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Watch These 5 Non-Tech Stocks Thriving in 2026 on AI Data Center Boom
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Key Takeaways
ETN is seeing strong AI data center demand, with Electrical Americas revenues up about 50% YoY.
CAT plans to double output as data center power demand drives strong engine order levels.
GEV benefits from AI-driven needs for gas turbines, grid upgrades and new power capacity.
The artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy remains intact as the AI infrastructure space remains rock solid, supported by an extremely bullish demand scenario. Research firm McKinsey & Co. has estimated that global AI-powered data center infrastructure capex will reach around $7 trillion by 2030.
The four major hyperscalers raised their AI capital expenditure budget to $750 billion in 2026 from $670 billion estimated earlier. This figure is set to cross $1 trillion next year and is likely to rise further beyond 2027.
Besides tech stocks, several non-tech stocks are also flourishing this year supported by massive AI-powered data center infrastructure requirements. At this stage, we have identified five stocks that investors should keep a tab on for long-term price appreciation.
The chart below shows the price performance of the five stocks mentioned above year to date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Eaton Corp. plc
Eaton is benefiting from strong electrification-driven demand, reflected in rising orders and an expanding backlog. The move toward higher-density AI infrastructure increases demand for grid-to-chip power and cooling solutions, which fits ETN’s electrical portfolio and recent cooling acquisition.
In first-quarter 2026, Electrical Americas data center revenues increased about 50% year over year, and management highlighted the Eaton Beam Rubin DSX platform developed with NVIDIA as an end-to-end blueprint for AI factories.
ETN also discussed progress toward direct-current architectures and solid-state transformer development, including quoting on higher-voltage DC projects and expecting orders in the second half of 2026 for later shipments.
Eaton has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 15.3% and 10.4%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.2% in the last 30 days.
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar is gaining from rising AI data-center-related power demand. As big technology companies establish data centers globally to support their generative AI applications, CAT is witnessing robust order levels for reciprocating engines for data centers. The company is planning to double its output with a multi-year capital investment.
CAT has also revised its target of growing Power Generation sales to more than 3.0X from the earlier stated 2.0X target by 2030. CAT announced another agreement to provide PROPWR up to 2.1 gigawatts of large gas generator sets for prime power generation in support of data center, oil and gas and industrial applications.
Caterpillar has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 13.2% and 29.4%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 7.8% in the last 30 days.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
Freeport-McMoRan has been benefiting significantly from the massive growth of AI-powered data centers. FCX is a leading copper mining entity. The AI-powered data centers required a huge amount of copper, which is an essential component of power distribution, cooling networks, and dense server interconnections.
FCX’s mining operations are - North America copper mines, South America mining, Indonesia mining and Molybdenum. FCX’s copper production for 2025 was 3,383 million pounds. Indonesia, North America and South America accounted for roughly 39%, 31% and 30% of its copper production, respectively, in 2025.
Freeport-McMoRan has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 5.1% and 44.6%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.4% in the last 60 days.
GE Vernova Inc.
GE Vernova stands to gain from global nuclear power energy momentum, particularly through its strong forte in producing SMRs. GEV cemented its standing as one of the biggest long-term winners in the AI-boosted energy boom across nuclear, natural gas, electrification, and grid expansion.
The rapid buildout of AI data centers is forcing utilities to upgrade transmission networks and add new generation capacity, especially natural gas plants that can provide reliable baseload power. This trend is creating strong demand for GEV’s gas turbines and grid solutions.
GE Vernova has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 19.1% and 71.9%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.2% in the last 30 days.
Alcoa Corp.
Alcoa could be a potential dark horse for the AI-driven data center boom. Several critical data center units like cooling towers, server racks, radiators and many more are made out of aluminum. Solar panels, wind turbines and climatization units inside data centers are also built with aluminum.
The external economies of scale that AI-powered data centers will create for aluminum and other metal industries have not yet been revealed. Moreover, Alcoa is considering unlocking value from selling its temporarily or permanently closed sites with large existing power capacities, to big techs to convert them into AI data centers.
Alcoa has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 22% and more than 100%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 8.5% over the last 30 days.
