Investment managers name three mid-cap stocks rising on the AI boom

Business Insider has highlighted three mid-cap AI stocks as recommended by money managers. All of them are building infrastructure into the AI boom, from which everyone in the "data center building food chain" should benefit.

Sterling Infrastructure, which specializes in site selection and construction for data centers, represents an "effective play" on the AI boom, says Alexander Wah, founder and chief investment officer of Prince Capital. While the stock has yet to capture broad investor attention, Wah notes the company is steadily "chipping away" at market share from larger competitors.

The stock is covered by three analysts, and all have "buy" recommendations, according to MarketWatch. However, the average target price of $256.30 per share is below the last closing price, on August 1. Sterling Infrastructure has jumped more than 18% over the last month.

Lumentum Holdings, a provider of high-speed optical communications solutions for data-heavy applications, has demonstrated strong growth this year, says Brandon Nelson, senior portfolio manager at Calamos Investments.

Wall Street sentiment is largely positive: 14 analysts currently rate the stock a “buy,” four recommend holding, and just one suggests selling. However, the average target price of $103.20 per share implies downside of 3.3% versus the last close. Shares of Lumentum have risen nearly 17% over the past month.

Another beneficiary of the AI-enabling infrastructure boom is Argan, which provides construction services to the energy sector, according to Nelson.

Argan stock's last-12-month growth of 207% is much higher than that of tech giants like Nvidia, noted the Investor's Business Daily. It argues that now is a good time to buy Argan stock ahead of a new breakout. Two Wall Street analysts have Argan as a "buy" versus one "hold." The consensus target price is $225.33 per share, at about the current share price.

The AI translation of this story was reviewed by a human editor.