Goldman Sachs recently predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure spending could climb to between $920 billion and $1.4 trillion next year, up from the more than $700 billion expected to be spent this year. Those are some huge numbers, and there undoubtedly will be some nice winners in the space.
Let's look at three under-the-radar AI stock winners set to benefit from this surge in data center capital expenditures (capex).
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1. Alphabet
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) is set to be both one of the big spenders and winners when it comes to AI infrastructure spending. The company plans to spend between $180 billion and $190 billion this year, with a significant increase in 2027. However, if there is any company that should be pushing up its capex spending, it's Alphabet.
The reason is that the company currently has a significant cost advantage with its tensor processing units (TPUs). By being less reliant on Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) than its competitors, it is getting more bang for its buck with its AI infrastructure spending. This lets it train its Gemini model at significantly lower cost than peers and also save huge costs on inference. In many cases, this can also help provide it with a better return with Google Cloud, which is growing rapidly.
Alphabet's TPUs have become so well regarded that it is now allowing select customers, such as Anthropic, to place orders directly with co-developer partner Broadcom. This adds another high-margin revenue stream for Alphabet. Between this and its TPU cost advantage, this is a stock set to win from surging data center capex.
2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
AI chip spending is now not only going up, but it is also widening. That's great news for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM). Whether the spending is going to GPUs, custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) like Alphabet's TPUs, or high-performance central processing units (CPUs), this all benefits TSMC, which has a virtual monopoly in the manufacturing of advanced logic chips.
While chip designers will inevitably look to second source their manufacturing base if possible, right now they are beholden to TSMC, as it is the only foundry that has both the scale and expertise to produce advanced logic chips in mass quantities with high yields (few defects). This has made the company an integral partner with leading chip designers, who must turn to TSMC not only for help securing capacity but also for planning their entire chip roadmaps. As more chip companies fight to secure fab capacity, this benefits TSMC, which has already shown it has strong pricing power. Recent reports indicate the company will raise prices on its newer 3nm chips by 15% later this year.