In this article, we will list the 5 Underperforming Data Center Stocks to Buy According to Short Sellers. Please visit the 7 Underperforming Data Center Stocks to Buy According to Short Sellers if you’d like to see an extended list and how we came up with the list.
5. Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM)
One-month Performance: -29.4%
On June 30, research firm Oppenheimer released an update on the Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) stock, reiterating its Outperform rating and assigning a $180 price target. The price target reflects a 59% upside from here on.
One reason for such a high upside is the stock’s poor one-month performance of -28.8%. Oppenheimer believes the market is undervaluing the company’s cloud computing opportunity as AI inference starts to dominate AI workloads. By the end of 2028, the firm sees AKAM data center capacity as high as 100MW from 17MW at the end of 2025:
Our multi-stage DCF depicts our view that the market undervalues Akamai’s growth opportunity within cloud/AI inferencing.
Oppenheimer agrees with the Wall Street consensus of a healthy upside, as suggested by a 45% median upside according to 29 different analysts on Wall Street. However, it believes analysts are being too conservative and once the broader market realizes that, the stock could skyrocket.
While the Street leans on the positive side, we think its view is too conservative and undervalues the growth opportunity more than warranted,” Singh added. “As the growth opportunity is better understood, the stock should rally higher.”
This also makes the stock one of the most attractive underperforming plays out there and hence one of our top 7 underperforming stocks according to short sellers.
Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) is a global cloud computing and cybersecurity company that has successfully pivoted to decentralized cloud computing solutions amid increasing AI-induced demand. The firm’s business can be divided into three distinct offerings of security solutions, compute solutions, and delivery solutions. It is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
4. Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD)
One-month Performance: -30.9%
Over the last month, Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD) lost approximately 31% of its value. Despite a short rebound in mid-June, it remained under pressure and resumed its downward trend. Even with the recent decline, analysts remain optimistic about the company’s long-term prospects. On July 2, Craig-Hallum analyst George Sutton reiterated a Buy rating on the shares without assigning it any price target. However, among the 14 Wall Street analysts covering the stock, the stock carries a median price target of $74.5, suggesting an additional 125% upside from here on.
Further reinforcing the positive outlook, several analysts raised their price targets on Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD) during the month of June. This includes Northland Securities, Lucid Capital, Lake Street, and Needham. On June 9, John Todaro from Needham raised the firm’s price target on the stock from $66 to $83 while keeping a Buy rating. The firm raised its price target following Applied Digital’s long-term lease agreement for its Delta Forge 2 AI-focused data center.
Needham analyst John Todaro stated in a note to clients:
We raise our PT as we believe APLD can continue to source new sites for the pipeline and execute additional leases. Further, we expect pricing improvements from here as the company looks to slate in new IG hyperscalers and neo-cloud customers.
Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD) builds and operates digital infrastructure for AI and computing companies in North America. The company provides data centres and GPU computing solutions for businesses working in AI. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and was founded in 2021 by Wes Cummins and Jason Zhang.
3. CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV)
One-month Performance: -31.5%
Based on a report released on July 2, Northland Securities analyst Nehal Chokshi reaffirmed a Buy rating on CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) and the price target of $165. The firm’s price target reflects an additional 101% upside from here on, which is quite attractive for investors. Moreover, among the 39 Wall Street analysts covering the stock, the highest price target stands at $302, representing a compelling 269% upside from current levels.
On the same day, BNP Paribas highlighted CoreWeave Inc.’s (NASDAQ:CRWV) strong position in the growing AI infrastructure market. According to the firm, demand for AI computing capacity continues to exceed supply, creating a favorable pricing environment across the industry. It also believes the company’s recent share price underperformance could present a catch-up opportunity as its execution improves in the second half of 2026.
BNP Paribas analyst Stefan Slowinski commented:
CoreWeave is simply further along in its capacity build relative to its neocloud peers (~1 GW of active power vs. ~200 MW at Nebius) and could soon reach a point where margin volatility moderates as net new deployments become a smaller percentage of the existing installed base. With a favorable pricing backdrop, effective use of asset-backed leverage, and a broadly declining cost of capital, we continue to view the risk/reward as attractive at these levels.
CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) is a software infrastructure company that offers the CoreWeave Cloud platform to deliver the automation & efficiency needed to manage AI infrastructure at scale.
2. IREN Limited (NASDAQ:IREN)
One-month Performance: -41.7%
According to a report released on July 1, Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani reiterated a Buy rating on the stock along with a $100 price target. The firm’s price target suggests an impressive 157% upside from the current levels. This upside is slightly higher than the median Wall Street analysts’ upside of 112% based on 17 analysts’ estimates.
After comparing leading AI companies, Bernstein said IREN continues to stand out for its strong profitability. According to the analyst Gautam Chhugani, the company currently has the highest profit margins among the neocloud firms covered in the report. The analyst said this advantage comes from its vertically integrated business model. The Sydney-based company manages key parts of its operations itself, including building data centers, acquiring land, operating its own GPU clusters, and securing energy agreements. This structure gives IREN Limited (NASDAQ:IREN) more control over infrastructure development and costs.
However, the firm noted that the company remains behind rivals such as Nebius and CoreWeave in scale and enterprise AI cloud capabilities.
IREN Limited (NASDAQ:IREN) is an Australia-based company that owns and operates renewable energy-powered data centers. Its facilities are specially optimized for Bitcoin mining, AI cloud services, and other power-dense computing.
1. Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)
One-month Performance: -45.7%
On June 24, Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) announced two strategic partnerships to strengthen its position in the virtualization, edge computing, and AI infrastructure markets. The company partnered with StorMagic to provide bundled edge infrastructure solutions that combine SMCI’s compact servers with StorMagic’s SvHCI virtualization platform. The solution is designed for remote offices, edge locations, branch offices, and small data centers across industries such as education, retail, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing.
According to the company, the joint offering is easier to deploy, provides high availability, reduced infrastructure costs, lower power consumption, and supports two-node architectures. The bundled solution is now available through Super Micro’s global channel partners and distributors.
Separately, Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) partnered with Odine to help develop AI infrastructure in Türkiye. Under the agreement, Odine will act as the company’s local partner for deploying high-performance GPU infrastructure, cloud platforms, AI factories, and next-generation data center solutions. Through these partnerships, the company aims to strengthen its position in faster-growing markets such as AI infrastructure, cloud computing, edge computing, and enterprise deployments.
Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) operates as a seller and developer of server and storage solutions based on modular and open-standard architecture across Europe, the United States, Asia, and internationally. It provides liquid and air-cooled AI servers; SuperStorage systems; embedded (5G/IoT/Edge) systems; SuperBlade, MicroBlade, FlexTwin, GrandTwin, and BigTwin blade and multi-node systems; Hyper, CloudDC, and WIO and rackmount systems; and MicroCloud server systems.
While we acknowledge the potential of SMCI to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some 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 SMCI and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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