The artificial intelligence investment game is changing. While tech giants spent 2025 pouring money into new data centers, a different set of companies ended up stealing the show, the ones making the basic equipment these facilities need to operate.

Storage companies grabbed the top spots on the S&P 500 Index this year. Sandisk Corp. shot up nearly 580%, taking first place. Western Digital Corp. came in second, and Seagate Technology Holdings Plc landed in fourth. Companies providing power and connectivity, Amphenol Corp., Corning Inc., NRG Energy Inc., and GE Vernova Inc., made it into the top 25 according to Bloomberg’s data.

This is different from the past few years. Nvidia Corp., the original pick-and-shovel name in AI, used to dominate the index’s best performers. The chipmaker went up 40 percent in 2025 but ended up ranked 71st among the benchmark’s top stocks. The big cloud companies, Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., and Alphabet Inc., still drive things because they’re huge, but their percentage gains have cooled off.

Jake Seltz manages portfolios at Allspring Global Investments. “When the benchmarks are fairly concentrated, it’s important to look for themes that are gonna drive sales and earnings growth,” he said. “AI is kind of one of those dominant themes right now, that’s nothing new. So we’re just looking, broadening our horizons beyond tech.”

Finding value beyond tech giants

There’s room to grow and better prices if you invest in companies set to benefit from the billions hyperscalers are spending on building data centers.

Matt Sallee manages portfolios at Tortoise Capital Advisors. His firm doesn’t own any hyperscaler shares. “What we are focused on are the picks and shovels of where that money is being spent,” he said. “The chips to a degree, but more so some of the names that you haven’t really heard of.”

Some people on Wall Street worry the spending could slow down, which would reverse the gains in AI-related stocks. It’s kind of like what happened during the pandemic with basic health supplies.

“Covid hit and this world needed way more face masks, hand sanitizer, all those things,” said Jed Ellerbroek, Argent Capital Management portfolio manager. But within six to 12 months, there was too much of everything, and “those businesses that supplied those things went from the best times ever to the absolute worst times ever.”

But investors are staying bullish on the AI trade since the hyperscalers keep saying they’ll spend. Here’s what people are buying right now.

Wall Street thinks storage will stay hot in 2026 after Sandisk, Western Digital, and Seagate surged this year. But the good times for 2025’s winners might be wrapping up. Analysts see Sandisk hitting $264 in 2026, which is only about 8 percent higher than where it sits now at around $244.

Pure Storage Inc. looks like it has more upside. It’s trading at $68, but analysts think it’ll reach $94 in 2026—a 38 percent jump. Other digital storage names tied to AI include NetApp Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc.

A bunch of stocks connected to building and powering data centers should keep running. Sallee from Tortoise Capital likes Quanta Services Inc., which does specialized work for utilities and telecommunications companies. Other contractors include MYR Group Inc., Primoris Services Corp., and MasTec Inc.

Wiring companies are getting attention, too. Amphenol designs and makes high-speed fiber and copper connections used in data centers. Emcor Group Inc. does mechanical and electrical construction. Other power infrastructure names include Vistra Corp., Constellation Energy Corp., GE Vernova, and Generac Holdings Inc., which makes backup generators.

Bitcoin miners making the pivot to AI

Bitcoin miners represent a “total revaluation story”, as previously reported by Cryptopolitan, as they pivot from mining cryptocurrency to powering data centers. “They have the electricity already, they’ve had it for five-plus years to produce Bitcoin,” Sallee said. “They’re going to redirect that electricity to higher-value, long-term contracts for high-performance computing hosting.”

Companies here include Bitdeer Technologies Group. Its shares jumped in October after the company said it would move further into AI. Shares of IREN Ltd., Cipher Mining Inc., Riot Platforms Inc., and WhiteFiber Inc. have gotten a boost from plans to convert to high-performance computing data centers.

Data centers need specialized heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Vertiv Holdings Co. provides power systems and cooling solutions for data centers. It’s up 46 percent in 2025 and worth watching. Eaton Corp. is another power management firm that overlaps with Vertiv but isn’t as focused, according to Seltz.

Other names include Comfort Systems USA Inc., which installs and maintains HVAC systems. Water providers include Xylem Inc., Ecolab Inc., and American Water Works Co.

Some investors with longer views are watching software companies as future AI beneficiaries as language models get better and more applications get built.

Melissa Otto heads technology, media, and telecommunications research at Visible Alpha. “Investors are, I think, naturally inclined to look for companies that have cheaper valuations with terrific magnitude of growth that are potentially gonna really benefit from the application of AI,” she said.

Software stocks haven’t done as well this year. The S&P 500 Software Industry Index is up 12 percent in 2025 compared with a 17 percent gain in the overall benchmark. But that’s made the valuations look better.

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