Wells Fargo strategist Ohsung Kwon says rising data‑center construction will
boost the industrial sector. Capital‑goods firms that make machines, equipment
and tools for data‑center builds are among the stocks “closest to the AI theme,”
he said. Wells Fargo estimates manufacturing activity expanded in July at the
fastest pace in over four years and non‑AI capex is up about 10% YoY; commercial
and industrial loan growth has also accelerated. Traders rotating into so‑called
traditional‑economy sectors have lifted industrials roughly 20% YTD, trailing
only energy and information technology. Kwon estimates about 40 hyperscale data
centers are under construction and more than 100 are planned, concentrated in
Texas, Georgia, Virginia and Pennsylvania. He adds that if local economic
spillovers from operational data centers become a trend, the market is at a very
early stage of that effect.
