Gren Invest: Track AI, cloud & chip leaders now!
If you ask me what one undeniable trend is coloring the market right now, I’d say it is this: the mad scramble to construct the raw infrastructure of artificial intelligence and cloud computing. I have spent years on trading floors watching hardware cycles turn in and out of favor but something is different this time. The coming together of massive data, massive models and massive computing it’s heralding a secular change. And for investors, it means there are stocks you need to watch, not simply because they’re in vogue but because they’re structurally set up. Steve again here, let's go...
Why this theme matters?
Let’s see the big picture. According to a recent industry study, cloud-based AI infrastructure companies have soared in 2025 on the strength of their investments in servers, chips and massive data centers.
Now hardware and software are finally coming into alignment: cloud providers require chips optimized for artificial intelligence, the chips need data centers, and data centers need hyperscale software. Spending on hardware was cyclical, short-lived for decades; but today’s build-out seems to be multiyear and that matters.
*A durable business moat in chips, fab/assembly, cloud services or hyperscale infrastructure.
*Obvious growth drivers, in the case of AI model scaling, or edge deployment.
*A reasonable valuation not “cheap,” exactly, but also not just speculative hype.
*Manageable execution risk: Supplier constraints, geopolitical exposure and regulatory risks.
*With that said, let’s take a look at five names I think are definitely worth monitoring over 2025.
1. NVIDIA Corporation (Ticker: NVDA); The AI GPU Leader
If one company embodies the AI infrastructure build-out, it’s NVIDIA. Its shareholders have been amply rewarded, but that’s because the company very much is delivering. It’s only two months since the company saw its stock price reach an all-time high, after its C.E.O. called the next decade a “multitrillion-dollar opportunity” in AI and robotics.Why it matters?
*NVIDIA has also long ruled the high end of GPUs for training large language models and other advanced AI workloads.
*It built up a solid ecosystem: hardware, software libraries, developer base.*Its product roadmap is solid; nodes grow more economical, and design wins follow.
*Increase in data center revenue and margins.
*Its next-gen architectures and how they perform/adoption.
*Whether export or regulatory restrictions begin to bite, given its global footprint.
NVIDIA is not cheap, but it could very well be one of those exceptions where quality is worth a premium. And as long as AI and cloud growth continue to hum along, that just might stay the first name you see. For a watchmaker, that’s plenty of reason to keep it near.
2. Broadcom Inc. (Ticker: AVGO); Custom Chips & Hyperscale Infrastructure
Broadcom may not have the name recognition of NVIDIA but to me it is quietly putting together one of the more interesting plays into the chip/cloud intersection. And a recent deal with OpenAI committing to design 10 gigawatts worth of custom AI accelerators underscores how hyperscalers are willing to pay for greater efficiency and specificity.Why it matters?
*Broadcom is known for its application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) designed for data-center and artificial intelligence workloads that can provide greater efficiency than general-purpose GPUs.
*It also works at the intersection of cloud, networking and chips one big theme that underpins one another.
*The valuation now looks to be reflecting this change to a degree, but still has some room for upside if execution remains strong.
What to watch?
*The announcements of new hyperscaler customers, and revenues associated with those contracts.*Any increase in margins, or spreading the business beyond just chip-sales into general hardware sales or cloud services.
*What impact geopolitical exposure or supply chain pressures might have on its custom-chip business.
If NVIDIA is the “front-end” of AI chips, Broadcom is the “back-office” that makes mass deployment possible. For those investors looking for infrastructure leverage outside of the obvious names, like Broadcom, is a very compelling name to take a serious look at.
3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (Ticker: TSM); The Manufacturing Backbone
Few companies have so much leverage to so many themes as TSMC. As the world’s leading contract chip-manufacturer, it services everything from AI chips to smartphone processors, gaming consoles and pretty much anything silicon-related. One recent note forecasted its AI-related revenue expanding at about 45% annually through 2028.
Why it matters
*TSMC is considered to have the manufacturing scale and advanced process technology, plus a wide variety of customers.
*It also has neutral supplier status so the Specialist doesn’t depend solely on one company, or one chip architecture, but it is not hindered if the wider chip-ecosystem grows.
*It provides exposure to the wave of AI infrastructure, though without being bound solely to one chip designer.
What to watch?
