In the United States, AI infrastructure spending is surging: Nvidia’s CEO projects a $3–4 trillion opportunity in AI infrastructure by 2030, driven by escalating demand from hyperscalers and major tech firms, per latest information by news agency Reuters. The chipmaker also anticipates that fiscal 2027 revenues could reach $366 billion, exceeding forecasts, a further signal that generative AI continues to propel growth across sectors. At the same time, rising costs and fierce competition are shaping infrastructure dynamics. Dell, for instance, has raised its annual shipment forecast for AI-optimized servers to $25 billion, up from $20 billion, as demand from clients like xAI and CoreWeave heats up. Nevertheless, high manufacturing costs and compressed margins are compressing profits, even as server sales ramp up.
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In China, regulators are adopting a more centralized approach to steer the rapidly expanding AI market. Authorities are distributing responsibilities across provinces to avoid redundant investment and to nurture regional strengths, while simultaneously supporting homegrown innovation through backing companies like DeepSeek, per a report by Reuters. Yet, observers warn that overregulation could limit agility for smaller firms and amplify past missteps in sectors like semiconductors. Labor dynamics also underscore AI’s evolving role in the economy. US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer recently reassured, per The New York Post, that AI is not poised to replace American workers, but to augment their roles—through reskilling initiatives, training programs, and generous federal investment.
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Our Methodology
For this article, we used stock screeners to identify AI data center stocks. The top twelve stocks were then ranked based on hedge fund interest. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2025 database of 1041 elite hedge funds.
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. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
Best AI Data Center Stocks to Buy Right Now
12. Innodata Inc. (NASDAQ:INOD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23
Innodata Inc. (NASDAQ:INOD) has emerged as a data engineering partner for big tech companies in recent months. The firm has successfully pivoted to high-complexity data engineering for the Magnificent Seven and other frontier model builders. This provides it with a deep technical moat. Unlike competitors that use crowdsourced workers, Innodata utilizes subject-matter experts for Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) and Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF). In early 2026, Innodata secured a major partnership with Palantir to modernize AI-powered rodeo analytics and expanded its SHIELD contract for LLM safety. The overall financial performance of the company speaks for itself as well.
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Innodata Inc. reported 48% full-year organic revenue growth for 2025, reaching $251.7 million. Management has guided for 35%+ revenue growth in 2026. Hedge funds like Schonfeld Strategic Advisors and Millennium Management have established new or expanded positions to capture this upside. At the end of 2025, the company held $82.2 million in cash, allowing it to self-fund innovation in agentic AI and robotics data without diluting shareholders. It is also expanding into Physical AI. Innodata is now building egocentric and affordance-rich datasets used to train robots and drones. The company recently achieved a 6.45% improvement over previous state-of-the-art benchmarks in drone object detection, positioning it as a critical supplier for autonomous systems.
11. Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
Elite investor interest in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) stock is driven by the company’s role as the interconnection hub for the AI era, with accelerating bookings and margin expansion turning heads on Wall Street. In the broader context, investors have been shifting their thesis from AI training, which happens in massive, isolated clusters, to AI inference, which happens where data meets the user. Per Equinix management, the firm is uniquely positioned for the inference stage of AI. This is because as AI models need to interact with real-world data in real-time, the need for residence in Equinix’s highly connected metros rather than remote rural data centers rises. The company has large deal momentum behind it as well, as AI-driven large deals rose to 60% of total bookings in the most recent quarter, up from 50% just months prior.
Equinix, Inc. is posting record-breaking bookings and guidance numbers. In Q4 2025, the firm reported annualized gross bookings of $474 million, a 42% increase year-over-year. It also raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to over $10.1 billion, signaling growth that is significantly ahead of the targets shared at their 2025 Analyst Day. The firm is taking steps to de-risk the power constraint for investors as well. In 2025, Equinix added approximately 1 GW to its powered land-under-control balance. Strategic partnerships, including a major deal for 2.8 gigawatts of fuel-cell capacity, have allowed Equinix to bypass utility delays. This speed-to-market is a key reason why prominent investors favor this stock over slower-moving REIT peers.
