Raoul Pal Says There’s ‘Almost No Way’ AI Data Centers Don’t Trigger a Supercycle — 3 Stocks Positioned to Benefit

Data centers are being built at less than a third of the pace the AI race demands, macro investor Raoul Pal said on Monday, with the stakes of the U.S.-China rivalry making an even larger capital spending “supercycle” all but inevitable.

‘There Is Almost No Way This Isn’t a Supercycle’

“Data centers are roughly 30% built versus where they should be by now,” Pal said in a post on X.

“The US and China are in a race nobody is allowed to lose. And no single frontier AI lab can be allowed to win… it’s too dangerous.”

He argued that bottlenecks won’t slow the buildout; they’ll accelerate it as supply constraints only demand more spending on power, infrastructure, and capital expenditure.

“Put that together,” Pal said, “and there is almost no way this isn’t a supercycle.”

Data centers are roughly 30% built versus where they should be by now. The US and China are in a race nobody is allowed to lose. And no single frontier AI lab can be allowed to win… it's too dangerous.

Put that together and there is almost no way this isn't a supercycle. Even… pic.twitter.com/CZ9IqdhfKF

— Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) September 7, 2026

The five largest U.S. hyperscalers are expected to spend more than $800 billion on AI-related capital expenditure in 2026, while global data-center capital expenditure is estimated to exceed $1 trillion, according to Swiss Re Institute.

Record Spending Growth

U.S. data center construction spending surged 57% year-over-year in July to a record annualized rate of $75 billion, according to data shared by The Kobeissi Letter, following a 46% increase in June, the largest back-to-back acceleration since mid-2025.

Spending has risen $66 billion, or 717%, since the start of 2021, even as all other private construction, including housing, offices and retail, has declined $120 billion over the same period.

Futurum Group’s Daniel Newman pushed back on growing skepticism around the buildout, saying, “The constant anti-data center narrative many people are reading is in stark contrast with reality,” pointing to the record 57% year-over-year growth in July as evidence the buildout “continues and is accelerating.”

The constant anti data center narrative many people are reading is in stark contrast with reality. Record 57% YoY growth in July. The buildout continues and is accelerating. 👏🏻 https://t.co/g4CbQEdVwb

— Daniel Newman (@danielnewmanUV) September 7, 2026

Stocks Riding the Data Center Buildout

A few construction and infrastructure companies are positioned to benefit as the buildout accelerates, including Sterling Infrastructure Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL), Comfort Systems USA (NYSE: FIX), and Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE:PWR).

COMPANY	YTD	1 YEAR	5 YEARS
Sterling Infrastructure	Up 52.43%	Up 69.68%	Up 2,126.50%
Comfort Systems USA	Up 60.45%	Up 124.95%	Up 2,145.94%
Quanta Services	Up 42.01%	Up 66.27%	Up 439.21%

Price Action: Sterling Infrastructure closed 5.75% higher on Friday at $486.49 and gained 6.18% in early pre-market trading on Tuesday.

Benzinga edge rankings indicate Sterling Infrastructure’s stock has a Momentum score in the 71st percentile and a Growth Score in the 55th percentile.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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