The fast growth of artificial intelligence has led to increased demand for data centers. In this article, we share some of the data center stocks and ETFs, steps to invest in data centers.
What are data center companies?
Behind every aspect of digital life is a data center that powers everything from cloud computing and e-commerce to streaming services, artificial intelligence (AI), and online gaming. Data center companies are the businesses that provide the infrastructure needed to store and manage all this information, be it a small dedicated server room or a massive warehouse filled with racks of servers.Data center companies can be divided into two categories:
● Operators: These companies design, build, and manage data centers, including both the physical hardware and the software needed to run them.
● Data center real estate investment trusts (REITs): These companies own or invest in data centers, often leasing space and power capacity to other companies. Some REITs operate their own centers while others just own them.
Publicly-traded data center companies
Below are some of the top publicly-traded data center companies, with market capitalization data accurate as of 23 September 2025 from Yahoo! Finance.Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX)
Market Capitalization: $78.102 billionEquinix is by far the largest data center REIT. The company owns and operates around 270 data centers across 75 major metros around the world, spanning North America, Latin America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific. It serves more than 10,000 businesses, including cloud computing platforms, online retailers, insurance companies, and more.
The company is pushing heavily into AI-ready capacity with new facilities designed to handle high-density hardware (liquid cooling, large power loads, etc). Equinix has also partnered with sovereign funds, such as Singapore’s GIC, to build ‘hyperscale’ data centers with the aim of adding over 1.5 gigawatts of new capacity.
In Q2 2025, Equinix reported $2.256 billion in revenue, up from $2.159 billion the previous year. On the flip side, it’s under pressure due to higher-than-expected capital expenditure (capex) plans for expansion.
Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR)
Market Capitalization: $59.767 billionDigital Realty is one of the biggest pure-play global data center REITs. It owns and operates over 300 data centers across more than 25 countries. The company is known for its large-scale campuses, especially in markets with strong demand from cloud providers, hyperscalers, and enterprises needing interconnection and colocation services.
One recent project is Digital Realty’s ‘mega-campus’ in the UK, a $2 billion development that’s designed to be AI-ready with strong power and a commitment to sustainability.
Vertive Holdings (NYSE: VRT)
Market Capitalization: $58.028 billionVertiv provides uninterrupted power supplies (UPS), power distribution units (PDUs), thermal management systems (e.g. air and liquid cooling systems), and rack solutions, amongst other services. It’s considered a pure-play data center stock since the company generates more than 80% of its revenue from the end market.
Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM)
● Market Capitalization: $30.852 billionIron Mountain is best known for being a records and information management business, but it also has a fast-growing data center segment. The company operates more than 30+ data centers across three continents, with a long-term development pipeline that could triple its current capacity to reach 1.3 gigawatts.
For investors, Iron Mountain offers steady cash flow from its traditional storage services and growth potential from its data center infrastructure arm, which is still expanding.
American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT)
● Market Capitalization: $90.518 billionAmerican Tower is mostly known as a global cell tower REIT with a portfolio of nearly 150,000 sites. The company also entered the data center space with its 2021 acquisition of CoreSite. CoreSite owns and operates 30 data centers across 11 U.S. markets, totalling more than 4.5 million square feet. This acquisition gives American Tower exposure to both wireless connectivity as well as the growing demand for cloud and interconnection services.
Eaton Corp. PLC (NYSE: ETN)
● Market Capitalization: $147.276 billionEaton is a global power management company based in Ireland with U.S. headquarters in Ohio. It provides products critical to data center operations, including UPS, switchgear, smart PDUs, and energy-efficient electrical control systems. The company’s solutions are especially valuable to hyperscale customers such as Amazon and Alphabet, which depend on reliable and high-density power infrastructure.
Modine Manufacturing Co. (NYSE: MOD)
● Market Capitalization: $8.133 billionModine is a specialist in thermal management (e.g. heating and cooling) systems, and its Airedale by Modine brand is especially valuable for high-density data centers. The data center boom has kept the company’s products in demand and will likely sustain its growth into the future.
Beyond data centers, Modine’s products are also used in industries such as automotive, agriculture, and construction. Its operations span across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.
Technology and semiconductor companies linked to data centers
Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ: AMZN)
● Market Capitalization: $2.469 trillionAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon and one of the largest data center operators in the world. AWS runs massive clusters of data centers across numerous global regions, supporting millions of businesses, including Netflix, Facebook, Adobe, and ESPN. AWS is also a major profit driver for Amazon, generating $39.8 billion in operating income for 2024 or about 58% of Amazon's total for the year.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
● Market Capitalization: $3.85 trillionMicrosoft’s Azure cloud computing platform operates more than 300 data centers across 34 countries, powering Azure as well as Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, GitHub, LinkedIn, and Microsoft’s Copilot AI. As of mid-2025, Microsoft Azure has about a 25% share of the global cloud market.
