Top 3 AI Infrastructure Stocks to Own in 2026
The AI data center buildout remains intact.
This is a multi-year opportunity.
Here are the top 3 AI infrastructure stocks to own in 2026.
Here’s the truth. Stocks have decoupled from traditional sector allocations. Over the past year plus, thematic capital deployment has taken over.
The AI trade is vast, covering 5 layers:
- Facility & infrastructure
- Power
- Cooling
- Compute & Memory
- Networking & connectivity
Here’s an illustration of the layers of an AI data center:
Last week we highlighted 3 data center stocks to consider in 2026. Each company profiled resides in layers 4 & 5.
Today, we’ll outline stocks residing in layers 1, 2, & 3.
With NVIDIA’s (NVDA) beat and raise last night, the AI trade is far from over.
You just need to be invested in the right themes.
Said another way, you just need to own the stocks loved by institutional investors.
Let’s unpack 3 important companies in the AI ecosystem.
Top 3 AI Infrastructure Stocks to Own in 2026
Layer 1 includes the actual infrastructure built from the ground up. This includes land, buildings, and the physical structures.
The first top AI infrastructure stock to own in 2026 is Sterling Infrastructure (STRL). The $23 billion market cap construction firm deals in E-infrastructure, transportation, highways, roads, drainage and more.
The stock is up a staggering 145% YTD.
A huge reason is due to their recent stunning Q1 earnings report.
Sterling saw revenues surge to $825.7 million vs $603.6 million street estimates! EPS came in at $3.59 vs $2.28 estimates.
Even more, they raised their full year EPS guidance to $18.725 compared to the $13.73 expected from Wall Street.
This was one of the biggest beats this earnings season.
Below I’ve plotted annual sales estimates for STRL. Note how FY 2026 sales have slingshot to $3.78 billion.
FY 2028 sales were revised higher to $5.62 billion:
When business is booming and accelerating, you can bet that smart investors will be bidding the stock up ahead of these rosy numbers.
That’s exactly the case with STRL.
Below highlights how Sterling sports a rock-solid MAP score of 79.3.
More importantly, discrete inflows were detected in July of last year when the shares were $222.
Sterling has made our elite Outlier 20 list a total of 9 times since. This is the power of tracking money flows:
Data is beautiful…and profitable!
Let’s do another.
Layer 2 of an AI data center includes power and energy.
The second top AI infrastructure stock to own in 2026 is nVent Electric (NVT). The $27 billion market cap power player offers solutions to support data centers, utilities, energy storage, and more.
NVT shares have surged 58% YTD.
nVent’s latest earnings report was a stunner. Not only did Q1 beat and raise, but their Q2 guide was impressive.
For Q2 the company guided sales to +29% at the midpoint vs. +18.2% estimated by analysts. This implies revenues of around $1.25 billion.
Their full-year EPS guide amounted to $4.50 (midpoint) vs prior guide of $4.20.
Note the FY EPS estimates for 2026 – 2028.
FY 2028 EPS is projected to jump to $6.50:
These trends prove the big multi-year opportunity ahead for AI-levered companies.
But don’t invest blindly.
Validate your thesis with money flows.
Here we can see non-stop inflows beginning last summer at a price of $69. Also note the blue bars (right) indicating how this is a top-ranked stock.
Few companies have institutional footprints like this:
The squiggly lines on charts are driven by institutional order flow.
Make sure you’re on the right side of the flows!
Layer 3 of AI data centers is all about cooling.
The number 3 AI infrastructure stock to own in 2026 is Vertiv (VRT). The $121 billion market cap firm designs and manufactures thermal management products, rack systems and more.
The stock has nearly doubled with 94% gains in 2026.
Their Q1 EPS easily beat, coming in at a cool $1.17 vs $1 estimates.
For the full year 2026, they guided sales of $13.75 billion (midpoint) vs. $13.63 billion projected by analysts.
But look out further. This is a 2028 story.
Below I’ve plotted FY EPS estimates for 2026 – 2028.
This year’s EPS is projected to reach $6.43 and soar to $10.96 in 2028:
Keep investing simple.
Focus on growing earnings…and stocks loved by institutional investors.
Vertiv shares reveal healthy accumulation over the past year.
That’s the stairway to heaven formation!
The AI data center buildout is in full swing.
It’s not slowing down any time soon.
Make sure your portfolio is positioned in the names leading this revolution.
Be early next time…with MoneyFlows.
Our PRO subscription brings our daily flows to you every morning.
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This is the report that has found EVERY SINGLE ONE of our Outlier stocks.
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Lastly, don’t miss my in-depth conversation with Jason Bodner on these 3 companies and more. Tune if every Thursday at 9AM ET on YouTube.
You’ll learn our process that allows us to spot all-star stocks, EARLY.
Enjoy!