A popular saying in professional sports is that Father Time is undefeated. The clock stops for no professional athlete. The same can be true of today’s data center architecture.
A a recent JPMorgan Chase report says that more than 60% of the data center capacity planned for 2027 has not been started. Another 7% of projects under construction are delayed due to supply chain failures, enabling constraints, and power shortages.
Investors focused on FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) argue that the exodus of technology stocks, especially hyperscaler stocks, is evidence that the data center story is falling apart.
But the latest earnings season has challenged that view. The need is real. The money is donated. Last quarter, the big four hyperscalers increased their combined AI spending to $750 billion this calendar year. That demand is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2027.
But one thing investors can’t control is the time it takes to build data centers. The story has gone beyond spades.
Data Center Backlog Shares Could Be Bigger AI Trades
The biggest possible reason for the selloff is the turnover of companies that are important in filling this backlog. Companies that provide the equipment needed to build new facilities will benefit greatly.
Another option for investors is to look at exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to data center infrastructure. One example is the Global X US Infrastructure Development ETF BATS: PAVEwhich is up 22% by 2026 as of this writing.
However, investors can do better by investing in individual stocks within these funds. That can provide the opportunity for returns that outperform the market and, in some cases, returns that can exceed the performance of a single fund.
Eaton Transforms AI Data Center Spending on Back-end Growth
Eaton Today
- 52 week interval
- $311.92
▼
$436.74
- Dividend Yield
- 1.08%
- The P/E ratio
- 40.10
- Target Value
- $420.95
Eaton NYSE: ETN sells the electrical gut inside the AI data center. Consider switchgear, UPS systems, bus lanes, and power distribution units that connect the grid to server racks. The numbers for Q1 2026 tell the story. In Eaton’s Electrical Americas division, data center orders increased nearly 240% year-over-year, while data center revenue for the segment grew nearly 50%.
That growth is likely to accelerate. Eaton closed acquisition of Boyd Thermal to expand into liquid cooling. The company also collaborates with NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA in the Beam Rubin DSX area of AI industries. Also, the planned Reverse Morris Trust deal will come from Eaton’s Mobility Group. That leaves the highly focused electrical and aerospace business squarely aligned with the need for AI to build.
The ETN is up 28% year to date, putting it within 5% of its consensus price. However, since the company’s Q1 2026 earnings report, analysts have been aggressively raising their price.
Why Quanta Services Offers Clear Backlog Visibility
Quanta Services Today
Quanta Services
- 52 week interval
- $363.01
▼
$788.75
- Dividend Yield
- 0.06%
- The P/E ratio
- 96.91
- Target Value
- $733.87
Quanta Services NYSE: PWR perform the physical work that transforms the data center site plan into delivered power. The company builds high voltage lines, substations, and load centers. At its 2026 investor day, management projected a market that could reach 2.4 billion in 2030.
The backlog supports that prediction. Quanta exited Q4 with a backlog of $44 billion, up 27.5% year over year. Management is now targeting annual EPS growth of 15% to 20% (earnings per share) through 2030. Internal training programs build a pipeline of skilled workers that smaller competitors struggle to match. That gives PWR pricing power as electricians and electricians are in short supply.
PWR is up more than 65% year to date, and like the ETN, is within about 5% of its consensus price. But analyst sentiment is bullish, and the chart is building, supported by the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) and the MACD at the top of the pullback.
Vertiv Turns AI Heat and Power Demand into Backend Growth
Vertiv Today
- 52 week interval
- $110.06
▼
$379.93
- Dividend Yield
- 0.08%
- The P/E ratio
- 78.59
- Target Value
- $326.39
Vertiv NYSE: VRT sells energy and thermal infrastructure within the building. When Quanta shuts down the grid, Vertiv’s UPS systems, switchgear, racks, and liquid cooling take over. About 75% of revenue now comes from data center customers. Q1 2026 revenue grew 30% to $2.65 billion. The project backlog has doubled to more than $15 billion.
Management raised its full-year guidance to $13.5 to $14 billion in net sales. The recent acquisitions of Strategic Thermal Labs and ThermoKey expand Vertiv from chip-level cold plates to facility heat rejection. Vertiv has also been named a Tier 1 partner in the Hut 8’s NASDAQ: HUT gigawatt-scale Beacon Point AI campus. Each hyperscaler win reinforces the picks and shovels thesis.
VRT is up more than 95% in 2026 and is trading within 5% of its consensus price. The company also has the most mixed analyst image of the three stocks on this list. But investors willing to play the long game should consider VRT’s potential for strong dividend growth in the coming years.
Before you consider Eaton, you’ll want to hear this.
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