In this piece, we will take a look at the ten stocks that will benefit from AI.
Artificial intelligence has been the driving theme of the stock market over the past couple of years which have seen investors battle inflation and high interest rates. Ever since OpenAI publicly released ChatGPT in November 2022 and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang predicted the next year that there was a trillion-dollar market in play when it came to upgrading traditional computing hardware to accelerated computing, the stock market has seen no respite.
However, when it comes to AI stocks, not all of them have flourished. Apart from Huang’s firm, the world’s leading graphics processing unit (GPU) designer, shares of OpenAI’s biggest backer, i.e., the firm known for the Windows operating system, were two of the biggest initial AI beneficiaries. Between December 2022 and H1 2024, their shares have gained 631% and 75%, respectively. Other technology stocks have also ridden the AI wave and have posted gains ranging between 42% to 308%. Within these, the stock that has gained 308% is Facebook’s parent entity and its focus on GPU investments and success with the Llama open source model have caught investor attention.
These firms have primarily posted gains because the AI wave, as analysts would like to remind you, is in its early stages. This stage is characterized by investor interest in firms that are AI enablers. However, the next stage of AI investment could see investors broaden their horizons. Some of this diversification away from technology stocks has already taken place in the form of impressive performance by utility stocks in 2024. Their performance is evident through the utility component of the flagship S&P index gaining 28% from the start of the year to the end of November as it led the benchmark index by a percentage point.
We analyzed this stage in AI investment in great detail as part of our coverage of Goldman Sachs’ Best Phase 2 AI Stocks: Top 24 High Conviction AI Stocks. Stocks in this list range from utility firms to computer hardware providers, semiconductor firms, and glass companies. Within this list, data center hardware firms were quite common, and as you read below, you’ll find out why they might be the biggest beneficiaries of the next wave in AI investment.
Wells Fargo has extensively covered the topic of what other stocks apart from the most valuable in the world can benefit from artificial intelligence. Its research covers firms that benefit from AI spending and applications. Starting from stocks that might benefit from AI spending, the bank notes that these will primarily include areas where the money trickles from AI data spending. In 2025, it estimates that hyperscaler cloud providers’ capital expenditures can sit around a cool $180 billion. This is more than twice the expected spending by oil majors, which is estimated to sit at close to $85 billion.
So where will this money trickle down to? Well, WF believes that while the “largest portion of cost involved in constructing data centers is graphics processing units (GPUs) and the supercomputers that contain them,” other sectors that should not be ignored include “cabling; steel racks; cooling (liquid and air); electrical equipment (both inside and outside the box); and backup generators” along with others that “are required to lay the foundation and power generation to support the facility.” While it lists down the usual culprits of information technology, communications services, and software firms that are part of discretionary stocks as the beneficiaries of data center spending, WF also adds two other sectors. These are industrial and material stocks, as the bank believes that while a “data center may not be a factory, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it might be a duck.”
It quotes research to share that since as much as 45% of the cost of building a data center “is related to land, building shell, and basic building fit-out,” firms that “supply steel, aggregates, cement, and water equipment and, by extension, construction and engineering firms as well as broad non-residential construction suppliers (such as industrial distributors)” can benefit from the $180 billion in estimated hyperscaler capital expenditure. WF adds that data center spending will also include electrical and HVAC systems, as it notes that this sector can benefit from the fact that “there are a relatively limited number of scaled suppliers of large electrical equipment, commercial HVAC systems, and diesel generators.”
For some materials and industrial stocks, you can check out 10 Best Materials Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds and 20 Industrial Stocks Already Riding the AI Wave.
Photo by Maximalfocus on Unsplash
Our Methodology
To make our list of stocks that will benefit from AI, we ranked the stocks part of our list of Goldman Sachs’ Best Phase 2 AI Stocks: Top 24 High Conviction AI Stocks and ranked them by the number of hedge funds that had bought the shares in Q3 2024. This upgrades the list since it was published when the latest hedge fund data was unavailable and it narrows down the list of stocks to the top fund favorites.
Why are we interested in stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).
10. Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 78
Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG) is a clean energy company that’s been one of the hottest utility plays in 2024. This is because of the firm’s focus on nuclear power which has thrust it into the limelight of Wall Street’s AI fervor. Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG) generates 32GW of electricity through its portfolio, out of which 90% comes via renewable energy. While AI and nuclear energy play an important role in its hypothesis, another key factor that should drive is Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG)’s plan to generate 13% compounded EPS growth by 2030. This is key to evaluating the profitability of its nuclear initiatives which have seen the firm partner up with Microsoft to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor. Additionally, the enthusiasm surrounding nuclear deals could rapidly be priced out as well was evident at the November start. This occurred when Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG)’s sank by 12.5% after regulators rejected another nuclear firm’s request to increase electricity capacity for an Amazon data center.
Fred Alger Management mentioned Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG) is the largest producer of clean energy in the U.S., with 32,400 Megawatts of capacity, 87% of which is nuclear generated. Its nuclear, hydro, wind, and solar facilities provide 10% of all clean energy on the U.S. grid and 22% of its clean baseload power. We believe the company stands to benefit from the increasing electrification of the U.S. economy. The rise of electric vehicles, data centers, and reshoring of American manufacturing is driving U.S. electricity load growth for the first time in nearly two decades. In our view, AI workloads are projected to significantly increase energy demand from data centers over the next few years. As American enterprises seek clean and reliable energy sources, nuclear power, which is carbon-free and dependable, stands out compared to intermittent renewables like wind and solar. Constellation, as an unregulated independent power producer, benefits from low fixed costs and can capture upside from rising electricity prices. We believe that potential opportunities for earnings growth include colocation (data centers near nuclear plants) and energy-matching programs with cloud providers willing to pay premium prices for nuclear energy. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides downside protection through a guaranteed minimum price for nuclear generation. During the quarter, shares contributed to performance from two events: 1) annual electricity auctions revealed tightening markets driven by increasing demand, driving higher pricing in the Middle Atlantic states, leading management to raise their fiscal 2024 earnings projections. 2) On September 20, 2024, Constellation Energy announced the signing of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft, which includes restarting Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 to supply energy.”
9. Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 91
Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) is a computer hardware company that designs and sells power management, racks, cooling equipment, and other associated equipment. It is one of the top-performing stocks in 2024 as the shares are up 180% year-to-date. Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) has been an investor favorite particularly since it also sells liquid cooling products. These are indispensable for AI workloads due to the excessive heat generated by performance-intensive GPUs. The firm is particularly exposed to the data center industry as it generates 75% of its revenue from this industry. The positive catalysts from AI-generated demand were also evident in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s third quarter results. These saw the firm grow sales by 19% and orders by 37%. Therefore, the year-to-date share price gain is unsurprising.
Baron Small Cap Fund mentioned Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) is a leader in data center equipment, with significant share in both power and cooling applications. The stock rebounded off recent weakness, as investors gained confidence that a massive build out of AI data centers globally was on the horizon. Vertiv’s strong relationship with chip manufacturers and involvement in the necessary technology roadmap for solutions as the energy density of server racks increases were catalysts. Vertiv’s orders were up 57% year-over-year in the second quarter, backlog was $7 billion, a record, and 2024 operating profit margin and EPS guidance was raised.”