New York, June 11, 2026, 4:10 PM EDT
- AI infrastructure is still the top new market focus, with money flowing into data centers, chips, power and cloud.
- New AI infrastructure platforms feature Nvidia and Broadcom, with Applied Materials and Intel getting new analyst calls.
- Oracle is considered the riskiest trade here after a steep drop following earnings. Still, its AI cloud backlog is drawing bulls, analysts said.
AI infrastructure spending sets new theme for growth buy lists Growth investors are shifting to names that stand to profit as AI moves from buzz to hardware. Reuters, citing data published Wednesday, reports the AI rally has sent equities to highs, and Morgan Stanley now sees $3 trillion in big tech spending on global data centers from 2025 to 2028, with $800 billion for hyperscaler capex just in 2026. Latest large-cap names in focus: Nvidia, Broadcom, Applied Materials, Intel, Oracle.
Nvidia stays the top pick as its reach stretches past just selling chips. A KKR-led group said Thursday it set up Helix Digital Infrastructure with over $10 billion in commitments, according to Reuters. Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia and Vistra back the group. Nvidia will advise Helix on AI data-center design, with Vistra chosen as main power supplier. “Large users of digital infrastructure have an urgent need to reduce complexity and unlock new capacity,” said Adam Selipsky, Helix’s co-founder and CEO who used to run AWS. Reuters
Nvidia isn’t hidden from anyone, but bulls say the bet is on the still-open AI infrastructure build. Nvidia traded at $204.86 recently, putting its market cap just under $5 trillion by market data. Valuation and a crowded trade are big risks. The Reuters AI dashboard cited a Bank of America survey: 40% of fund managers called AI stocks a bubble. That has some looking to buy Nvidia on dips instead of chasing every move up.
Broadcom lands as the second stock to buy after its custom-chip and networking business got a boost this week. Broadcom, together with Apollo and Blackstone, rolled out the AI XPV Platform, targeting more than 20 gigawatts of compute capacity through 2028, all powered by Broadcom XPUs and networking gear. The group is committing an initial $35 billion to help Anthropic expand its compute by over 1 gigawatt. “Demand for AI compute is fundamentally reshaping the global economic landscape,” Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said. Reuters reported the deal is part of Broadcom’s move to cut tech clients’ dependence on Nvidia, pushing Broadcom’s own AI chips instead. Apollo Global Management, Inc.
Applied Materials came out as the top pick in the equipment sector. Barclays’ Tom O’Malley bumped his price target to $590 from $500, kept his Overweight rating, and pointed to a “much stronger across the board” wafer-fab-equipment capex cycle. Cantor Fitzgerald also raised its target on Applied Materials to $650 from $575, maintaining Overweight and saying the industry is still in the “early innings of a multi-year supply-constrained and durable upcycle.” TipRanks
Applied Materials is getting a lift from its own expansion news. The chip equipment firm said it has opened a new US$500 million Tampines Campus in Singapore, boosting manufacturing and R&D and more than doubling advanced cleanroom space. CEO Gary Dickerson said, “AI is transforming every industry, creating unprecedented demand for advanced semiconductors.” Shares lately traded near $553.51, so Cantor’s target still points to gains. The Barclays target offers less upside after Thursday’s rally. Applied Materials
Intel is BofA’s fourth stock pick, but this one is more of a turnaround play than a straight momentum call. The firm bumped Intel up to Buy from Underperform, lifting its price target to $135 from $96. BofA pointed to better demand for server CPUs driven by agentic AI workloads and said Intel Foundry’s outlook has gotten clearer. Shares last traded at $117.40, with a big move on Thursday. But the upgrade comes with a big asterisk. Reports about Intel possibly landing a Google TPU order aren’t confirmed by either company. So the bullish story here is still grounded in BofA’s upgrade and the narrative around AI CPUs and the foundry business.
Oracle is the top high-risk contrarian pick in the group. The company posted record fiscal Q4 revenue at $19.2 billion, with cloud sales hitting $9.9 billion and cloud infrastructure up 93%. Oracle put its remaining performance obligations at $638 billion. CEO Clay Magouyrk told analysts the pace of delivery is picking up as the company rolls out AI infrastructure for customers like OpenAI and Meta, according to Reuters. That’s kept some analysts bullish even with the stock down.
Oracle trails the pack because of funding risk. Oracle shares dropped Thursday, Reuters said, as investors weighed about $70 billion in expected net capex for the current year and another $40 billion in planned debt and equity raising. “The demand is real,” eMarketer’s Jacob Bourne told Reuters, but said “the funding question is getting harder.” According to Barron’s, Guggenheim’s John DiFucci stuck with a Buy and a $400 target, D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria boosted his target to $225, and William Blair’s Sebastien Naji reaffirmed Outperform. Reuters
For anyone putting together a new watchlist, Nvidia is top pick for core AI, Broadcom is the play on custom chips, Applied Materials gets you exposure to semi equipment, Intel could offer a turnaround, and Oracle is the speculative AI-cloud trade. The big risk: AI spending could start to pressure balance sheets instead of driving real growth. Reuters reported that more and more data-center buildouts are being financed with debt, and much of the planned capacity is still on paper. So, sizing your bet and picking an entry price matters as much as which stock you choose.
