The first wave of the AI boom made chipmakers the stars. Now, in the second wave, the companies that worked behind the scenes—building the power, cooling, and optical connections—are getting their turn in the spotlight. It is time for Vertiv (VRT), Lumentum (LITE), and Applied Digital (APLD) to shine. All three are exposed to different parts of the AI infrastructure buildout. According to IDC, the global AI infrastructure spending is expected to surpass $1 trillion by 2029.
And each of these could look like a substantially stronger business by 2029 if today's massive infrastructure spending continues to translate into new data centers and increasingly demanding AI systems.