10. Astera Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52
Astera Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) is becoming a hedge fund favorite as it is at the forefront of solving the compute-to-data bottlenecks. The firm’s Aries smart retimers and Scorpio smart fabric switches are essential for maintaining signal integrity as data moves between GPUs and memory. If they do not have these, AI clusters cannot physically scale beyond a few thousand chips without massive performance lag. Another catalyst for the shares is PCIe Gen 6 adoption. In early 2026, PCIe Gen 6 products reached a tipping point, contributing over 20% of total revenue for the firm. This transition is a boost for the stock as Gen 6 infrastructure is significantly more expensive and higher-margin than previous generations.
Astera Labs, Inc. financials are also painting a rosy picture. For Q4 2025, the company reported $270.6 million in revenue, up 91.8% year-over-year, beating analyst estimates by a wide margin. The company maintains a 75.6% gross margin, which is at the very top of the semiconductor sector. Investors are monitoring the launch of the Scorpio smart fabric switch as well. By moving into switches, Astera Labs is expanding its Total Addressable Market. Analysts at Loop Capital recently raised their price target on the stock to $250, citing strong demand for Scorpio as the industry standard for backend AI networking. Major hedge funds like D.E. Shaw and Atreides Management have maintained large positions, betting that the firm will become the Arista of the motherboard, managing the internal traffic of the AI server rack.
9. Celestica Inc. (NYSE:CLS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Celestica Inc. (NYSE:CLS) is becoming famous for being not just a simple hardware manufacturer, but a critical design and engineering partner for the world’s largest AI clusters. The most recent driver for investor interest in the stock is the deepening role of the firm in rack-scale AI platforms.In March 2026, Celestica was confirmed as a primary collaborator for AMD’s Helios rack-scale platform. This positions the firm to handle the complex engineering and manufacturing of networking components for the next generation of AI infrastructure. Elite investors are also tracking the massive capex pull-forward from Google and Meta. As these titans accelerate their 2027 infrastructure spending into 2026, Celestica is seeing an immediate boost in its Connectivity & Cloud Solutions (CCS) segment.
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Celestica Inc. is also emerging as the primary beneficiary of the networking bottleneck. The company is currently transitioning from 800G to 1.6T networking programs. These high-speed switches and routers carry significantly higher margins than legacy hardware. Analysts at JP Morgan and CIBC recently raised their price targets on the stock, citing that Celestica is capturing market share from traditional OEMs by working directly with hyperscalers to design custom, proprietary hardware. The earnings consistency of the firm should also be lauded. Celestica has beaten EPS consensus estimates by an average of 10% since 2022. For the upcoming Q1 2026 report, analysts are projecting for another beat and raise driven by new manufacturing capacity in Texas and Thailand.
8. Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 76
Wall Street bigwigs have been treating Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CEG) stock more like a tech infrastructure company than a traditional utility. In early 2026, tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have signaled a willingness to pay a significant premium over standard market rates for nuclear baseload power. Unlike wind or solar, nuclear provides the 24/7 reliability required for massive AI training clusters. CEG is one of the leading providers of this service. The firm also operates largely in the unregulated wholesale market. This allows it to negotiate direct behind-the-meter contracts with data centers at market-clearing prices, rather than being limited by government-regulated rate caps.
A major catalyst for Constellation Energy Corporation shares in the near-term is the de-risking of nuclear power. The Department of Energy’s approval of a $1 billion loan to restart the Crane plant operated by CEG is seen as a historic pivot. This project adds 835 MW of carbon-free capacity to the grid, specifically earmarked for high-demand AI regions. In January 2026, the regulatory bodies approved a first-of-its-kind $167 million digital safety upgrade for the Limerick station operated by CEG. This shift from analog to digital reduces long-term maintenance costs and improves fleet reliability. The company continues to execute financially. CEG reported Q4 2025 earnings of $2.30 per share, beating estimates of $2.26. More importantly, revenue of $6.07 billion shattered expectations of $5.35 billion.
7. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 77
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is being treated as a value AI play in the hedge fund universe. The firm is pivoting from a hardware provider to an AI-native security and networking powerhouse. Cisco’s rapid acceleration in AI networking orders from major cloud providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google has grabbed headlines. In fiscal Q2 2026, the firm reported $2.1 billion in AI infrastructure orders, a massive jump from $1.3 billion the previous quarter. Management has projected over $3 billion in AI infrastructure revenue for the full fiscal year. Investors view this as proof that Cisco’s Silicon One chips are successfully competing with specialized rivals for the digital backbone of AI data centers.
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Cisco Systems, Inc. shift toward high-margin software also merits a closer look. By integrating Splunk, the firm has created a unified view of networking and security that is unique in the market. Hedge funds are also positioning for a multi-year hardware upgrade cycle driven by new standards. Enterprises are beginning a massive refresh to support the high-bandwidth needs of AI. Cisco expects this to be a multi-billion dollar refresh opportunity as support for older 4K and 6K switches ends. Networking product orders grew in the high teens for the company recently, marking five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth. For many, Cisco has become a value tech staple as the stock often trades at a forward P/E of roughly 16x–18x, ideal for funds that want AI exposure without the risk of a bubble burst.
6. Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 87
Last month, Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN) officially established a dedicated Data Center segment, following its $9.5 billion acquisition of Boyd’s thermal business. This move signals that the company is no longer just selling parts but providing integrated power and cooling solutions specifically for AI. With AI chips now exceeding 1,000W, traditional air cooling is failing and investors are buying Eaton shares because the Boyd acquisition gives the company a dominant position in liquid cooling, which is expected to be a standard requirement for all new AI data centers by 2027.
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The Electrical Americas segment of Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN) has emerged as a leading indicator of US infrastructure health. In early 2026, the firm reported that sales in this segment jumped 16%, driven by what management called unprecedented data center momentum. There is mega-project momentum behind the shares as well. Eaton has a $13.3 billion backlog and is the primary electrical provider for several mega-projects – data centers and semiconductor plants exceeding $1 billion in cost – which provides revenue visibility through 2028. Eaton has matched or exceeded Wall Street earnings estimates for four consecutive quarters. Wall Street expects the firm’s EPS to grow by 13%–15% annually through 2027, a growth rate more typical of a software company than a 100-year-old industrial firm.
5. Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88
In recent months, Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) has shifted from a speculative clean-energy name to a core AI power holding for elite investors. The company has transitioned from pilot programs to gigawatt-scale utility status. Earlier this month, Oracle announced an expanded partnership to procure up to 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of Bloom’s fuel cell systems. This is one of the largest on-site power deals in history. Unlike waiting 5+ years for a traditional grid connection, Bloom’s systems can bring a data center online in under 90 days. Investors view this speed-to-market as a competitive advantage for cloud providers racing to deploy GPUs.
Bloom Energy Corporation is solving the grid crisis with behind-the-meter power. In early 2026, American Electric Power finalized a $2.65 billion offtake agreement for up to 1 GW of Bloom’s capacity. This signaled that even utilities now view fuel cells as the only way to serve massive industrial loads that the existing grid cannot accommodate. Investors like ClearBridge Investments have highlighted that Bloom allows hyperscalers to bring their own power, effectively de-risking their multi-billion dollar AI investments from utility delays. There has also been a seismic shift in Bloom’s financial profile. Bloom’s total backlog has swelled to nearly $20 billion, providing multi-year revenue visibility. The company guided for $3.1–$3.3 billion in 2026 revenue, implying a growth rate of 60% year-over-year.
4. Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 97
Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) stock has been in the headlines recently after the company announced a multi-year deal for Optical Circuit Switching (OCS) products worth billions of dollars during the Optical Fiber Communication Conference 2026. Analysts at Stifel and JPMorgan have indicated that this deal likely involves a Magnificent Seven hyperscaler, widely rumored to be Google or Amazon, looking to bypass traditional electrical switches for faster, light-based networking. In addition to this blockbuster announcement, the firm also continues to execute financially across all important metrics.
