In this article, we look at the 10 Best AI Networking Stocks to Buy According to Analysts.
AI networking has moved from a support role to one of the central investment themes in the artificial intelligence buildout. The reason is simple: AI infrastructure is scaling faster than traditional data-center networks were designed to handle. IDC reported that worldwide AI infrastructure spending reached $89.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 62% year over year, and expects total AI infrastructure spending to reach $758 billion by 2029. That spending is pushing demand beyond GPUs and servers into the systems that connect them.
The networking layer is now a critical bottleneck for AI workloads, especially as model training and inference require faster movement of data across large clusters. Dell’Oro Group expects 1.6 Tbps data-center switches to begin shipping in volume in 2026, driven by AI back-end networks. Meanwhile, demand is rising across Ethernet switching, optical components, high-speed interconnects, testing equipment, and communications infrastructure.
That creates a wider opportunity set for investors. The AI networking theme includes not only large switch vendors but also semiconductor, optical, broadband, and network equipment companies exposed to the growing need for faster, lower-latency, and more reliable AI data movement.
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Methodology
For this article, we screened AI networking stocks and ranked them by consensus analyst price targets. We then selected stocks with at least 25% implied upside from current levels.
Why are we interested in the 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. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 599.2% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 372 percentage points (see more details here).
10. Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE)
Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) is one of the best AI networking stocks to buy according to analysts. On June 11, JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating on the stock and maintained its price target after a recent pullback in optical networking names. The firm argued that investor concerns around co-packaged optics adoption were overdone, a useful signal for a company increasingly tied to the optical layer of AI data centers.
The bull case has also been supported by Lumentum’s operating momentum. On May 5, the company reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue of $808.4 million, up 90.1% year over year. Non-GAAP operating margin expanded to 32.2%, while non-GAAP diluted earnings per share rose to $2.37 from $0.57 a year earlier. Management said strength in laser chips and scale-across components helped the quarter, and pointed to co-packaged optics and optical circuit switches as future drivers of earnings power.
Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) is an optical and photonic technology company headquartered in San Jose, California. Its lasers, modules, and optical subsystems support AI infrastructure, cloud computing, data center connectivity, telecom networks, industrial manufacturing, and sensing applications.
9. Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC)
Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC) is one of the best AI networking stocks to buy according to analysts. The company gave investors a fresh AI infrastructure angle in mid-March when it launched a family of 224 Gbps per lane Transimpedance Amplifiers and Mach-Zehnder Modulator drivers for LRO, LPO, XPO, Near-Packaged Optics, and Co-Packaged Optics interconnect applications.
The products are designed to enable 800G, 1.6T, and 3.2T transceivers and optical engines for AI/ML clusters, hyperscale data centers, and next-generation cloud infrastructure. That makes Semtech a direct participant in one of the most important bottlenecks in AI infrastructure: moving data faster and more efficiently between accelerators, switches, and optical links. The company also said its linear interconnect architecture can remove the power-intensive digital signal processor from optical modules while maintaining link integrity, addressing power, cooling, and cost pressures in AI data centers.
The launch followed a stronger fiscal year. On March 16, Semtech reported fiscal 2026 record net sales of $1.05 billion, up 15% year over year, while non-GAAP adjusted diluted earnings per share rose to $1.71.
Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC) provides high-performance semiconductors for AI data center networking, IoT connectivity, and intelligent connected devices worldwide.
8. Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNW)
Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNW) is one of the best AI networking stocks to buy according to analysts. The company gave investors a recent networking infrastructure catalyst on May 26, when it introduced a new long-haul portfolio aimed at improving capacity and reliability for long-distance connectivity.
The update expands Aviat’s all-indoor microwave platform by combining its Pasolink and IRU600 products into an integrated solution, adding a capacity and reliability upgrade for North American customers and introducing Pasolink LH for international trunking and backbone networks. The company said the offerings open an incremental addressable market of more than $250 million.
The launch is relevant to AI networking because high-capacity backbone and transport networks remain important as data traffic grows across cloud, enterprise, telecom, and private network environments. In North America, Aviat said Pasolink VR now supports its installed base of IRU600 indoor and ODU600 outdoor radio units, enabling support for up to 16 radios from one compact indoor chassis and increasing nodal capacity by up to 50%. Internationally, Pasolink LH can support up to 16 radio channels and more than 10 Gbps of aggregate capacity for trunking and backbone applications.
Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNW) provides wireless transport and access solutions for communications service providers and private network operators, including state and local government, utilities, federal government, and defense customers.
7. Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)
Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) is one of the best AI networking stocks to buy according to analysts. The company gave investors a fresh AI networking update on June 4, when it reported fiscal second-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.57 billion, up 40% year over year.
Ciena also reported adjusted EPS of $1.64, up 290% from the prior-year quarter, and raised its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook to $6.3 billion, plus or minus $100 million. Management tied the performance directly to AI-driven demand, saying the company’s long-term strategy is aligned with structural, multi-year opportunities in high-speed connectivity across wide-area networks and in and around data centers.
That matters because AI infrastructure is not only a GPU story. Hyperscale data centers need optical transport, data center interconnect, coherent routing, automation software, and low-latency network capacity to move rising AI workloads. Ciena’s homepage describes its cloud and AI networking portfolio as supporting high-capacity, low-latency connectivity, including AI-ready IP networking, data center interconnect, scale-across networks, and scale-up and scale-out networks.
Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) provides networking systems, components, automation software, and services for high-speed connectivity, data transmission, and network management.
6. Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)
Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) is one of the best AI networking stocks to buy according to analysts. The company gave investors a fresh AI infrastructure angle on June 1, when it announced progress on a production-grade digital twin capability for Vertiv SmartRun integrated into the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint.
The system is designed to make AI factory infrastructure more configurable, repeatable, and simulation-ready, with Vertiv saying it can help design, simulate, and validate power, cooling, controls, and deployment workflows as a single system before build-out. That matters for AI networking because high-speed interconnects and dense accelerator clusters only work if the surrounding power and thermal infrastructure can support them at scale. Vertiv also said the SmartRun digital twin is the first phase of a multi-phase AI factory digital twin roadmap, aimed at narrowing the gap between accelerated compute innovation and physical infrastructure readiness.
The company added another data-center infrastructure update on June 3, when it introduced Vertiv PurgeRite NearZero, a fluid management service for commissioning closed-loop hydronic systems in data centers and other mission-critical environments. Vertiv said selected deployments reduced total water consumption by up to 78%, water haul-off volumes by up to 91%, and discharge management costs by as much as 34%.
Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) provides critical digital infrastructure technologies and services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments.
While we acknowledge the potential of VRT to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some other AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than VRT and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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