Like AWS, Azure is a major profit driver for Microsoft, contributing $75 billion revenue in the fiscal year ending June 2025, a 34% increase year-over-year.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)
● Market Capitalization: $4.47 trillionNvidia is the global leader in graphics processing units (GPUs), semiconductors, and microchips, which have become essential for powering AI-driven data centers. Its advanced chips provide the computing power needed to train and run large language models (LLMs) and support advanced gaming and high-speed digital computing. The company has seen incredible growth from its data center segment, with revenue increasing 56.4% year-on-year to reach $41.1 billion.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO)
● Market Capitalization: $1.629 trillionBroadcom designs and manufactures custom silicon, networking chips, and infrastructure software products widely used in hyperscale and enterprise data centers. Its semiconductors enable AI infrastructure, cloud data storage, and high-speed digital communication.
In early September, Broadcom secured a $10 billion deal with OpenAI to design and mass-produce a custom AI chip, with production expected to begin in 2026.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU)
● Market Capitalization: $184.23 billionMicron is a leading provider of memory and storage solutions, including DRAM, NAND, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used for advanced processing in data centers and AI. Demand for Micron’s chips has surged as hyperscalers and enterprise customers invest heavily in AI-ready data centers, leading the company to increase its revenue forecasts in 2025.
VNET Group (NASDAQ: VNET)
● Market Capitalization: $2.704 billionVNET provides hosting, cloud, and other internet infrastructure services to businesses in China. The company is a leading carrier- and cloud-neutral data center operator, recently securing a 40-megawatt wholesale order for its new Gu'an campus near Beijing. The company is also investing in advanced liquid cooling technology to improve power efficiency.
Data center ETFs
Data center exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provide diversified exposure to the data center industry, reducing the risk of picking individual stocks. Below are some data center and related ETFs.Pacer Data and Digital Revolution ETF (NASDAQ: TRFK)
● Net Assets: $136.25 million● Expense Ratio: 0.49%
TRFK focuses on companies driving data transmission, storage, and digital infrastructure. Its portfolio includes data center REITs, semiconductor companies, networking businesses, cloud providers, and even industrial equipment manufacturers with data-related revenue streams.
The fund is rules-based and cap-weighted, investing in businesses that derive at least 50% of their revenue from data-centric activities. TRFK has benefited from the recent data center boom, gaining around 33% year-to-date, as of September 2025, and more than 47% over the prior 12 months.
Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF (NASDAQ: VPN)
● Net Assets: $44.02 million● Expense Ratio: 0.50%
VPN is a more conservative ETF designed to capture the growth of digital infrastructure globally. The fund invests in data center operators, REITs, and hardware suppliers that build and support modern IT networks. It also provides indirect exposure to AI through holdings in Nvidia and Broadcom. Other top holdings include Digital Realty Trust, Equinix, and GDS Holdings in China, which together account for nearly a third of the fund.
Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF (NYSEArca: MLPX)
● Net Assets: $2.6 billion● Expense Ratio: 0.45%
While not a pure-play data center ETF, MLPX has gained attention from investors looking at the energy demands of AI and cloud computing. Data centers are extremely power-intensive, and mid-stream energy companies benefit from this rising demand – that’s where MLPX comes in.
MLPX invests in master limited partnerships (MLPs) and midstream infrastructure firms that transport and process oil and natural gas. Unlike exploration and production companies, midstream businesses earn revenue from fees, making them less sensitive to commodity price swings. This makes MLPX a complementary option for investors seeking exposure to the energy behind the data center boom.
How to invest in data center stocks
If you’re ready to invest in data center stocks or ETFs, here are the steps to take:1. Choose a broker: To buy shares of data center companies or ETFs, you’ll need an account with a brokerage platform that offers access to U.S. and international exchanges. When comparing brokers, look for one that offers low fees, market data, research tools or educational resources, and a user-friendly interface.
2. Open an account & add funds: Once you’ve chosen a broker, you can open an account. This might require providing some personal information as well as identity verification (e.g. through driver’s license or passport). When your account has been verified, you can deposit funds through bank transfer, debit card, or a digital wallet.
3. Decide how to invest: It’s important to do your own research and understand what you’re investing in.
4. Place an order: Now that you know what to invest in, search for the stock or ETF ticker, select how many shares you want, and choose your order type. Market orders execute immediately at the current price while limit orders wait for the price to reach a certain level before buying.
5. Monitor performance: Once you’ve invested, be sure to regularly monitor your holdings and keep an eye on news related to data centers, AI adoption, cloud computing, and energy infrastructure needs, all of which have the potential to impact data center stock prices.
Investment considerations for data center stocks
Data center business has been a growing segment of the economy, fuelled by demand for cloud infrastructure, enterprise digital services, and the rise of AI. With more businesses and governments adopting AI, the need for hyperscale data centers with massive computing power has increased.The AI has been the single largest driver of data center expansion, with large scale operators like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google investing hundreds of billions in new infrastructure to support AI training and inference. Industry forecasts suggest that global AI infrastructure spending could reach $1.2 trillion by 2029, and data centers are likely to benefit along with suppliers of chips, memory, cooling, and power systems
Despite the growth potential, investors should also be mindful of the risks involved. These include rising energy costs or shortages, increasing government regulation, and a highly-competitive industry.