In Q2 2026, Lumentum Holdings Inc. reported an EPS of $1.67, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by 35.8%. Quarterly revenue reached $665.5 million, a 65.5% year-over-year increase. Non-GAAP operating margins expanded by over 1,500 basis points in late 2025, signaling that Lumentum is becoming significantly more profitable as it scales. The company has been emerging as a secondary play on NVIDIA’s latest architecture as well. Lumentum’s 1060nm VCSEL technology is now being used for scale-up networks that connect HBM4 memory directly to GPUs. Unlike traditional silicon photonics, Lumentum’s VCSEL platform provides a highly reliable alternative that elite investors see as a hedge against supply chain constraints at other photonics firms.
3. Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 91
Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) has been one of the standout winners of the Networking War that defines the 2026 AI data center business. The primary reason that elite investors are piling into the stock is the industry-wide shift from proprietary InfiniBand, dominated by NVIDIA, to Open Ethernet. As AI clusters move from thousands to millions of GPUs, InfiniBand hits structural and cost limits. Arista’s Etherlink products are becoming the gold standard for these massive clusters. In early 2026, the company officially doubled its AI networking revenue target to $3.25 billion for the year. This signaled to Wall Street bigwigs that the transition to Ethernet is happening significantly faster than predicted.
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Arista Networks, Inc. currently trades at a premium with a Forward P/E of around 50x. However, many prominent investors still view it as a Forever Stock because of its operating leverage. Unlike competitors, Arista can grow revenue by 30% while barely increasing its overhead, thanks to the efficiency of its EOS software. With 1.6T systems emerging in mid-2026, Arista’s EOS is viewed as the only software stack capable of managing the sub-nanosecond latency required for next-generation AI workloads. The company has become the architect of the trillion-parameter AI era. If a business wants to build a million-GPU cluster in 2026, they are likely using Arista switches to ensure those GPUs can actually talk to each other.
2. Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 112
Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) stock has emerged as the primary beneficiary of the transition from air cooling to liquid cooling. High-density AI chips, like NVIDIA’s Blackwell and beyond, generate so much heat that traditional fans are no longer sufficient. Vertiv’s liquid cooling solutions are now embedded across global hyperscale data center designs. Management recently noted at the JPMorgan Industrials Conference that AI infrastructure value has increased to roughly $3 million to $3.5 million per megawatt, as complex cooling systems carry higher price tags and better margins than legacy hardware.
Another catalyst for Vertiv Holdings Co stock is that the backlog for the firm reached record levels in early 2026. The company reported a $15 billion backlog in its Q4 2025 earnings report, a 109% increase year-over-year. Organic orders in late 2025 were up a staggering 252% compared to the prior year, driven by mega-orders from cloud titans racing to build AI clusters. Vertiv’s acquisition of BMarko Structures is viewed as a major event as well. This move allows Vertiv to build modular, pre-fabricated data centers in-house, reducing dependency on external contractors and speeding up the deployment of AI power systems. Following this acquisition, Citigroup and BNP Paribas raised their price targets to the $340–$345 range, citing improved scale and business resilience.
1. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 264
The hype around NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) has slowed a bit, with the stock transitioning from triple-digit discovery gains to a more mature growth phase. However, the smart money continues to accumulate shares in the firm based on the rollout of the Vera Rubin architecture and the emergence of Agentic AI. The primary catalyst for the stock in Q2 2026 is the Vera Rubin platform, unveiled at GTC 2026. The Vera Rubin platform integrates seven new chips, including the Vera CPU and Rubin GPU, into a single vertically integrated supercomputer. Rubin is designed to cut inference token costs by up to 10x. This performance is viewed as critical for maintaining NVIDIA’s dominance as the market shifts towards inference models.
Elite investors have also been following NVIDIA Corporation Jensen Huang’s thesis that AI is moving from simple chatbots to agents that take autonomous actions. Agentic AI requires significantly more compute because agents run repeated reasoning loops. The new Vera CPU is the first processor purpose-built for reinforcement learning and agent orchestration. In this context, the capex of top tech firms is also being monitored. Combined AI infrastructure spending from these titans is projected to approach $700 billion in 2026. Despite concerns about AI fatigue, top investors see that Blackwell systems are sold out through late 2026, and the production ramp for Vera Rubin is already being priced into 2027 earnings models.
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