



The chip craze is turning a glass company and a toilet maker into AI stocks
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Investors’ pursuit of the companies supplying key materials to the artificial intelligence build-out is powering an epic rally in shares of chip makers. Other companies caught in the frenzy include a 175-year-old glass manufacturer, a heavy machinery giant and Japan’s leading maker of toilets.The AI trade has boosted stocks’ record run, with the S&P 500 climbing 1.5% to new highs on Wednesday after signs of progress on a Middle East peace deal and strong earnings from Advanced Micro Devices.
It has also sparked volatility in markets, sending investors swinging between worries that AI won’t produce the expected blockbuster profits and fears it will disrupt entire industries.Now, many are gravitating around key suppliers of the parts and materials needed to keep AI humming for years to come, confident those companies will profit no matter what. Here’s a look at some of the more unlikely winners:Corning is among the latest companies to reap a windfall from the ripple effects of the data center build-out.
Shares soared 12% on Wednesday after Nvidia announced plans to invest $500 million in the glassmaker to expand manufacturing of fiber optics, a key connective tissue for AI infrastructure.Fiber-optic cables made by the company, which once manufactured lightbulbs for Thomas Edison, have become the preferred connectors for many hyperscalers, a reversal for a product that lost money for two decades. The Nvidia deal comes on the heels of an earlier agreement to sell cable to Meta in a multiyear deal worth up to $6 billion.Caterpillar’s stock surged after the equipment maker known for its ubiquitous yellow excavators and bulldozers reported higher profit and sales last quarter, boosted by
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