Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving one of the biggest data center investment booms the industry has ever seen. Tech companies are spending heavily to build the computing capacity needed to support AI models, applications and services, creating opportunities well beyond the biggest AI names.
The numbers are hard to ignore. PricewaterhouseCoopers expects global data center spending to reach $31.6 trillion through 2050, with the United States accounting for nearly half, at $15.1 trillion. McKinsey expects about $7 trillion in global data center investment by 2030, as cited in Forbes.
Spending is already ramping up. S&P Global estimates that six major hyperscalers— Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Oracle and SpaceX— are on track to spend a combined $1.3 trillion through 2027.
That spending is creating a broad set of winners across the data center supply chain, from chips and memory to semiconductor equipment. Here are four stocks worth buying as the AI data center boom gathers steam: NVIDIA NVDA, Micron Technology MU, SanDisk Corp. SNDK and Lam Research LRCX.
NVIDIA
NVIDIA sits at the center of the AI data center boom as the dominant supplier of specialized chips used to train and run AI models. Its Data Center business has become the company’s main growth engine, with revenues surging 117% year over year and 18% sequentially to $89.02 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2027.
Demand remains strong as hyperscalers and other AI customers continue to invest heavily in computing capacity. NVIDIA is also benefiting from the rollout of its Blackwell platform, while the next-generation Vera Rubin architecture could provide another leg of growth. The company began production shipments of Vera Rubin in August and expects the platform to account for about 20% of Data Center revenues in the third quarter.
The spending opportunity is significant. NVIDIA expects capital expenditures from the top five hyperscalers to reach nearly $800 billion in 2026 and $1.3 trillion in 2027. That kind of expectations from the market leader tends to set the tone for the whole sector.
Beyond its chips, NVIDIA’s software ecosystem strengthens its competitive moat and makes switching platforms difficult. As long as AI infrastructure spending stays strong, NVIDIA remains one of the biggest direct beneficiaries.
The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVIDIA’s current and next fiscal year’s EPS implies a year-over-year growth of 93% and 64%, respectively.
NVIDIA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise 
NVIDIA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
NVIDIA Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | NVIDIA Corporation Quote
Micron
Micron offers a different way to play the AI data center boom. While NVIDIA supplies the computing power, Micron provides the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) needed to keep those AI systems running efficiently. AI workloads are extremely memory-intensive, making HBM an increasingly critical part of the infrastructure.
That demand is translating into strong growth for Micron. Fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenues jumped to $41.46 billion from $23.86 billion in the previous quarter and $9.3 billion a year earlier. The company expects revenue to rise further to about $50 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, while projecting a gross margin of roughly 86%, supported by strong AI memory demand and favorable pricing.
The memory market also benefits from tight supply, as adding new fabrication capacity takes years. Management expects supply growth to remain short of demand, supporting pricing durability.
Importantly, memory demand should remain strong regardless of which AI accelerator ultimately wins, and that’s good for Micron. For now, tight supply and surging HBM demand are working firmly in Micron’s favor.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MU’s current and next fiscal year’s EPS implies a year-over-year growth of 791% and 114%, respectively.
Micron Technology, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise 
Micron Technology, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Micron Technology, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Micron Technology, Inc. Quote
Sandisk
Sandisk gives investors another way to benefit from the AI data center buildout, this time through storage. AI systems rely on massive amounts of data, creating strong demand for the flash memory used to store it. Like Micron, Sandisk is benefiting from tight memory supplies and higher prices.
The impact is already showing up in its results. Fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenues jumped 372% year over year and 51% sequentially to $8.97 billion, with roughly two-thirds of the sequential increase coming from higher pricing and the rest from higher volumes.
Data centers have quickly become Sandisk’s biggest growth driver. Fiscal 2026 Data Center revenues surged 437% to $5.15 billion, while the segment’s share of the company’s bits increased from about 12% a year earlier to 38%.
The near-term outlook remains strong. Sandisk expects fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenues of $10.3 billion to $10.8 billion and non-GAAP gross margin of 83%-85%. More importantly, the company expects demand to continue exceeding supply, with bits remaining on allocation beyond 2027.
The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Sandisk’s current and next fiscal year’s EPS implies a year-over-year growth of 201% and 19%, respectively.
Sandisk Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise 
Sandisk Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Sandisk Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Sandisk Corporation Quote
Lam Research
Lam Research offers a different way to play the AI data center boom. Rather than making chips, it supplies the equipment needed to manufacture them, particularly etch and deposition tools used in advanced semiconductor production.
That gives Lam Research broader exposure to the AI buildout. Whether demand goes toward GPUs, memory or advanced logic chips, semiconductor manufacturers need equipment to expand and upgrade production capacity. AI is also driving investment in NAND, DRAM, HBM, gate-all-around transistors and advanced packaging, all of which require increasingly complex manufacturing processes.
The growth is already visible in Lam Research’s results. Fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenues rose 30% year over year and 15% sequentially to $6.72 billion, reflecting strong demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
LRCX’s fortunes are still tied to the same underlying capex cycle as the other three names. However, its position further up the supply chain provides a more diversified way to benefit from AI infrastructure spending. As chipmakers race to expand capacity, Lam Research stands to benefit from the equipment needed to make that expansion possible.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lam Research’s current and next fiscal year’s EPS implies a year-over-year growth of 61% and 22%, respectively.
Lam Research Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise 
Lam Research Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Lam Research Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Lam Research Corporation Quote
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).