AI Stocks Retreat, But The AI Revolution Is Firmly Intact

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash


AI Growth is Still in the Early Innings…According to a report by Bloomberg Intelligence, “The generative AI market is poised to explode, growing to $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years from a market size of just $40 billion in 2022.

Growth could expand at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 42%, driven by training infrastructure in the near-term and gradually shifting to inference devices for large language models, digital ads, specialized software and services in the medium to long term.”

In other words, AI will continue providing significant profit opportunities for the foreseeable future, despite short-term fluctuations. You can still get in relatively early.

Many of the stocks with the greatest upside potential are unknown or overlooked by countless investors.


AI Requires Data Centers

Data centers are integral to the AI buildout because they yield the computational power and storage necessary for training and deploying large language models like OpenAI and Microsoft’s ChatGPT, and Alphabet’s Gemini at scale. Running an LLM requires facilities that house numerous servers and specialized hardware optimized for tasks such as deep learning. Unfortunately, these complex systems require a ton of energy due to their intense processing demands and the persistent need for temperature (cooling) regulation.


Data Centers = “Hockey Stick” Growth Trajectory

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is just starting to skyrocket from $40 billion to $1.3 TRILLION in revenue in 10 years, igniting many tech stocks along the way. Today, you can be among the first to Zacks’ newest stock that will be revealed Monday morning. It could have much more upside than even NVIDIA through the end of 2025.

Special opportunity ends at midnight Sunday, May 11.


Global Data Center Market Insights Forecasts to 2032

• The Global Data Center Market Size was valued at USD 279.53 Billion in 2022
• The Market is Growing at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2023 to 2032
• The Worldwide Data Center Market Size is expected to reach USD 565.49 Billion by 2032
• Asia-Pacific is expected to Grow the fastest during the forecast period


Cloud and AI Compete Vie for Data Center Dominance

While the hype is rightfully focused on the AI revolution, cloud companies require data center bandwidth. In fact, Google’s cloud services have exploded in recent years, and the cloud segment posted $12.3 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, few casual observers realize that Amazon’s AWS cloud generates more revenue than its e-commerce business! The company reported $29.3 billion in cloud revenue in Q1.


During a Gold Rush, Sell the Shovels

With so much competition in a high-growth market, it can muddle the picture for investors. For example, thousands of companies went bankrupt during the internet craze, while only a few became dominant. How can investors parse through the noise?


“During a gold rush, sell shovels.”

Samuel Brannan became the first millionaire of the Gold Rush, but not for the reasons you might expect. Brannan capitalized on the frenzy by providing miners with shovels, picks, and pans.
When oil fracking exploded a handful of years ago, an unexpected industry took off: RV makers; because fracking took place in remote locations with little housing, companies like Winnebago Industries (WGO) took off as oil companies filled the housing void using RVs.


Energy Needs are Set to Soar

Data center share of U.S. electricity usage is growing, accelerated by Artificial Intelligence. Electricity consumption is set to explode, tripling by 2030, according to research by Boston Consulting Group. Industry experts anticipate that data center electricity will equate to 7.5% of domestic energy use and will be the equivalent to the electricity used by one-third of U.S. homes in a year.


China Vs. US Rivalry

While the United States has a slim lead versus China in the AI race, China is dominating the AI energy race. Today, China has 3x the electricity production capacity (~3 terawatts vs 1 tw). By 2050, China anticipates that it will nearly triple capacity to 8.7 tws vs ~2 tws in the United States. Meanwhile, China’s energy is much more efficient and it has 26 nuclear reactors under construction with plans to add hundreds more. The Trump administration has said winning the AI race is imperative to national security.

Without energy, the AI race is automatically lost. In my view, the most certain and juiciest risk/reward proposition lies in powering the AI revolution.


More By This Author:

Unpacking The High Stakes US-China AI Energy Race
Are Tariff Concerns Overblown?
Tesla: Exploring The March 2020 Precedent

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks/funds mentioned in this article, and have no plan to initiate exposure in any stocks/funds mentioned in this article in the next 48 hours. I wrote this ...

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