as a Bitcoin replica with faster block times and a different encryption algoritm. The network’s transactions are about four times faster than Bitcoin. Investors have long associated Litecoin as crypto “silver”, with Bitcoin being crypto “gold”. Litecoin isn’t as innovative as Tron or Hedera, but it’s a crypto classic that should still be around for decades to come.

6. Monero

One of the best-known privacy coins, Monero (XMR 0.21%) promised unmatched privacy features with a strong developer community. Its value has more than doubled over the past 12 months alone. The network uses advanced cryptographic techniques like ring signatures and stealth addresses, making it a great fit for users that prioritize privacy and censorship avoidance. Interested investors should also check out other privacy coins including Zcash, Dash, and Secret.

Ryan Vanzo has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, International Business Machines, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool recommends Hedera and Monero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Palantir Technologies was the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 during the first half of 2025. With shares soaring by 80% through the first six months of the year — and by 427% over the last 12 months — Palantir has helped drive a lot of attention to the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and defense contracting.

Palantir is far from the only company seeking to disrupt defense tech. A little-known competitor to the company is BigBear.ai (BBAI -3.35%), whose shares are up by an impressive 357% over the last year.

Could BigBear.ai emerge as the next Palantir? Read on to find out.

BigBear.ai is an exciting company in the world of defense tech, but…

BigBear.ai’s share price volatility so far this year mimics the movements of a rollercoaster. Initially, shares rose considerably shortly following President Donald Trump’s inauguration and the subsequent announcement of Project Stargate — an infrastructure initiative that aims to invest $500 billion into AI projects through 2029.

BBAI Chart

BBAI data by YCharts

However, these early gains retreated following the Pentagon’s plans to reduce its budget by 8% annually.

While reduced spending from the Department of Defense (DOD) was initially seen as a major blow to contractors such as Palantir and BigBear.ai, the trends illustrated above suggest that shares rebounded sharply — implying that the sell-offs back in February may have been overblown. Why is that?

In my eyes, a major contributor to the recovery in defense stocks came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced his intentions to double down on a strategy dubbed the Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP).

In reality, the DOD’s budget cuts are focused on areas that are deemed non-essential or inefficient. For example, the Pentagon freed up billions in capital by reducing spend with consulting firms such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Accenture, and Deloitte. In addition, a contract revolving around an HR software system managed by Oracle was also cut.

Under the SWP, it appears that the DOD is actually looking to free up capital in order to double down on more tech-focused initiatives and identify vendors that can actually handle the Pentagon’s sophisticated workflows.

With so much opportunity up for grabs, it’s likely that optimistic investors saw this as a tailwind for BigBear.ai. This logic isn’t too far off base, either.

BigBear.ai’s CEO is Kevin McAleenan, a former government official with close ties to the Trump administration. McAleenan’s strategic relationships within the government combined with the DOD’s focus on working with leading software services providers likely has some investors buying into the idea that BigBear.ai won’t be flying under the radar much longer.

Military service members working in an office.

Image source: Getty Images.

…how does the company really stack up beside Palantir?

The graph below breaks down revenue, gross margin, and net income for BigBear.ai over the last year. With just $160 million in sales, the company tends to generate inconsistent gross margins — which top out at less than 30%. Moreover, with a fairly small sales base and unimpressive margin profile, it’s not surprising to see BigBear.ai’s losses continue to mount.

BBAI Revenue (TTM) Chart

BBAI Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts

By comparison, Palantir generated $487 million in government revenue during the first quarter of 2025. In other words, Palantir’s government operation generates nearly triple the amount of revenue in a single quarter that BigBear.ai does in an entire year. On top of that, Palantir’s gross margins hover around 80%, while the company’s net income over the last 12 months was over $570 million.

Is BigBear.ai stock a buy right now?

Right now, BigBear.ai trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of around 11. While this may look “cheap” compared to Palantir’s P/S multiple of 120, there is a reason for the valuation disparity between the two AI defense contractors.

Palantir boasts large, fast-growing public and private sector businesses that command strong profit margins. By contrast, BigBear.ai is going to have a difficult time scaling so long as it keeps burning through heaps of cash.

Not only would I pass on BigBear.ai stock, but I also do not see the company becoming the next Palantir. Palantir is in a league of its own in the defense tech space, and I do not see BigBear.ai as a formidable challenger.