The AI Boom's Next Bottleneck Is Electricity. These 3 Stocks Are Positioned to Power the Build-Out.

The numbers behind the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out keep getting bigger. On Tuesday, chip designer Broadcom announced a financing platform with investment giants Apollo Global Management and Blackstone designed to enable more than 20 gigawatts of AI compute capacity through 2028, launching with an initial $35 billion tranche.

Even automakers want in. General Motors said this week it is developing a sodium-ion battery (a chemistry built on abundant sodium rather than scarcer lithium) aimed at energy storage for data centers and the grid.

All of this demand is landing on an electric grid that can take years to expand. Securing a grid connection for a large data center campus can be a multiyear wait, and the equipment needed to build new power plants is in short supply. That mismatch is where Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE), GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV), and Vistra (NYSE: VST) come in.

Here's a closer look at how each company is positioned to power the build-out.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Bloom Energy

Bloom makes solid oxide fuel cells -- systems that generate electricity on-site from natural gas without combustion -- letting data centers skip the wait for a grid hookup. Bloom's first-quarter revenue soared 130% year over year to $751.1 million, driven by a 208% jump in product revenue. The company also posted net income of $70.7 million, reversing a year-ago loss. And management raised its full-year outlook, now expecting 2026 revenue of $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion -- about 80% growth at the midpoint, up from prior guidance of about 60%.

In April, Oracle said Bloom fuel cells will fully power Project Jupiter, its AI data center campus in New Mexico, with up to 2.45 gigawatts of capacity, replacing the gas turbines and diesel generators originally planned for the site. Notably, management said more than half of Bloom's data center backlog comes from customers other than Oracle.

"Bloom is rapidly becoming the standard and go-to choice for on-site power," said Bloom founder and CEO KR Sridhar during the company's first-quarter earnings call.

2. GE Vernova

While Bloom helps data centers bypass the grid, GE Vernova supplies the grid itself -- along with the gas turbines utilities are waiting in line to order. The power equipment maker's first-quarter orders surged 71% on an organic basis to $18.3 billion, pushing its total backlog to $163 billion. Its gas turbine backlog and slot reservation agreements grew from 83 gigawatts to 100 gigawatts in a single quarter, and management now expects to reach at least 110 gigawatts by the end of 2026.

GE Vernova's electrification segment, which makes grid equipment like transformers and switchgear, booked $2.4 billion of equipment orders to support data centers during the first quarter -- more than in all of 2025. Further, the company's free cash flow more than quadrupled year over year to $4.8 billion, and management raised its 2026 guidance.

3. Vistra

Vistra is one of the largest competitive power producers in the U.S., with a generation fleet spanning natural gas and nuclear. And AI's biggest spenders are locking up that fleet years in advance. Last year, the company signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Amazon's cloud unit for up to 1,200 megawatts of nuclear power from its Comanche Peak plant in Texas. It also signed 20-year agreements to supply Meta Platforms with 2,609 megawatts of nuclear energy and capacity from its plants in the eastern U.S.

The company is adding natural gas capacity, too, with its pending acquisition of about 5,500 megawatts of generation from Cogentrix, targeted to close in the second half of this year. Last month, Vistra reported first-quarter ongoing operations adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of about $1.5 billion and reaffirmed its full-year forecast of $6.8 billion to $7.6 billion.

What could trip up the power trade

Of course, these stocks face risks. Project timing, for instance, is one. In fact, Bloom Energy shares fell this week after a partner reportedly paused work on a data center site in Wyoming. Additionally, these companies operate in highly regulated markets.

The bigger risk may be the demand side itself. All three stocks have rallied on the assumption that AI capital expenditures keep climbing, and AI infrastructure stocks have pulled back recently on concerns about the pace of that spending. If the build-out decelerates meaningfully, backlogs could stop growing and these valuations could compress quickly.

Still, the demand signals keep arriving week after week, and from new directions -- financiers one day, automakers the next. For investors who believe the electricity bottleneck is real and durable, these three companies arguably offer a more grounded way to invest in the AI boom than chasing the chipmakers themselves.

Daniel Sparks and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Blackstone, Bloom Energy, Broadcom, GE Vernova, Meta Platforms, and Oracle. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors and Vistra. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.