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The AI Supercycle Isn't Over -- It Just Moved. 5 Growth Stocks Riding the Next Wave.

newsfeedback@fool.com (Geoffrey Seiler)
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⚡ Quantum Brief
The AI infrastructure shift from training to inference and networking is creating new winners, with Broadcom leading in Ethernet switches and AI ASICs for optimized cluster performance. Alphabet’s TPUs, developed with Broadcom, offer a 44% cost advantage over Nvidia GPUs, positioning it as a dominant player in high-volume AI inference and cloud services. Arista Networks is capitalizing on AI cluster scaling with its EOS software and Blue Box diagnostics, serving hyperscalers like Microsoft and Meta. AMD and Arm Holdings are targeting agentic AI’s CPU demand, with AMD designing specialized architectures and Arm pursuing a 15% share of the $100B data center CPU market. The next AI wave prioritizes efficiency, interconnectivity, and autonomous agents, favoring companies beyond traditional GPU providers like Nvidia.
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By Geoffrey Seiler – Apr 7, 2026 at 8:00PM ESTKey PointsBroadcom and Arista Networks are two top data center networking plays.Alphabet's TPUs give it a big advantage with inference.AMD and Arm Holdings look poised to be big beneficiaries of agentic AI and the need for more CPUs.Despite the stock market's rotation out of tech stocks this year, the artificial intelligence (AI) supercycle is far from over. However, it has shifted, which is going to benefit a new basket of AI stocks. The AI infrastructure boom started with the need for raw computing power to train large language models (LLMs). This was a race that helped line the pockets of Nvidia with massive profits. However, the next phase of AI is all about networking, inference, and agentic AI, and there is a select list of stocks ready to benefit from these trends. Image source: Getty Images. Broadcom ExpandNASDAQ: AVGOBroadcomToday's Change(6.10%) $19.17Current Price$333.60Key Data PointsMarket Cap$1.5TDay's Range$321.90 - $333.8052wk Range$153.09 - $414.61Volume1.2MAvg Vol26MGross Margin64.96%Dividend Yield0.79% Broadcom (AVGO +6.10%) is at the intersection of two of the biggest new trends in the AI supercycle. The first is networking, where the company is the leading provider of Ethernet switches and other data center networking components. With AI clusters now pushing over one million AI chips, it's no longer just about the peak performance of a single chip, but how the entire cluster performs. Broadcom's Ethernet switching solutions, optical interconnects, and other components are integral in reducing congestion and helping these systems perform optimally. At the same time, the company is also the leader in application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) technology, where it helps customers design custom chips hardwired for specific tasks. AI ASICs are particularly well-suited for the inference market, as their purpose-built designs maximize data throughput and slash energy consumption. Alphabet ExpandNASDAQ: GOOGLAlphabetToday's Change(1.69%) $5.07Current Price$305.06Key Data PointsMarket Cap$3.6TDay's Range$297.71 - $305.2052wk Range$143.03 - $349.00Volume736KAvg Vol34MGross Margin59.68%Dividend Yield0.28% Broadcom's partner in crime with AI ASICs is Alphabet (GOOGL +1.69%) (GOOG +1.98%). With the help of Broadcom, Alphabet developed the world's most advanced AI ASICs in its tensor processing units (TPUs). Having created them more than a decade ago, it has been able to optimize its entire hardware and software around them, giving it a huge structural cost advantage against competitors that rely mostly on Nvidia's GPUs. Alphabet is using this advantage with its own AI workloads, where, according to SemiAnalysis estimates, it gets a 44% lower total cost of ownership versus equivalent Nvidia servers. The efficiency of these chips is great for high volume inference, and now it is starting to offer TPUs to customers, with Anthropic placing a $21 billion order through Broadcom. Some of these chips will be rented through Google Cloud, while some are being sold directly.

Arista Networks ExpandNYSE: ANETArista NetworksToday's Change(5.63%) $7.11Current Price$133.36Key Data PointsMarket Cap$159BDay's Range$127.55 - $133.7052wk Range$66.59 - $164.94Volume201KAvg Vol7.9MGross Margin64.06% Another company set to benefit from the growing need for data center networking is Arista Networks (ANET +5.63%). While Broadcom provides the networking components, Arista packages them together with its Extensible Operating System (EOS) software platform to give its customers an easy-to-manage networking platform. It counts Microsoft and Meta Platforms among its largest customers, and like Broadcom, it is poised to benefit from the growing size of AI chip clusters. Its new Blue Box initiative, which provides enhanced diagnostics for its hardware platforms, helps add another layer of growth. AMD and Arm Holdings While the market moves more toward inference and larger chip clusters, another important shift in AI that will impact data centers is also happening. This is the rise of agentic AI, where AI agents will independently perform tasks. However, with the rise of AI agents will come the need for many more high-performance data center central processing units (CPUs), which help provide AI agents with sequential logic, reasoning, and the ability to interact with software tools.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +0.61%) is the current leader in the data center CPU space and is actively developing new CPU architecture designed specifically for agentic AI. Arm Holdings (ARM 3.30%), meanwhile, recently made the bold move to break away from its traditional intellectual property (IP) model to pursue this opportunity, given its size. ARM has projected that data center CPUs will be a $100 billion market in the next five years, and is looking to take a 15% market share. Both AMD and ARM should see strong growth on the back of this trend. Read NextApr 7, 2026 •By Danny Vena, CPABroadcom Inks Major AI Chip Deals With Google and AnthropicApr 7, 2026 •By Keithen DruryAI Stock Sell-Off: The 5 Best Stocks to Buy Right NowApr 7, 2026 •By Chris NeigerWhy Broadcom Stock Jumped Higher This MorningApr 7, 2026 •By The Motley Fool TeamStock Market Today (LIVE): 8 P.M. ET Tonight -- All Eyes on Iran; ARM Slides 5% as AI Crescendo FadesApr 6, 2026 •By John BallardBroadcom's CEO Has Line of Sight to $100 Billion in AI Chip Revenue. Is the Stock a Buy?Apr 5, 2026 •By Keithen DruryA Generational Investment Opportunity: 3 AI Stocks I'm Buying NowAbout the AuthorGeoffrey Seiler is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst covering technology, consumer goods, healthcare, energy, and materials stocks. Prior to The Motley Fool, Geoffrey was a senior equity analyst at Raging Capital Management, a $600 million long-short hedge fund. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Haverford College.TMFFindProfitStocks MentionedBroadcomNASDAQ: AVGO$333.60(+6.10%)+$19.17AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOGL$305.06(+1.69%)+$5.07Advanced Micro DevicesNASDAQ: AMD$221.17(+0.45%)+$0.99AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOG$303.93(+2.11%)+$6.27Arista NetworksNYSE: ANET$133.36(+5.63%)+$7.11Arm HoldingsNASDAQ: ARM$143.86(-3.30%)-$4.91*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.

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