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Watch These 5 Non-Tech Stocks Thriving in 2026 on AI Data Center Boom
Key Takeaways
The artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy remains intact as the AI infrastructure space remains rock solid, supported by an extremely bullish demand scenario. Research firm McKinsey & Co. has estimated that global AI-powered data center infrastructure capex will reach around $7 trillion by 2030.
The four major hyperscalers raised their AI capital expenditure budget to $750 billion in 2026 from $670 billion estimated earlier. This figure is set to cross $1 trillion next year and is likely to rise further beyond 2027.
Besides tech stocks, several non-tech stocks are also flourishing this year supported by massive AI-powered data center infrastructure requirements. At this stage, we have identified five stocks that investors should keep a tab on for long-term price appreciation.
These stocks are: Eaton Corp. plc (ETN - Free Report) , Caterpillar Inc. (CAT - Free Report) , Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX - Free Report) , GE Vernova Inc. (GEV - Free Report) and Alcoa Corp. (AA - Free Report) . Each of these stocks currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of the five stocks mentioned above year to date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Eaton Corp. plc
Eaton is benefiting from strong electrification-driven demand, reflected in rising orders and an expanding backlog. The move toward higher-density AI infrastructure increases demand for grid-to-chip power and cooling solutions, which fits ETN’s electrical portfolio and recent cooling acquisition.
In first-quarter 2026, Electrical Americas data center revenues increased about 50% year over year, and management highlighted the Eaton Beam Rubin DSX platform developed with NVIDIA as an end-to-end blueprint for AI factories.
ETN also discussed progress toward direct-current architectures and solid-state transformer development, including quoting on higher-voltage DC projects and expecting orders in the second half of 2026 for later shipments.
Eaton has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 15.3% and 10.4%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.2% in the last 30 days.
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar is gaining from rising AI data-center-related power demand. As big technology companies establish data centers globally to support their generative AI applications, CAT is witnessing robust order levels for reciprocating engines for data centers. The company is planning to double its output with a multi-year capital investment.
CAT has also revised its target of growing Power Generation sales to more than 3.0X from the earlier stated 2.0X target by 2030. CAT announced another agreement to provide PROPWR up to 2.1 gigawatts of large gas generator sets for prime power generation in support of data center, oil and gas and industrial applications.
Caterpillar has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 13.2% and 29.4%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 7.8% in the last 30 days.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
Freeport-McMoRan has been benefiting significantly from the massive growth of AI-powered data centers. FCX is a leading copper mining entity. The AI-powered data centers required a huge amount of copper, which is an essential component of power distribution, cooling networks, and dense server interconnections.
FCX’s mining operations are - North America copper mines, South America mining, Indonesia mining and Molybdenum. FCX’s copper production for 2025 was 3,383 million pounds. Indonesia, North America and South America accounted for roughly 39%, 31% and 30% of its copper production, respectively, in 2025.
Freeport-McMoRan has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 5.1% and 44.6%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.4% in the last 60 days.
GE Vernova Inc.
GE Vernova stands to gain from global nuclear power energy momentum, particularly through its strong forte in producing SMRs. GEV cemented its standing as one of the biggest long-term winners in the AI-boosted energy boom across nuclear, natural gas, electrification, and grid expansion.
The rapid buildout of AI data centers is forcing utilities to upgrade transmission networks and add new generation capacity, especially natural gas plants that can provide reliable baseload power. This trend is creating strong demand for GEV’s gas turbines and grid solutions.
GE Vernova has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 19.1% and 71.9%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.2% in the last 30 days.
Alcoa Corp.
Alcoa could be a potential dark horse for the AI-driven data center boom. Several critical data center units like cooling towers, server racks, radiators and many more are made out of aluminum. Solar panels, wind turbines and climatization units inside data centers are also built with aluminum.
The external economies of scale that AI-powered data centers will create for aluminum and other metal industries have not yet been revealed. Moreover, Alcoa is considering unlocking value from selling its temporarily or permanently closed sites with large existing power capacities, to big techs to convert them into AI data centers.
Alcoa has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 22% and more than 100%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 8.5% over the last 30 days.