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.
“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,” Dessai 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.
How to Invest in Data Centers and Hyperscalers
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 repeatedly revised higher as the year progresses. Investors can now expect these tech giants to pour north of $765 billion into AI and data center investments in fiscal 2026, according to the latest estimates by Goldman Sachs.
And it’s expected to keep on growing: By 2031, analysts estimate AI spend will be $1.6 trillion per year. That accumulates to a whopping $7.6 trillion in AI capital expenditure between 2026 and 2031.
Forecasts from the Dell’Oro Group – an independent market research firm specializing in data center infrastructure – are even higher. It expects global data center IT capital expenditure will exceed $1 trillion this 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 |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc. (DLR) | $67.7 billion | 2.5% |
| Iron Mountain Inc. (IRM) | $38.3 billion | 2.6% |
| Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) | $4.7 trillion | 0.5% |
| Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) | $2.6 trillion | 0% |
| Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) | $1.8 trillion | 0.7% |
| Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT) | $117.4 billion | 0.1% |
| Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF (DTCR) | $2.1 billion* | 1.1%** |
*Net assets, rather than market capitalization, are listed for this fund.
**30-day SEC yield.
Digital Realty Trust Inc. (DLR)
Digital Realty is a global REIT that claims to be the world’s largest data center platform. Its PlatformDigital spans more than 300 data centers globally and serves over half of Fortune 500 companies, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Digital Realty kicked off 2026 strong with first-quarter revenue of $1.6 billion, a 16% increase over the first quarter of 2025. It also signed the largest hyperscale lease in company history, helping to foster double-digit growth in its constant-currency core funds from operations (FFO) per share. This contributed to it raising its full-year core FFO outlook, suggesting AI demand is translating into stronger demand for data center platforms.
Iron Mountain began as a record storage company, but its data center business is becoming an increasingly important part of its business. The REIT now gives investors exposure to a unique mix of traditional storage, digital services, asset lifecycle management and data center capacity. And that mix is serving Iron Mountain well.
The company reported first quarter 2026 revenue of $1.9 billion, up 21.6% year over year. Meanwhile, its growth businesses – data center, digital and asset lifecycle management – grew more than 50% in the first quarter. At the time, President and CEO William L. Meaney said the company had leased 32 megawatts of data center capacity through April and had 400 megawatts of capacity energizing and available over the next 24 months.
Ultimately, IRM offers investors a less obvious but increasingly relevant way to play demand for AI-ready infrastructure.
While not a data center operator in itself, Nvidia has become the gravitational center of the AI hardware universe. The chipmaker‘s graphics processing units, or GPUs, network equipment and software power AI workloads inside data centers. This makes it one of the most direct public-market plays on AI data center demand.
At Nvidia’s March GTC conference, CEO Jensen Huang projected at least $1 trillion in revenue from 2025 through 2027, driven by what he described as “off the charts” demand for the company’s GPUs.
The company’s latest earnings back up the bull case. It reported record full-year revenue for fiscal year 2026 and again in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, when revenue increased 85% year over year. Data center revenue alone was $75.2 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 92% year over year. The company also recently announced it’s deploying a record 35 new Nvidia-powered AI supercomputers in Europe, a clear sign that demand for its chips is picking up around the world. For investors, Nvidia isn’t just riding the AI wave; it’s shaping the shoreline.
Like Nvidia, Amazon isn’t a pure-play data center stock. But its AWS makes it one of the most important companies in the AI infrastructure buildout. AWS is both a major cloud provider and a major spender on AI infrastructure, including custom chips, Nvidia GPUs, servers, networking equipment and data center capacity. CEO Andy Jassy expects to spend roughly $200 billion in AI investments for the year.
AWS revenue rose 28% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, marking its fastest growth in 15 quarters. Its custom chip business, which gives Amazon yet another way to participate in the data center boom, topped a $20 billion revenue run rate, representing triple-digit growth year over year.
Broadcom offers yet another angle on the AI data center buildout. Instead of selling general-purpose GPUs like Nvidia, Broadcom is a leader in custom AI accelerators and AI networking chips. These help hyperscalers build more specialized infrastructure for training and inference workloads.
That niche is rapidly growing. The company reported record revenue of $22.2 billion for its fiscal second quarter of 2026, a 48% increase year over year. AI semiconductor revenue alone rose 143% year over year to $10.8 billion. Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan expects AI semiconductor revenue to continue accelerating. He anticipates more than 200% growth for full-year 2026 compared with the year prior.
Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT)
Vertiv doesn’t own data centers itself, but it provides the power, cooling and service infrastructure that keeps them running. Its systems are becoming more important as AI servers use more power and generate more heat, making it harder for data centers to keep everything cool and running smoothly.
The company kicked off fiscal year 2026 with strong momentum. Net sales rose 30% year over year, while adjusted operating profit surged by 64%. It also raised its full-year outlook to an anticipated $13.5 billion to $14 billion in sales, suggesting 29% to 31% organic growth.
For investors, VRT is a picks-and-shovels play on AI data centers. It may be less glamorous than semiconductor chips, but it’s essential to make those chips usable at scale.
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. If you want exposure to the AI data center boom without betting on a single pick, DTCR is a great option.
The fund owns 25 companies tied to data centers and digital infrastructure, including Equinix Inc. (EQIX), Digital Realty, American Tower Corp. (AMT) and SK hynix Inc. (000660.KS). That mix gives investors exposure to data center REITs, tower operators, memory suppliers and other companies tied to the AI buildout. It’s also global, which may better reflect a data center market that’s expanding well beyond the U.S.
“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.
The trade-off is cost: DTCR charges a 0.5% expense ratio.