In this article, we will discuss the 10 Best Data Center Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires.
Trillions of dollars are flowing into data centers to keep up with growing demand amid the artificial intelligence boom. McKinsey expects data center demand to more than triple by 2030, a surge that would require data center operators to invest nearly $7 trillion to keep up. Last year, OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle announced a $500 billion AI infrastructure pact through 2029 to keep up with the demand.
Likewise, the spending on data center construction has been on the rise, increasing by 28% in April to $50 billion. For the first time, it exceeded public transportation construction spending in a single month in the US, which totaled $49.9 billion.
A JPMorgan analysis found that more than 60% of planned data center capacity scheduled for completion in 2027 is still under construction. Another 7% is delayed. The delays have been necessitated by the need for companies to obtain approvals from grid operators and power companies to connect data centers to the system.
“Because of how much uncertainty there is about how many data centers are real, about how much load is going to be connected, it has kind of paralyzed a lot of the processes,” said Josh Rhodes, an energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin.
Goldman Sachs expects power demand to rise by roughly 160% by 2030 as hyperscalers rush to build the infrastructure needed to operate complex AI models. Amid the expected AI data center build-out to support the AI revolution, let us take a look at some of the best data center stocks to invest in, according to billionaires.
Our Methodology
For this list, we scanned the Inside Monkey’s database of billionaire holdings as of Q1 2026. Next, we picked out companies in the data center industry. We focused on companies that build and operate data center facilities or provide data center components and technologies. We ended up with dozens of stocks in our initial list and applied additional filters to select the best. From there, we looked for stocks that are also popular with hedge funds in Q1 2026 and have upside potential. Finally, we ranked the stocks based on the value of billionaire stakes in them.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 599.2% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 372 percentage points (see more details here).
Best Data Center Stocks to Invest In According to Billionaires
10. Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD)
Billionaires’ Stake: $149.8 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 39
Number of Billionaire Holders: 11
Stock Upside Potential: 33.61%
Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD) is one of the best data center stocks to invest in according to billionaires. Applied Digital shares have gained around 57% year-to-date and have surged more than 245% over the past 12 months. Analysts continue to see substantial upside potential in the stock.
Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD) has secured another major data center deal with an existing hyperscale customer. On May 20, the company said it signed a 15-year lease for its fourth AI-focused data center campus, known as Polaris Forge 3, with this customer. This is the same customer that the company previously signed for the Delta Forge 1 campus.
Applied Digital said the latest contract is expected to generate around $7.5 billion in revenue over the initial lease term. If all renewal options are exercised, the total value could reach $18.2 billion. According to Applied Digital, the latest deal pushes its contracted revenue backlog to roughly $31 billion across four campuses. The backlog could increase to $73 billion if customers extend their leases.
About 65% of Applied Digital’s contracted revenue is now backed by blue-chip customers. These are US-based investment-grade hyperscalers. The Polaris Forge 3 project will provide 300 megawatts of computing capacity and is scheduled to begin operations in 2027. So far, Applied Digital’s total contracted capacity is 1.2 gigawatts.
Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD) builds and operates data centers and provides colocation services. The company provides the digital infrastructure and services to power AI, cloud, and blockchain workloads. It has purpose-built infrastructure for training and running AI models.
9. Riot Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT)
Billionaires’ Stake: $370.5 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 49
Number of Billionaire Holders: 14
Stock Upside Potential: 4.20%
Riot Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) is one of the best data center stocks to invest in according to billionaires. In the past month, Riot Platforms’ shares have gained more than 20%. That puts the stock’s year-to-date gains at around 77% and past-year gains at roughly 180%.
On May 14, Jefferies initiated coverage of Riot Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) stock with a Buy rating and a $37 price target. The target indicates a roughly 47% upside to the current price. Jefferies based its call on the company’s growing digital infrastructure operation and vertically integrated business model.
According to the firm, Riot has a large digital infrastructure footprint in metro-adjacent markets in Texas. These include Corsicana and Rockdale campuses. The firm pointed out that AI inference workloads favor the kind of network adjacency that Riot campuses offer. Riot has already secured a lease deal with AMD at the Rockdale site.
In addition to Riot’s strategically located campuses, Jefferies also hailed the company’s ability to design and manufacture certain data center components in-house. According to the firm, producing switchgear and power distribution equipment in-house gives Riot a supply chain advantage and strengthens its position in lease negotiations.
Jefferies explained that its investment thesis on Riot stock hinges on the company securing anchor tenants at its Corsicana and Rockdale sites. Moreover, the thesis hinges on Riot converting its power assets and engineering expertise into AI large-scale AI deployments.
Riot Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) is a crypto-mining and digital infrastructure company. Its crypto division primarily mines Bitcoin. The infrastructure unit builds and operates data centers to power AI and other high-performance computing workloads.