The race to build artificial intelligence infrastructure has attracted enormous attention to chip manufacturers and cloud operators, but the real construction boom happening behind the scenes remains far less crowded. Companies supplying the foundational infrastructure—from real estate and power management to the environmental systems that keep massive facilities operational—are capturing enormous economic value with considerably less competitive pressure than the headline-grabbing names.
Three companies operating at different points along the data center supply chain have positioned themselves to benefit substantially from this buildout. Each brings distinct advantages to their particular corner of the market, and collectively they paint a picture of how structurally robust this opportunity has become.
Cipher Digital: Capturing Long-Term Power and Real Estate Economics
Cipher Digital operates a unique business model: it builds data center sites and secures reliable power supplies, then leases capacity to hyperscalers who bring their own computing equipment. That co-location approach means lower overhead per facility compared to companies trying to manage the entire stack, yet it still generates substantial recurring revenue through 10- to 15-year contracts that provide visibility and predictability.
The growth trajectory is impressive. The company expects annualized net operating income to more than septuple, climbing from $97 million this year to $686 million next. With a current portfolio of 5.3 gigawatts—including a recently secured option for 900 megawatts near San Antonio—Cipher Digital is expanding aggressively. A new lateral pipeline strategy could add up to 2.5 additional gigawatts across multiple facilities, essentially unlocking new capacity without requiring entirely new sites.
Sterling Infrastructure: The Construction Play Riding an Acquisition Strategy
Before any data center can operate, it needs to be built. Sterling Infrastructure has positioned itself as a leading construction provider for AI facilities, with revenues surging 90% year over year in the most recent quarter. The acceleration came primarily from its e-infrastructure segment—the data center construction business—where revenues nearly tripled.
Rather than trying to grow organically alone, the company has pursued strategic acquisitions to expand market share faster. The purchase of Stone Ridge Contracting in June exemplifies this approach, directly adding data center construction expertise to Sterling’s operations. That consolidation makes it increasingly difficult for remaining competitors to gain ground.
The backlog tells the story: Sterling Infrastructure is sitting on $4.3 billion in committed work, equal to more than 25% of its market cap. Including high-probability unsigned deals, total revenue visibility exceeds $7 billion. E-infrastructure is also higher-margin than Sterling’s traditional transportation projects, prompting the company to reallocate resources toward the higher-return business.
Comfort Systems USA: The Essential Climate Control Operator
Once data centers are built and power is secured, they need environmental management systems sophisticated enough to handle the thermal output of running intense computing workloads. Comfort Systems USA supplies the HVAC solutions that make this possible, operating through a network of over 200 locations across 150 cities built through acquisitions.
The backlog demonstrates the explosive growth: Comfort Systems ended Q2 with $14.1 billion in committed work, up from $11.9 billion at year-end 2025 and just $6 billion at the end of 2024. More than half of revenue comes from the technology sector, a share that will almost certainly increase as data center construction accelerates.
What distinguishes Comfort Systems is its ability to convert growth into profits. The company recently raised its dividend 12.5% year over year, demonstrating that it can handle surging demand while still expanding shareholder payouts. That profitability provides ammunition for additional acquisitions and positions the company to capture long-term maintenance revenue as completed projects transition from new construction to ongoing operations.
The Infrastructure Economy Takes Shape
These three companies operate at different layers of the data center supply chain, yet each is experiencing explosive growth driven by the same underlying trend: the physical infrastructure required to support AI has to get built somewhere, by someone. As that buildout accelerates through the remainder of this decade, companies positioned to supply the real estate, construction services, and environmental systems stand to capture substantial value with considerably less competition than companies chasing the computing layer itself.
