In this article, we will look at the 15 Best Data Center Stocks to Buy Now.

A century ago, railroads and oil pipelines defined economic strength. Today, that role is played by data centers. They power every online transaction, video stream, and AI application, quietly serving as the backbone of the digital economy. What used to be global competition for shipping lanes and oil fields has shifted to building stronger semiconductor supply chains and expanding data center capacity. The race seems to be no longer fought on land or sea, but in racks of servers and the megawatts that keep them running.

Considering the scale of investment pouring into the sector, this momentum is far from slowing. According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL) Global Data Center Outlook 2025, global capacity is projected to grow by roughly 15% annually between 2023 and 2027. Yet, even with this growth, demand is expected to outpace supply.

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The strategic importance of data centers was also one of the central themes at the Qatar Economic Forum 2025. Navid Chamdia, Head of Real Estate at Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), said AI could generate as much as half of all new cloud storage demand. However, the bigger challenge will be building capacity with adequate power, infrastructure partners, and skilled labor. Doug Adams, CEO of NTT Global Data Centers, and Marc Ganzi, CEO of DigitalBridge, added that AI adoption could push total investment in data centers to $1 trillion within four years, a growth rate far faster than the expansion of cloud computing.

With these factors in mind, we now turn to the 15 best data center stocks to buy now.

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the best data center stocks, we screened U.S.-listed companies that are either pure-play data center operators or have significant exposure to the sector, leveraging ETFs, industry research, and proprietary databases. From this pool, we selected the 15 stocks most widely owned by hedge funds, based on Q1 2025 filings from Insider Monkey’s database. These names were then ranked by the number of hedge funds holding positions.

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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Note: All pricing data is as of market close on August 18, 2025.

15 Best Data Center Stocks to Buy Now

15. Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)

Market Cap: $4.3 Billion

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 26

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) is one of the best data center stocks to buy now. The stock has surged 114% year-to-date, fueled by accelerating demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). This demand has elevated APLD’s position in the data center space and kept investor attention firmly on its growth pipeline.

That story gained an extra push on August 18, when the company unveiled plans for a $3 billion, 280-megawatt (MW) AI Factory near Harwood, North Dakota. The project, called Polaris Forge 2, will break ground in September 2025, with the first capacity expected in 2026 and full operations in early 2027. The announcement triggered a 16% rally in the stock by the end of the trading day.

Applied Digital already operates data centers in Jamestown and Ellendale, North Dakota, providing roughly 286 MW of hosting capacity. In addition, Polaris Forge 1, a 400 MW HPC campus, remains under construction and is scheduled to go live in 2025. Together, these projects significantly expand the company’s scale in an industry seeing rapid capital inflows.

Reflecting this momentum, George Sutton, an analyst from Craig-Hallum, raised his price target to $23 from $12 while keeping a Buy rating. In the note published on August 18, the analyst noted that private-market deals in the data center sector are being struck at multiples and capitalization rates that imply more upside for APLD than current trading levels suggest. In his view, the market has yet to fully price in the company’s project pipeline or the valuation benchmarks set by comparable transactions.

It is worth noting that the stock carries a beta of roughly 6.0, highlighting its high volatility. Investors may want to carefully weigh this risk before making any investment decision.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) develops and operates digital infrastructure solutions and cloud services tailored to the HPC and AI markets across North America.

14. VNET Group Inc. (NASDAQ:VNET)

Market Cap: $2.1 Billion

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 34

VNET Group Inc. (NASDAQ:VNET) is one of the best data center stocks to buy now. VNET is another pure-play data center operator that has seen a strong performance, up 64% year-to-date and an impressive 319% over the past year. No doubt, demand for capacity from the ever-evolving generative AI and high-performance computing (HPC) is at the core of this investor enthusiasm.

While the company is scheduled to report its results on August 21, expectations remain high, and analyst consensus is overwhelmingly positive. Analyst sentiment has been broadly supportive, indicating confidence in its investment case.

First of the two names that have recently published their optimistic reports is Yang Liu from Morgan Stanley. In a report released on July 22, the analyst maintained a Buy rating on VNET Group and raised the price target to $12 from $10.

Back in late June, Citi analyst Louis Tsang also reaffirmed his positive stance on VNET, keeping a Buy rating on the stock and a price target of $20, which is closer to the consensus high of $24. At that time, the company had raised its FY 2025 revenue and EBITDA guidance, which was already in line with Tsang’s above-consensus forecasts, reinforcing confidence in its operating momentum.

Tsang highlighted that VNET’s $50 million share repurchase could help stabilize the stock. He also cited upcoming projects such as B30, along with possible Hong Kong and C-REIT listings, as events that may drive further interest. In addition, he noted the company’s partnership with Shandong Highspeed on green power, which is expected to cut energy costs and support margin improvement for VNET and its clients.

Beyond these near-term drivers, Tsang emphasized VNET’s expansion of IDC capacity and its exposure to AI-related demand as important long-term growth levers.

Tsang’s bullish thesis has held up so far, as the stock has gained another 11% since his report. The 1-year median consensus price target for the stock stands at $12.2, which still indicates a substantial potential upside of 56% and further room for the rally to continue.

VNET Group Inc. (NASDAQ:VNET) is a leading pure-play data center provider in China, specializing in multi-carrier and multi-cloud internet data center (IDC) services.