Got $5,000? 3 Growth Stocks Building the Physical Backbone of the AI Supercycle
Got $5,000? 3 Growth Stocks Building the Physical Backbone of the AI Supercycle
James Brumley, The Motley FoolThu, April 30, 2026 at 4:20 AM UTC
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Key Points -
Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers are dealing with a problem that was arguably underestimated. Vertiv has an answer.
Not all AI data centers are built the same. DigitalOcean specifically offers a solution that’s crucial to the next chapter of the artificial intelligence revolution.
Hut 8 seems a bit unusual at first blush, but its willingness to simultaneously address two distinct but related challenges is actually quite genius.
10 stocks we like better than Vertiv ›
Given their wild valuations paired with the apparent need for more capital spending before things really start paying off, any hesitation to step into a new artificial intelligence (AI) stock is more than understandable.
But the world still can't seem to get enough of this technology, even if it's still not certain how to get the most out of it while simultaneously sidestepping its inherent flaws. Industry research outfit Technavio expects the worldwide AI infrastructure business to grow at an average annual pace of nearly 25% through 2030, although it's likely to grow at a comparable rate well beyond that point.
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That's why a handful of companies are perfectly positioned as we head into the heart of 2026. These names are cashing in on the continued demand for more and more artificial intelligence infrastructure, which means their stocks remain fantastic investments for the indefinite future.
1. Vertiv
Based on what was already known about data centers before the artificial intelligence revolution ushered the industry into the spotlight, engineers knew they'd need to specifically address the heat all of this computing equipment generates. It's not a stretch to say, however, the industry underestimated just how difficult of a problem heat would become.
Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) to the rescue!
It offers a lot, from power supplies to energy storage to racks and enclosures that house processors attached to stacks and stacks of interconnected motherboards. But its claim to fame is cost-effective cooling. This lineup includes conventional HVAC cooling and heat-rejection equipment.
Its flagship offering, however, is the highly effective liquid-cooling solutions that have only recently taken center stage out of necessity.
While estimates vary, most data suggests this alternative to traditional air cooling that facilitates direct contact between a processing chip and cool liquid is nearly twice as effective or consumes nearly half as much power, justifying its bigger up-front expense. That's why industry research outfit Global Market Insights expects the worldwide data center liquid cooling market to grow at an average annual pace of more than 18% through 2035.
For its part, Vertiv's top line grew 30% year over year last quarter, accelerating last year's growth rate to a pace that's likely to persist for a while. Not all this growth is being driven by liquid cooling, of course; as noted, Vertiv does a lot. Given all that Vertiv does, however, it's not a stretch to say the proliferation of AI data centers would look considerably different without this company's solutions.
The kicker: Vertiv is profitable, accomplishing something many of its peers have yet to do.
2. DigitalOcean
While Vertiv offers a handful of solutions for AI's unique infrastructure needs, there's a far more straightforward way of plugging into this bigger, underlying trend. That's just owning a piece of a data center owner/operator itself, like DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN).
Simply put, DigitalOcean offers cloud-based access to AI data centers to organizations that can't or don't want to build one of their own. Although it can provide solutions at a wide range of complexities, in its own words, it features the fact that it's "the inference cloud built for scale." Its customers include video gaming platform Cheddar, workflow builder Scribe, and digital video delivery optimizer Cerberus, just to name a few.
All told, DigitalOcean serves more than 640,000 paying customers, which collectively produced $900 million worth of revenue last year, up 15% from 2024's top line. It's looking for similar growth this year as well, with even greater non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings growth in the cards.
A data center technician is standing next to a rack with a laptop.
Image source: Getty Images.
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Perhaps the most compelling argument for owning DigitalOcean for the long haul, however, is that its base of paying customers includes more big names that need complicated performance and are willing to pay up to get it. Last year's revenue from customers who annually purchase more than $500,000 worth of services grew 76%, while its customers worth $1 million or more in sales per year produced total revenue growth of 106% in 2025. This progress suggests DigitalOcean is winning over bigger clients, who tend to produce wider profit margins.
Give most of the credit to DigitalOcean's inference capabilities. This form of machine learning represents the future of AI simply because it's such a powerful upgrade from so-called "training" that launched the AI revolution. Inference work is also just more power-efficient.
3. Hut 8
Last but not least, add Hut 8 (NASDAQ: HUT) to your list of growth stocks to buy as the AI movement's underlying infrastructure continues to expand.
It's not a household name. In fact, you've probably never heard of it. That's OK, though. Many of the market's very biggest winners were unknowns in their infancy.
With nothing more than a quick look, this company appears to be one of a handful of early Bitcoin mining specialists that have since repurposed their well-suited infrastructure into AI-capable data centers. And it seems that way because that's precisely what Hut 8 has done. In addition to its five basic ASIC computing sites, it's got one AI facility under construction.
What makes Hut 8 unique, however, is that it's rebuilding itself from the ground up to not only be able to provide power for its own facilities but also to sell electricity to other users. As of the end of last year, the company was managing a portfolio of over 1,000 megawatts' worth of power production, as well as currently building more than 300 megawatts' worth of capacity, in addition to the 1,200 megawatts' worth of projects currently in developmental plans. (For perspective, 1 megawatt is enough electricity to power a couple hundred ordinary homes.)
It's admittedly an unusual mix of businesses. It's also a savvy one, though. If there's anything the AI data center industry now laments, it's a lack of self-sufficiency and the subsequent dependency on utility companies for increasingly expensive electricity. A close-second regret is not even being able to purchase needed power from utility companies in the first place, since many of them just don't have enough electricity to offer data center operators at any price.
The current version of Hut 8 is still in its infancy -- and is still reporting losses -- making it the riskiest of the three AI infrastructure plays in focus here.
Hut 8 is clearly moving in a positive direction, though. Last year's top line of $235 million is 45% better than 2024's revenue, en route to comparable sales growth this year and next.
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James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, DigitalOcean, and Vertiv. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Source: “AOL Money”
