2026-07-25
Written before the market opens. Every price and move in this brief is as of the close on Friday, Jul 24; company pages show live prices. The Buildout is a website built on agentic AI tools, currently in beta, and could have factual errors.
Markets were mixed — SPY edged up 0.10% to $738.93, while QQQ fell 1.12% to $684.23. The 524 AI infrastructure stocks we track underperformed, averaging -2.26% with 187 advancing and 335 declining. Grid connection names held up best, down just 0.62% as a group, while compute and silicon stocks lagged badly at -4.17%. SLB (Slb N.V.) was the standout at +11.0%, benefiting from its quarterly results, and DLR (Digital Realty Trust) also gained 11.0% in a session where data center REITs showed relative strength. MXL (MaxLinear) was the worst decliner at -21.5% amid a broad semiconductor selloff. This week is heavy with earnings — BE (Bloom Energy) and GLW (Corning) report Monday, followed by WDC (Western Digital), ARM (Arm Holdings), LRCX (Lam Research), MSFT (Microsoft) on Wednesday, and AMZN (Amazon) on Thursday.
NEE (NextEra Energy) released second-quarter results Friday. The utility and renewable energy developer saw its utility segment benefit from steady load growth tied to data center demand, though the stock was flat on the day. NextEra continues to be one of the largest power suppliers to the AI infrastructure buildout, and its quarterly update offered a broad read on the pace of grid interconnection for new data center projects.
SLB (Slb N.V.) reported second-quarter results that drove the stock 11% higher, making it the top gainer in our universe. While SLB is primarily an oilfield services company, its networking and server business — categorized under servers, racks and networking in our universe — saw increased activity. The results underscore that demand for connectivity and networking equipment across the AI supply chain remains strong.
GRC (The Gorman-Rupp Company) reported second-quarter financials and also announced a CFO succession plan. Gorman-Rupp supplies pumps used in data center cooling and water management systems. The stock was not a major mover, but the results provide a data point for the mechanical infrastructure segment.
AMD continues to build its AI ecosystem with new platform launches. At its Advancing AI 2026 event Thursday, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) introduced the Helios rack-scale solution in partnership with Schneider Electric (not in our universe), designed to accelerate AI factory deployment with optimized power and cooling. Separately, Supermicro launched a new server portfolio powered by 6th Gen AMD EPYC 9006 Series CPUs, claiming 1.7x generational performance improvements. AMD also highlighted its full-stack compute strategy for agentic AI, including CPU, GPU, and networking components. Broader AMD adoption could increase demand for packaging and test equipment — companies such as AMAT (Applied Materials) and KLAC (KLA Corporation) may benefit, along with interconnect providers like ALAB (Astera Labs) and CRDO (Credo Technology) that support the PCIe and CXL ecosystems around AMD platforms.
DigitalOcean executed a debt-reduction transaction, freeing capacity for growth. DOCN (DigitalOcean Holdings) announced Friday it reduced leverage with no effective dilution and minimal cash usage, creating additional capacity to fuel growth. The smaller cloud provider serves a niche of AI startups and inference workloads. While not a hyperscaler, its capital structure optimization signals that AI compute demand remains strong even for second-tier cloud operators, which in turn supports ongoing procurement of servers and networking gear from vendors like HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) and ANET (Arista Networks).
Canadian Solar launched a high-efficiency solar cell plant, supporting renewable power for data centers. CSIQ (Canadian Solar) announced through its CS PowerTech subsidiary the launch of a best-in-class PV HJT (heterojunction) solar cell production facility. As data center operators increasingly procure renewable energy to meet sustainability targets, higher-efficiency solar panels reduce the land and cost requirements for utility-scale solar farms that power AI infrastructure. Companies in the power generation segment — including NEE (NextEra Energy) and other solar developers — could see improved project economics from this technology.
AirJoule Technologies highlighted progress on its joint venture with GE Vernova for data center cooling. AIRJ (AirJoule Technologies) disclosed in its recent filings that its longer-term HVAC integration work with CARR (Carrier Global) continues to benefit the company, and its joint venture with GEV (GE Vernova) is advancing. AirJoule's atmospheric water harvesting and cooling technology is being evaluated for data center applications. If adopted widely, it could alter the competitive landscape for cooling — companies such as VRT (Vertiv Holdings) and MOD (Modine Manufacturing), which compete in thermal management, may face new competition.
A heavy earnings week begins Monday. BE (Bloom Energy) (EPS estimate $0.406) and GLW (Corning) ($0.755) report after the close Monday. BE is a key player in on-site power generation for data centers using fuel cells, while Corning provides optical fiber and glass substrates critical for data center networking and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Wednesday is the most important day of the week. MSFT (Microsoft) (EPS estimate $4.21) reports alongside ARM (Arm Holdings) ($0.40), WDC (Western Digital) ($3.34), LRCX (Lam Research) ($1.69), and FLEX (Flex) ($0.901). Microsoft's capex commentary will be the single most important data point for the entire AI infrastructure supply chain — it directly drives demand for servers, networking, and data center construction. Lam Research provides wafer fabrication equipment that enables advanced chip production for AI accelerators. Western Digital's results are a bellwether for the HDD and NAND storage demand tied to AI training data lakes.
Thursday brings Amazon and several utilities. AMZN (Amazon) (EPS estimate $1.81) reports after the close, with AWS capex a critical read for the compute buildout. AEP (American Electric Power) ($1.48) and SO (The Southern Company) ($1.02) report as well, offering direct insight into the pace of grid interconnection for new data center loads.
On the macro calendar: Durable goods orders (Tuesday), Fed interest rate decision and press conference (Wednesday), advance Q2 GDP and June PCE data (Thursday). The Fed's decision on the policy rate — currently expected to hold at 3.75% — will influence financing costs for data center construction and utility investments.