Big tech companies are spending close to $700 billion this year building AI data centers. Most of the attention goes to chipmakers like Nvidia. However, two very different companies just reported earnings that show how much money is flowing to businesses that don’t make a single chip: a copper miner and a company that owns and rents out the buildings data centers sit in.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX): Copper Prices Are Doing the Heavy Lifting

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) beat expectations. The copper mining giant earned 74 cents a share, excluding one-time costs, versus the 59 cents analysts expected. Regular profit, i.e., net income, came in at $984 million, or 68 cents a share, up from 53 cents a share a year ago. Here’s the twist, though: the firm actually mined 18.2% less copper this quarter, not more. So the beat came from price, not volume. The average price of copper rose 41.5% from a year earlier, driven by supply worries and strong demand from China.

Freeport’s production dropped because its Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the second-largest copper mine in the world, is still recovering from a deadly mud flow disaster last September that killed seven workers and shut the mine down for weeks. Repair costs alone were about $363 million this quarter. CEO Kathleen Quirk said the mine’s recovery is “on track” and still expects it to reopen fully by the end of the year. There’s also a possible bonus ahead: the Trump administration has been expected to announce a tariff on copper, which would likely boost Freeport’s profits further, though no decision has come yet. The stock actually fell 2.3% the morning results came out, roughly in line with the rest of the market that day.

Copper itself is worth understanding here. It’s one of the best materials for conducting electricity, and it’s used worldwide in motors, computers, batteries, and wiring. As AI infrastructure keeps getting built, copper demand is expected to stay strong for years, even if this particular quarter’s beat came mostly from price, not from a sudden AI-driven buying spree.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR): Getting Paid Rent by the AI Boom Directly

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)’s quarter shows a much more direct link to AI spending. The company owns and leases out data centers, and this quarter its revenue jumped 29% to $1.92 billion, blowing past the $1.66 billion analysts expected. Its main cash flow number, Core FFO, came in at $2.65 a share versus the $1.86 expected, though that figure includes $188 million in one-time income from a joint-venture development deal. The more comparable number was $2.13 a share, still up from $1.87 a year ago. The firm raised full-year guidance and now expects $8.15 to $8.20 a share for the year, up from $8 to $8.10, and raised its revenue forecast too. New leases signed in July alone are worth $410 million a year in rent at full value, though Digital Realty’s own share of that, since some properties are jointly owned, is $205 million. When existing tenants renewed their leases this quarter, Digital Realty raised the rent by over 25%, a sign of just how much pricing power it has right now. The company also just closed a $3.5 billion deal to buy a bigger stake in three data centers in Northern Virginia, the world’s largest data center market, from investment firm Blackstone.

CEO Andy Power said the results show “robust customer demand and strong execution.” The stock rose 3% after the report. JPMorgan raised its price target afterward, and TD Cowen upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy with a new target of its own.

That raises a real question. Are these two stocks genuinely riding the same AI wave, or is one of them just getting lucky on commodity prices while the other is the real thing?

Analysis: One Is a Direct Bet, the Other Is a Longer-Term Story

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) is about as direct a bet on AI infrastructure spending as you can make without buying a chip company. Its business rents data center space to the same kind of cloud and AI firms driving the broader spending boom, and Digital Realty gets paid rent whether those companies’ AI products succeed or not, as long as the data centers stay full. Its backlog and July leasing numbers show that demand isn’t slowing down.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s story is more complicated. This quarter’s beat came from copper prices rising, not from Freeport selling more copper into AI-driven demand, since a mine accident actually cut its output. The AI buildout is a real long-term reason to expect more copper demand, but it’s one demand catalyst among several, alongside electric vehicles, power grids, and general construction. Investors buying Freeport for its AI exposure should understand they’re also betting on a mine recovery staying on schedule and on copper prices, which move for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with data centers.

Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Data Analysis

Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database shows more confidence building in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) than in Freeport. Digital Realty was held by 46 hedge funds at the end of Q1 2026, up from 43 the quarter before, worth just under $1 billion, though it makes up a relatively small 1.6% of the average holder’s portfolio. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was held by more funds overall, 82, but that number was actually down from 91 the quarter before, even though the dollar value held stayed roughly flat at $9.46 billion. Freeport also carries much higher concentration, at 11.2% of the average holder’s portfolio, meaning the funds that do own it treat it as a bigger, more meaningful bet than Digital Realty’s holders do.

Conclusion

Both of these stocks had strong quarters, but for different reasons that say different things about how directly they’re linked to the AI boom. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) is about as close to a pure, direct AI infrastructure play as exists outside of chipmakers themselves. Its customers are the hyperscalers, and its growth numbers move in step with theirs.

On the other hand, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) benefits from AI too, but AI is just a small part of the overall copper demand story, and this quarter’s results actually happened despite a production problem, not because of surging AI-driven sales. If you want the more direct AI story, Digital Realty is it. If you’re looking for a longer, more cyclical bet where AI is just one piece of the puzzle, that’s Freeport.

While we acknowledge the risk and potential of FCX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FCX and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None.