8 Data Center Stocks to Watch as AI Drives a $5 Trillion Infrastructure Boom

The AI boom has triggered an unprecedented scramble for data center capacity, but savvy investors should look beyond the obvious tech giants to find value.

The numbers are staggering. McKinsey projects that meeting AI's computational demands will require $5.2 trillion in data center investments by 2030. Goldman Sachs forecasts data centers will consume 8% of total U.S. electricity by decade's end, up from just 3% in 2022. Behind these eye-popping projections lies one of the most compelling investment themes of our time: the physical infrastructure powering the artificial intelligence revolution.

While Nvidia's stock has soared 950% since ChatGPT's launch in late 2022, capturing headlines and investor attention, the companies that own and operate the actual buildings housing these powerful chips have quietly become the landlords of the digital economy. For investors seeking exposure to AI's growth without paying nosebleed valuations, data centers offer an intriguing alternative path.