Americore Resources (TSXV: AMCO)
Drilling Value in the Silver State
Forget semiconductor darlings. The real upside of the global AI buildout is rippling far beyond chipmakers — and four Toronto Stock Exchange-listed companies sit at the intersection of power, supply chain, hardware and foundational infrastructure, set to benefit from an estimated $650 billion in Big Tech AI spending in 2026.
As hyperscalers race to deploy data centers, advanced chips and compute systems, the most pressing constraint is no longer wafer capacity. It is reliable electricity, resilient supply chains and the physical backbone to keep AI clusters running 24/7. That structural shift is reshaping the investment landscape, rewarding under-the-radar players that solve the AI buildout’s messiest real-world problems.
The International Energy Agency projects global data center electricity consumption will more than double to roughly 945 terawatt-hours by 2030 — slightly more than Japan’s total annual power use today. AI workloads are the single largest driver of that surge. Intermittent wind and solar alone cannot meet always-on demand, pushing tech giants toward nuclear energy as a stable, low-carbon baseload solution. Microsoft’s landmark 20-year power purchase agreement to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1 — now the Crane Clean Energy Center — to supply its data centers in the PJM grid has become the clearest signal of the pivot.
Among the most direct beneficiaries of the nuclear shift is Cameco, one of the world’s largest providers of uranium fuel. The company’s competitive edge rests on controlled ownership of high-grade reserves, low-cost mining operations and a strategic stake in Westinghouse Electric that extends its reach across the full nuclear fuel cycle, from mining to reactor technology and services.
The demand trajectory is already visible. Utilities locked in 116 million pounds of uranium under long-term contracts in 2025, with deal activity accelerating in the second half of the year. Cameco does not need every AI data center to tie directly to a nuclear plant; it only needs broader nuclear adoption to keep markets tight and support higher realized prices.
First-quarter 2026 results underscore the momentum. The company posted net earnings of C$131 million and adjusted net earnings of C$203 million, with adjusted EBITDA reaching C$509 million. Its uranium segment alone generated C$423 million in adjusted EBITDA, a 48% jump from the same quarter in 2025.
Key risks: Shares trade at 93.5 times trailing earnings, pricing in substantial optimism. Weaker uranium prices, slower contracting, production disruptions, regulatory delays or fading investor interest in nuclear themes could trigger sharp pullbacks.
Data center construction is a logistical high-wire act. A single project depends on chip delivery timelines, electrical equipment lead times, steel supplies, cooling system installation, grid interconnection permits and construction schedules — a delay in any one component can derail the entire rollout. As AI spending surges, supply chain planning has evolved from a back-office function into a core competitive advantage.
Kinaxis, a provider of cloud-based supply chain orchestration software, is targeting that pain point head-on. In June, the company launched Kinaxis Maestro for Data Centers, a purpose-built solution that uses AI-infused planning to help operators model capacity, simulate supply chain shocks and optimize capital allocation decisions in a fast-moving market where missteps carry steep costs.
The growth case is backed by strong fundamentals. Total revenue reached US$165.6 million in the first quarter of 2026, up 25% year over year, while SaaS subscription revenue climbed 21% to US$102.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA surged 62% to US$53.6 million, lifting the adjusted EBITDA margin to 32% — a rare combination of rapid top-line growth and expanding profitability. Deep integration into customer operations creates high switching costs and durable recurring revenue.
Key risks: Trading at 37 times earnings, the stock carries a premium growth valuation. Slower enterprise IT spending, intensifying competition from larger software vendors or lengthening deal cycles could compress multiples.
Before any AI model runs in a data center, it needs servers, high-speed networking switches, storage systems and edge computing platforms. Celestica is a critical manufacturing partner to hyperscale operators, and its Connectivity & Cloud Solutions segment — which makes up roughly 80% of total revenue — is riding the AI infrastructure wave at full speed.
First-quarter 2026 revenue soared 53% year over year to C$4.1 billion, while adjusted earnings per share jumped 80% to C$2.16. The connectivity and cloud unit posted 76% revenue growth, fueled by surging enterprise AI infrastructure spending and demand for high-performance hardware including 1.6T Ethernet switches that underpin AI cluster networks.
Management has raised its full-year 2026 guidance and projects approximately 49% revenue growth in the second quarter, confirming sustained industry momentum. A recent share pullback has also created what many investors view as a more attractive entry point into the AI hardware cycle.
Key risks: Growth is highly leveraged to hyperscaler capital expenditure cycles. If tech giants temper their AI investment plans, revenue growth could decelerate quickly.
AI expansion is about more than server racks. It requires fiber optic networks, telecom towers, power transmission lines and midstream energy assets to keep data centers connected and powered. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners owns a diversified portfolio of essential infrastructure spanning utilities, transport, midstream energy and data assets, underpinned by long-term contracts and regulated revenue streams that deliver resilient funds from operations across market cycles.
The company is actively scaling its AI-adjacent footprint: it has commissioned more than 200 MW of new data center capacity, completed the acquisition of a large U.S. bulk fiber network and continues to expand its data storage platform. Recent utility investments are also being added to its regulated rate base, providing stable, predictable returns.
Brookfield’s disciplined capital recycling strategy — selling mature assets to redeploy capital into higher-growth opportunities — and strong balance sheet give it ample flexibility to expand its data and power infrastructure portfolio while maintaining a conservative capital structure. For investors seeking durable cash flow rather than high-beta growth, it offers a lower-volatility way to participate in the AI buildout.
Key risks: As a capital-intensive infrastructure business, it is sensitive to interest rate movements. Higher rates can weigh on valuations and increase financing costs for future acquisitions.
Taken together, the four names cover the full AI infrastructure value chain, from upstream energy inputs to midstream software and hardware, and downstream foundational assets. Investors seeking higher cyclical upside may gravitate toward Cameco and Celestica, where the AI-driven inflection is most pronounced. Those prioritizing stability and quality of earnings may find more appeal in Kinaxis’ high-margin subscription model and Brookfield’s diversified, contract-backed asset base.
The AI rally has long been dominated by a handful of chip stocks, but the broader buildout is creating underappreciated winners across supporting industries. As always, investors should weigh valuation against fundamental execution and consider using pullbacks to build positions with appropriate sizing.
