After turning in a dismal performance last year, the stock market has come roaring back, within striking distance of a new bull market. Helping fuel the market recovery is the viral excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI).

The list of this year's best performers is littered with companies best positioned to benefit from these next-generation algorithms. This includes the companies that make up the so-called "Magnificent Seven" stocks (as of market close on Wednesday):

Of these, Apple deserves special mention as the first publicly traded stock on U.S. markets to reach a market cap the $1 trillion and $2 trillion benchmarks, and is currently the only one worth more than $3 trillion dollars. Despite being the first company to surpass each of these benchmarks, one analyst believes there will soon be a changing of the guard, with three of the Magnificent Seven stocks poised to leapfrog Apple's valuation in the coming years.

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Source Fool.com