Innodata Emerges As Picks-And-Shovels AI Play Poised For 80% Upside Ahead – And It Is Back On Retail's Radar

Innodata operates as an AI enabler rather than a core AI platform, but is delivering strong revenue and EBITDA growth and guiding for 45%+ organic growth in 2025.

• Innodata stock has mainly traded sideways in 2025 and remains well supported technically.
• It is still up about 32% year to date despite missing the broader AI rally.
• Retail engagement has surged on Stocktwits, while all analysts covering the stock have bullish recommendations.

Small-cap Innodata Inc. (INOD) has come onto the radar of retail traders as the stock slowly recovers from the steep pullback following its early-October peak. Notwithstanding the volatility seen in the second half of the year, Innodata’s stock is still up about 32%. The gains, however, are underwhelming relative to some artificial intelligence (AI) plays.

Innodata has an AI connection, though in a more peripheral sense. The company functions as an AI enabler, providing data engineering services to a range of technology clients, including hyperscalers, financial services firms, and government agencies, and can rightly be called a "picks-and-shovels" play, a term used to refer to supplying essential tools and infrastructure to a booming industry.

Based in New Jersey, Innodata offers a broad suite of capabilities, including data collection and annotation, data curation and enrichment, generative AI and large language model (LLM) support, AI model testing and validation, and content engineering and transformation.

Retail Interest Builds

Innodata has drawn the attention of retail traders due to its credentials as an AI play. The one-year change in the follower count for the stock on Stocktwits is 141%. The message volume change on the stream over 30 days increased by about 550%.

Retail sentiment toward the stock was ‘bullish’ as of early Tuesday, although the mood has seen volatility throughout the year.

Retail chatter surrounded a strategically significant “new relationship” that the company flagged on the third-quarter earnings call. Since the company stated that the unnamed partner is a leader in the military and government sectors, retail watchers played a guessing game, throwing up names such as Lockheed Martin and Palantir.

Another watcher said the Innodata story is only beginning. 

According to Koyfin, the average analyst price target for Innodata is $93.75, implying roughly 80% upside from current levels. All four analysts covering the stock have either a ‘Buy’ or ‘Strong Buy’ rating.

In an October note, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives named Innodata as among the top candidates that are likely to be acquired this year. 

How INOD Stock Performed This Year

Innodata did not partake substantially in the strong AI rally seen on either side of the across-the-board April tariff sell-off. The year’s move can be characterized as broadly sideways, interspersed with small rallies and pullbacks. Following the release of Innodata’s second-quarter results in late July, the stock picked up some upward momentum. The uptrend lasted for a month, until early October, when the stock began to retrace the move.  

The stock is currently well-supported by its 200-day simple moving average (SMA) ($51.30) on a one-year chart. The 14-day relative strength index (RSI) is currently at 42, suggesting the stock is approaching the neutral zone.

Source: Koyfin<

How Innodata’s Fundamentals Stack Up

Innodata’s third-quarter results, released in early November, showed 20% year-over-year (YoY) growth in revenue to $62.6 million, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) more than doubled to $42.2 million. The net income was at $8.3 million. 

Looking ahead, the company reiterated its guidance for 45% or more YoY organic growth for 2025, and hinted at “continued transformative growth in 2026 based on new wins and strong momentum."

Last month, the company launched Innodata Federal, a dedicated government-focused business unit designed to deliver mission-critical AI solutions to U.S. defense, intelligence, and civilian agencies.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<