Is GE Vernova (GEV) The Best Stock to Ride the AI Data Center Buildout?

We recently published 10 Trending Stocks to Watch as Brad Gerstner Explains Tailwinds for AI Trade – ’10x Manhattan Project’. GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) is one of the trending stocks to watch.

James Van Geelen, the founder and portfolio manager at Citrini Research, recently investigated the Stargate data center facility in Texas and talked in detail about the potential beneficiaries of the data center buildout during a Bloomberg podcast. When asked which companies are actually powering the AI infrastructure projects, here is what the analyst said:

“So that’s the, that’s the best part. That was the first thing we saw in the drone is you fly over it and they just built their own natural gas plant. So you have outside of Stargate, Abilene 10 natural gas turbines. And the interesting thing is, these aren’t like the really good natural gas turbines because if you wanted, so natural gas turbines fall along, simple cycle, combined cycle. These are simple cycle. They’re each 35 megawatts, which is very much on the lower end. Half of ’em are from GE Vernova, half of ’em are from Caterpillar. A company the Caterpillar owns called Solar Turbines. And the reason why they’re not, you would think, oh, you’re spending half a trillion dollars on these things. You could probably get the best thing ever, but that’ll take you seven years.”

Carillon Scout Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

“GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) provides technologies and services for generating, converting, storing, and managing electricity, including gas, nuclear, wind, solar, and grid solutions. As with Quanta Services, investors see significant electricity demand growth led by AI data centers, in addition to other drivers. Led by increasing demand for gas turbines, earnings expectations continue to trend higher as GE Vernova’s backlog already stretches into the next decade. Also, as nuclear power is being reconsidered, nuclear power plant turbines and small modular reactors could add additional growth. We see significant opportunities for this market leader to support power demand growth.”

While we acknowledge the potential of GEV as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.