Global X ETFs Senior Investment Strategist Seana Smith, SWBC CIO Chris Testani, and Trader Talk host Kenny Polcari argue that AI’s biggest investment opportunity lies outside software entirely.
As data centers multiply to support growing AI infrastructure demands, their power requirements are pushing investors toward energy, uranium, copper, and natural resources as structural growth plays.
One critical factor driving this shift is that data centers cannot afford to rely solely on traditional power grids, given the catastrophic consequences of any outage or supply interruption.
Small modular reactors are emerging as a compelling solution, with Polcari pointing to names like NuScale as potential beneficiaries of the push to power data centers off-grid with nuclear energy.
Testani highlighted that uranium, copper, and broader natural resources face a supply-demand imbalance that could create a significant runway for growth as AI infrastructure scaling accelerates.
The challenge of meeting demand for the raw materials and energy required to build, run, and expand data centers at scale is becoming one of the defining investment stories of this cycle.
Testani described the dynamic as “a real opportunity and a real structural shift,” framing the energy and resources trade as an attractive entry point for investors seeking exposure to AI growth indirectly.
Smith noted that energy has long been viewed as “AI adjacent,” but argued the sector’s outlook is strengthening as AI infrastructure demand for power becomes impossible to ignore.
Beyond generation, investors and strategists are increasingly focused on where energy companies are placing new buildings and infrastructure to physically support the sprawling data center buildout.
NextEra Energy was cited by Smith as a company leading this effort, specifically highlighting that the company is actively building near Meta facilities and delivering on its infrastructure commitments.
The conversation reflects a broader reassessment on Wall Street of where durable value in the AI trade actually resides, with commodity and energy markets drawing renewed attention from institutional allocators.
For investors who missed the early software and semiconductor surge, strategists suggest that energy infrastructure, nuclear power, and critical materials may represent the next major leg of the AI investment cycle.
