AI Data Center Boom Propels Siemens Energy and Hochtief Stocks Amid Massive Investment Plans

SHARES IN THE FOCUS 3: AI fantasy for Siemens Energy, Hochtief, Oracle and more

(new: current prices, further details and commentary from asset manager Laiqon) FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The record chase of Siemens Energy shares gained new momentum on Wednesday after a break of a few days. Based on fantasies for the global expansion of data centers, the share price jumped by ten percent at its peak to up to 56.90 euros. Shares in the construction company Hochtief gained just under 5 percent to 144.80 euros in the afternoon. Both companies are considered infrastructure beneficiaries of the boom in AI data centers: Hochtief in view of the construction of such facilities and Siemens Energy, as the Group is strongly positioned in the USA, among other things with its grid technology business for electricity transmission and distribution. Analyst Ajay Patel from the investment bank Goldman Sachs referred to the megatrend of artificial intelligence (AI) with regard to Siemens Energy, which requires massive investments in infrastructure and has an enormous demand for electricity. Siemens Energy offers the full energy chain here, he wrote. A study by Morgan Stanley stated that the potential of Siemens Energy in this market environment is underestimated - despite the record run that the shares have already had thanks to a quadrupling of the share price in 2024. In the past year, they have rapidly gone from wind power problem child to investors' darling. ChatGPT developer OpenAI alone wants to invest USD 500 billion in data centers together with technology partners such as Oracle and the Japanese Softbank Group. US President Donald Trump announced the "Stargate" project, in which an initial USD 100 billion is to be invested as a first step. Patel pointed out that Siemens Energy does around 20 percent of its business in the USA, for example with gas turbines and grid components. The project sent Oracle shares in New York soaring by 6 percent, after they had already gained more than seven percent the previous day. At just under 192 dollars, which was paid at times, they are approaching their record high of 198.31 dollars from December after a few bad weeks. Shares in the Japanese Softbank Group were trading 11 percent higher in Frankfurt Tradegate trading. According to Kirk Materne of Evercore ISI, Oracle's role as a Tiktok technology partner was recently considered to be burdened by the debate on whether the video app originating from China should be banned in the USA. The previous day, the share price was boosted by Trump's decree guaranteeing more time before a US ban. On Wednesday, he was now open to tech billionaire Elon Musk taking over Tiktok. He already owns the online platform X. "Of course, it remains to be seen how Stargate will fundamentally affect Oracle's business," Materne commented on the news. This is a reminder of Oracle's good position to be an important player in the expansion of the AI infrastructure. Oracle is in a strong position when it comes to public sector contracts, especially in connection with the modernization of the healthcare system. "With Stargate, the new Trump administration is setting new standards right at the start of its term of office," emphasized Axel Brosey, Senior Fund Manager at asset manager Laiqon. The project in Abilene (Texas) has the potential to secure the USA's competitiveness in the key topic of AI in the coming years, which is also an important factor in competition with China. In the short and medium term, Brosley expects local construction and infrastructure companies as well as Stargate's hardware and software suppliers to be the main beneficiaries. In particular, he mentions Nvidia, Oracle, ARM, Arista Network, Microsoft and OpenAI. But Softbank, as one of the largest investors and at the same time a profiteer through its direct holdings in technology companies such as Arm and Nvidia, is also involved. According to Brosley, the project is also very interesting for companies from the alternative energy sector due to the enormous energy consumption. This is demonstrated not least by the share price performance of Siemens Energy. The share price momentum had slowed somewhat at times around midday when the share price of US competitor GE Vernova came under pressure in pre-morning US trading following a disappointing quarterly result. At the start of trading, however, GE Vernova investors focused on the opportunities that the strong expansion of AI data centers is likely to create for the company and sent the share price to a record high. It recently gained 2.3 percent to 425.50 dollars. Siemens Energy recently gained 6.7 percent to 55.20 euros in Frankfurt. zu/tih/ck/mis/ck/he

Siemens Energy and Hochtief in demand - data center fantasy

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The record chase of Siemens Energy shares gained new momentum on Wednesday after a break of a few days. The share price shot up by 9.4 percent, which was justified on the market with fantasies for the global expansion of data centers. The shares went up to 56.68 euros over the course of the day. This was in line with the positive share price performance of competitor GE Vernova in New York the previous evening. The latter is expected to publish its quarterly figures at midday. Analyst Ajay Patel from the investment bank Goldman Sachs pointed to the megatrend of artificial intelligence, which requires massive investment in infrastructure, as the reason for the rally on Wednesday. The ChatGPT developer OpenAI alone wants to invest USD 500 billion in data centers together with technology partners such as Oracle and the Japanese Softbank Group. US President Donald Trump announced the Stargate project, in which an initial 100 billion dollars are to be invested as a first step. Patel pointed out that Siemens Energy does around 20 percent of its business in the USA, for example with gas turbines and grid components. The project also boosted Oracle shares in New York by almost eight percent. Softbank Group shares also traded 12 percent higher in Frankfurt Tradegate trading. Shares in construction group Hochtief also continued to benefit from AI and infrastructure fantasies. They rose by a good three percent to a high since 2019. The company also specializes in the construction of data centers./tih/mis