You can’t scroll through a financial news feed today without seeing a headline about a major market segment, be it tech or industrials, getting completely reshaped by artificial intelligence.
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“A few years ago, data centers were built mainly to store files and run software,” says Tejas Dessai, director of thematic research at Global X ETFs, which manages the Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF (ticker: DTCR). “Today, they are being redesigned as AI factories that run advanced workloads around the clock.”
Think of it this way: AI is the brain, and the data center is the nervous system. The explosive growth of AI has created an insatiable demand for powerful data centers.
The challenge, he says, is keeping up with this demand, especially when building new data centers is becoming more difficult “due to permitting hurdles, power delays and grid infrastructure bottlenecks.”
This supply-demand imbalance is further intensified by the fact that “AI is expected to drive an explosion in data creation, so storing and processing that data will require substantial new data center capacity,” he says.
All of this leads to a key reality for investors: “The market is underappreciating the data center and digital infrastructure theme against this backdrop,” Dessai says. So, now could well be the time to capitalize on the data center and AI theme.
If you’re seeking the clearest, most direct way to invest in the AI revolution, you need to look beyond the graphics processing unit (GPU) makers and go straight to the powerhouse infrastructure that makes AI possible: data centers.
“Investors typically get exposure to AI through a handful of mega-cap technology names,” Dessai says. “But there is a lot more to the AI infrastructure story.”
Companies are increasing their data center spending so fast it’s difficult to keep up with current estimates. In fact, consensus estimates for capital expenditures by the “Magnificent Seven” and other top hyperscalers have been revised sharply higher. Investors can now expect these tech giants to pour upwards of $674 billion into AI and data center investments in fiscal 2026, according to Wall Street analysts.
Looking at the long-term horizon, the Dell’Oro Group — an independent market research firm specializing in data center infrastructure — forecasts that global data center capital expenditure will reach a staggering $1.7 trillion by 2029 in their latest estimates. That’s $500 billion higher than they projected for the timeframe in August of last year.
That kind of spending is bound to have huge knock-on effects on the U.S. and global economies. After all, building new data centers and upgrading old ones to handle AI involves the industrial sector, materials, utilities, energy, defense companies, real estate and, of course, the communications, information and technology sectors. Nearly the entire market is — directly or indirectly — benefiting from the ongoing data center boom.
Not just any data center stock, exchange-traded fund or real estate investment trust will do, however. Here are seven of the best data center stocks, ETFs and REITs to buy now:
| STOCK, ETF OR REIT | MARKET CAPITALIZATION | FORWARD DIVIDEND YIELD |
| Equinix (EQIX) | $110 billion | 1.7% |
| Digital Realty Trust (DLR) | $71 billion | 2.4% |
| Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) | $5.1 trillion | 0.02% |
| Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) | $2 trillion | 0.6% |
| Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) | $2.8 trillion | 0% |
| Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF (DTCR) | $1.6 billion* | 1.6%** |
| VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) | $55.7 billion* | 0.2%** |
*Total assets, rather than market capitalization, are listed for this fund.
**30-day SEC yield.
Equinix Inc. (EQIX)
Equinix is the largest data center REIT in the world. The company has a market cap of $110 billion and operates more than 280 data centers on six continents. This includes facilities and hyperscale data centers in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
Equinix centers act as a neutral “meet-me room” where the world’s major networks, cloud providers — such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud — and enterprises physically and virtually connect. This concentration of partners creates a powerful network effect, making it difficult for competitors to replicate and driving consistent customer retention.
Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
DLR is a global REIT and one of the largest dedicated providers of data center solutions. While Equinix dominates the interconnection market, DLR is the leader in offering massive, power-heavy facilities for the world’s biggest cloud providers, such as AWS, Google Cloud and Azure, to run their core infrastructure.
The company’s platform, PlatformDIGITAL, spans more than 300 data centers globally and serves over half of Fortune 500 companies. It provides move-in-ready data center suites or build-to-suit models and the specialized power and liquid cooling solutions to support AI’s high-performance computing.