*AI related NOTE ramp benefiting from revenue growth (e.g., 2/3nm fabrication).
*Capacity-boosting announcements and visa a vis competition from rivals.
*Geopolitical risk (Taiwan-China tensions) and how it might impact the supply chain or investor sentiment.
For investors who like exposure to the broader silicon wave but prefer a less speculative pathway than picking individual chip designers, TSMC presents smart leverage. You are riding the tide of infrastructure rather than the hype behind one model.
4. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (Ticker: AMD) The Challenger in AI Chips
I’ve watched AMD’s evolution for years moving from PC chips to data-center and now AI infrastructure. According to one investor-focused article, AMD’s newer AI accelerators (MI300-series) and EPYC server CPUs give it a legitimate shot at capturing meaningful share.
Why it matters?
*AMD has a broad platform approach: CPUs, GPUs and now AI accelerators.
*Its competitive positioning forces other players to defend margins and share, which means AMD could pick up share in the right cycle.
*Cloud-partner deals and hardware wins can serve as unexpected catalysts.
What to watch?
*Production and shipment executions for an AI-accelerator.
*Adoption among cloud providers, and whether AMD can turn design wins into revenue that means something.
*Competition: From NVIDIA and other custom-chip vendors, plus margin risk.
*Valuation and the extent to which expectations are already priced into the market. (Analysts, for example, have aired caution.)
AMD is a riskier, yet also potentially promise-laden in this play in this theme. If you think the AI infrastructure wave will democratize and have multiple winners, then yes, AMD is credible. But if the market’s withers down to a handful of dominant players, AMD could have a tough time. It’s the name of a “watch with intent.”
5. Amazon.com, Inc. (Ticker: AMZN) The Cloud Platform and AI Enabler
We often talk about AI and chips, with the cloud platforms as a backdrop to those discussions, but that’s a mistake. Amazon is the frontrunner for cloud infrastructure, depending on how you slice that particular baby: One recent data point places its AWS division at about 31% of the global pie.
Why it matters?
*AWS isn’t just a cloud vendor it’s moving deeper into services for AI providing infrastructure and platform-services across the board to let more organizations use AI.
*When chips and hardware race to the top, there’s always going to be somebody who has to ship those items, support them and monetize them and it's Amazon.
*With scale and margin potential, AMZN can live in both a steady core as well as an infrastructure-leveraged name.
What to watch?
*Growth in revenue from AI services at AWS, and margin improvement.
*Latency/edge deployment strategies.
*Competition from Microsoft, Google and others; watch for monitor service distinction.
*Regulatory and antitrust risks Amazon has been in the cross hairs and that might affect its plans.
If you’re more interested in a “platform plus infrastructure” play than just pure hardware, Amazon is the place to be for a mix of safety and growth. It doesn’t have the cachet of developing new chip designs, but it does have the scale and monetization potential hardware companies frequently lack.
Building a portfolio around this theme:
*Core position (40-60% of theme-allocation): NVIDIA + Amazon. These are large-cap names that rank near the top of the leaderboard with respect to execution and exposure differentiation.
*Satellite incumbents (20-30%): TSMC and Broadcom. These provide you with infrastructure leverage and diversified exposure.
*High conviction or opportunistic position (10-20%): AMD. For the investor who’s willing to take on a bit more risk for that higher potential payoff.
Even within this theme, diversification counts. Chips, cloud, manufacturing they behave differently.
Keep an eye on watch valuations: many of these names have high expectations already baked in.
Execution is more important than hype: a design win does no good if it doesn’t result in meaningful revenue at scale.
Supply chain and geopolitics are still wildcards: Taiwan, China, export controls any number of them could dictate the result.
—> It’s kind of like advantages they last a while, but not forever. The benefit at this moment is plain to see AI memory, compute intensity and cloud scale are causing infrastructure to be rebuilt from scratch. Companies that own businesses like GPUs, custom accelerators, nodes and cloud providers, over scale data centers those companies can have years of relative well-being.
But nothing is guaranteed. The momentum could turn, if perhaps cloud spending took a nosedive or if an unforeseen regulatory shock upended the business, or some breakthrough altered the compute paradigm. What makes me comfortable suggesting to you that you can own these stocks is that they are not speculative except insofar as each is embedded in the backbone of the next computing cycle.