We recently published a list of 10 Best Electrical Equipment Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) stands against other best electrical equipment stocks to buy now.

The global electrical equipment market size was pegged at US$1,513.22 billion in 2024, and the market is expected to grow from US$1,660.20 billion in 2025 to US$3,326.86 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights. The expansion in IT, manufacturing, healthcare, and telecommunications continues to increase the requirement for electrical machinery and equipment. Furthermore, increased trade and globalization result in an exchange of electric equipment, leading to enhanced market access and higher sales. Also, urbanization increases demand for electrical appliances in residential, industrial, and commercial applications.

The broader US electric equipment industry continues to play an important role in both the EV and data center markets. Growth in EVs helps increase demand for high-voltage infrastructure, charging networks, and grid upgrades. Battery manufacturing and assembly plants need advanced electrical systems, which fuel demand for industrial power solutions. Since data centers demand high power and reliability, they also need a strong electrical infrastructure.

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Key Trends Likely to Shape the Electrical Equipment Industry

The regulatory framework for energy efficiency and the uptake of renewable energy is expected to intensify the market trend, opines Fortune Business Insights. The EV market is expected to be supported by the creation of a regulatory framework for energy-efficient motors possessing long life expectancies. Notably, electrical equipment happens to be the primary element fulfilling the criteria, including high-efficiency ratio, product purity, low energy costs, reliability, and sustainability for carbon emission-free vehicles. Fortune Business Insights believes that increased investment in EVs and advancements in battery technology are some of the global EV market trends. Significant momentum in battery technology continues to ramp up the EV market growth, and while global efforts remain focused on the improvement of range and reduction in charging times.

Furthermore, innovations including solid-state batteries and enhanced lithium-ion designs are witnessing traction, which can result in greater efficiency and reduced costs. Such advancements remain important for leading industry players, allowing them to meet increased consumer demand for reliable and long-range EVs. These demand trends are expected to significantly help the broader electrical equipment market in 2025. EV chargers need significant electrical hardware, including circuit breakers, transformers, control systems and power distribution units. Also, widespread EV adoption can pressurize the local electric grids, necessitating upgrades. This can benefit grid automation, smart grid technologies and load balancing.

Fortune Business Insights highlighted that hybrid and multi-cloud deployments continue to emerge as a critical market trend in the AI Data Center market. As and when AI models evolve, there is a need for varying computing, storage and networking requirements. Such favorable demand trends can help the broader electrical equipment market as AI centers require precise and reliable power distribution. This can help fuel growth in power monitoring and control systems, low and medium voltage electrical panels, among others.

Our Methodology

To list the 10 Best Electrical Equipment Stocks to Buy Now, we used a Finviz screener to shortlist the companies catering to the broader electrical equipment industry. After getting an extended list of 20-25 stocks, we chose the ones that are popular among hedge funds. Finally, the stocks were arranged in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment, as of Q4 2024.

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).

Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 32

Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) is engaged in the manufacturing and selling of electrical, mechanical, safety, and infrastructure products and solutions. For Q2 2025, the company expects net sales of ~$695 million – $705 million and adjusted EBITDA of ~$115 million – $118 million. Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)’s preliminary Q2 2025 estimates demonstrate mid-single-digit volume growth and better-than-expected manufacturing productivity. The Safety & Infrastructure segment results include the favorable benefits associated with construction services projects.

Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) remains well-placed to benefit from strong prospects in electrical equipment industry, mainly via its involvement in critical infrastructure projects and adoption of digital technologies. Its product portfolio consists of conduit, metal framing, and cable management systems. Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)’s infrastructure portfolio is expected to be aided by EV charging buildout, strong growth prospects in data centers (due to AI and 5G), and grid modernization efforts. Such trends paint a favourable picture for the demand of the company’s products, spanning from electrical conduits to mechanical tubing.

River Road Asset Management, an investment management company, published its Q4 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“The holding with the lowest contribution to active return in the portfolio during Q3 was Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR), a branded manufacturer of products that protect and frame electric circuitry (including PVC conduit). ATKR delivered worse-than-expected Q3 2024 results and lowered 2024 EBITDA guidance by -11% due to higher amounts of imported steel conduit entering the market and a slower summer construction season. Steel conduit imports from Mexico have risen sharply over the past year in violation of existing trade agreements. ATKR has lost market share and has cut pricing in steel conduit, which is roughly 20% of total ATKR revenues. A Donald Trump administration is likely needed for effective trade enforcement. Weakness in residential, construction, and utility end markets led to lower-than-expected volumes and pricing. We believe ATKR’s balance sheet remains in great shape with net leverage of only 0.6x and year-to-date free cash flow generation of $245MM has largely been used to fund $281MM of year-to-date share repurchases. We took no action on the position during the quarter.”

Overall, ATKR ranks 6th on our list of best electrical equipment stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential of ATKR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than ATKR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.