Fourth quarter 2025 earnings were strong, with revenue up 14% year over year to $1.6 billion and net income of $96 million. Morningstar expects AI to be the largest driver of revenue growth over the coming five years and the premium pricing on AI-enabled data centers to help improve profitability for Digital Realty.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
Nvidia has become the gravitational center of the AI hardware universe. At its March GTC conference, CEO Jensen Huang said he expects at least $1 trillion in revenue from 2025 through 2027, saying the demand for the company’s GPUs is “off the charts.”
“There is simply no slowdown in AI spending or development on the horizon,” writes Morningstar senior equity analyst Brian Colello, who covers the stock. “The $1 trillion forecast implies both a stellar fiscal 2027 (effectively calendar 2026) and much more than $500 billion of data center revenue in fiscal 2028.”
As a result of these new estimates, he raised NVDA’s fair value estimate to $260 per share, up from $240 per share. NVDA closed at $199.64 on April 23.
Revenue in the fiscal year 2026 was $215.9 billion, a 65% increase. The company also reported record data center quarterly revenue in the fourth quarter of $62.3 billion, 75% higher than in the previous year. For investors, Nvidia isn’t just riding the AI wave; it’s shaping the shoreline.
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO)
Broadcom sits at the center of the AI-infrastructure boom by quietly dominating the plumbing that makes hyperscale data centers actually work. The company is facing competition from MediaTek, and most recently Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL), which may be creating two new chips for Google, one of Broadcom’s customers. Yet Morningstar senior equity analyst William Kerwin doesn’t see this as bad news for Broadcom.
“We don’t see these as materially affecting its growth,” he writes. “We project Broadcom to keep 90% of Google’s (tensor processing unit) supply and already expect some incremental share for MediaTek as a second source.”
He gives AVGO a $500 fair value estimate, implying strong upside from its $419.94 close on April 23.
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Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
Amazon is leaning hard into the next phase of cloud and AI infrastructure, and its latest annual results show why. Revenue rose 12% year over year to $717 billion for fiscal year 2025. AWS revenue alone was $129 billion for the year, a 20% increase over the previous year.
“AI is not a standalone initiative — it’s a multiplier,” Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy said in the 2025 annual report. “It will reshape every customer experience we offer and unlock entirely new ones.”
He calls AI a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where current growth is unprecedented and the future growth even bigger.” As a result, the company expects to spend around $200 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, most of which will be spent on AI infrastructure.
Morningstar gives the stock a fair value estimate of $260, a smidge higher than its closing price of $255.08 on April 23. It also has a wide economic moat and “exemplary” capital allocation, according to the analysts.
Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF (DTCR)
When investing in any new industry or hot sector, diversification is often the best approach. A single stock may have incredible returns one year, then stagnate or fall the next as it battles fierce competitors. Why put all your bets on one company or REIT, when you could invest in two dozen? This is what DTCR provides.
“DTCR offers exposure to the broader data center and digital infrastructure buildout, which typically includes smaller independent data center operators,” Dessai says. “This encompasses companies directly involved in owning, operating and supplying the infrastructure behind AI and cloud growth, not just the hyperscalers most investors already know.” Think of them as the “toll booths” of the AI economy, he says.
This data center ETF holds 25 of these companies. You’ll also get professional management to ensure your portfolio keeps up with the ever-changing tides in the data center and AI industries. The downside is that the price of this diversification and professional management is a 0.5% expense ratio.
“For investors who likely are already exposed to mega-cap AI leaders, this could be a complementary way to participate in the AI cycle,” Dessai says.
VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH)
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF provides broad exposure to the chipmakers powering the AI and data center boom. It tracks an index of leading semiconductor companies, with top holdings including Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM) and Broadcom. These are the firms designing and manufacturing the GPUs, custom AI chips and networking hardware essential to modern data centers.
SMH is highly concentrated with only 26 holdings. That concentration can increase volatility, but it also gives investors targeted exposure to the companies benefiting most directly from surging demand for compute power. The fund is also highly liquid, with around 8.8 million shares trading hands each day. This is important in ETFs as it helps ensure you get a fair price and can find a buyer when you’re ready to sell.
So, if you want diversified access to the AI data center theme without having to cherry-pick individual winners, SMH provides a straightforward way to tap into the backbone of the AI economy.
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7 Best Data Center Stocks, ETFs and REITs to Buy originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 04/24/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
