Why Water(H₂O) is the Next Big Bottleneck in AI Infrastructure?
Power gets all of the attention, but water is an increasingly important issue for artificial-intelligence data centers, which require massive amounts of H₂O for cooling.
Water, water everywhere, but...is too much going to artificial-intelligence data centers? That’s the challenge and opportunity—facing industrial stocks that specialize in H₂O
AI is the growth engine of this stock market, driving everything from utility earnings to SpaceX’s planned $2 trillion initial public offering. That makes it important for investors to understand any potential AI bottlenecks. While power gets all of the attention, water is a growing issue. More-powerful AI chips need water to cool them, and managing that increasingly scarce resource is now mission-critical for any hyperscaler that wants to maintain good public relations and be a reasonable steward of the environment.
The issue is only going to get more critical. Nvidia’s H100 chips are currently the most widely deployed AI chip. They can still be cooled by what are essentially big fans blowing air from a giant air conditioner. Such air conditioners, like home ACs, are essentially closed-loop systems, in which a refrigerant circulates within a sealed system. Newer chips use more power, necessitating new cooling solutions, including direct-to-chip cooling, where a plate is attached to the processor. It’s a bit like the way car engines are cooled, with coolant circulating through the equipment. Eventually, chips will need to be cooled by immersing the server in a liquid and with special evaporating liquids, though that’s still years down the road.
This will require lots of water. Morgan Stanley estimates that AI water use will grow to more than one trillion liters by 2028, or 400,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. That includes water for power generation, much of which gets recirculated, as well as for cooling and other purposes, so the ultimate amount may be less. Still, it will be up to industrial companies to build systems that can cool chips in efficient closed-loop systems, with as little water as possible. Here are six stocks that should benefit.
These six companies stand to benefit from the sector’s burgeoning growth.
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1. Eaton (ETN / NYSE)
Recent Price: $395.06
Market Value: $153.3 B
Forward P/E: 29.7
52-Week Return: 44.3%
Packaging power and cooling together is a competitive advantage—and Eaton is on its way to doing just that. In March, Eaton closed on its acquisition of Boyd Thermal, which provides both power and cooling for AI data centers. That makes the company a system provider, giving it an edge over rivals that provide only components, says Janus Henderson research analyst William Brothers. The deal also gives Eaton 500 more engineers specializing in cooling tech. With expected earnings growth and its recent valuation, shares could fetch about $470 in a year, up 19% from recent levels.
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2. Modine Manufacturing (MOD / NYSE)
Recent Price: $238.14
Market Value: $12.6 B
Forward P/E: 34.7
52-Week Return: 209.5%
Modine Manufacturing isn’t a household name, but D.A. Davidson’s Matt Summerville calls it a "best in class" data-center play. Modine provides everything that data centers need to cool chips: rear-door heat exchangers, AC units, chillers, coolant distribution units. Overall sales grew 7% in fiscal 2025, driven by 28% growth in its Climate Solutions unit; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization grew 25%. That growth justifies its price/earnings ratio of 32 times over the next 12 months. After divesting its auto-parts business later this year, Modine will be a pure-play cooling company.
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3. Schneider Electric (SBGSY / OTC)
Recent Price: $62.82
Market Value: $181.3 B
Forward P/E: 28.6
52-Week Return: 36.1%
Like Eaton, Schneider Electric provides both electrical hardware and software for data centers. That is the result of its acquisition of 75% of Motivair in February 2025, which brought expertise in cooling distribution units and direct-to-chip cooling plates in house. The deal has been a tailwind for Schneider. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Fielding forecast total sales growth of 9% a year through 2030, up from roughly 6% annually over the past three years. He rates shares Buy and has a $68.40 target for the U.S.-listed American depositary receipt, up 10% from recent levels.
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4. Solstice Advanced Materials (SOLS / Nasdaq)
Recent Price: $79.24
Market Value: $12.6 B
Forward P/E: 29.7
52-Week Return: 62.7%*
Solstice Advanced Materials, which makes chemicals used in chip making, uranium hexafluoride for nuclear power, and refrigerants and coolants, was spun out of Honeywell International in October 2025. It serves a variety of industries, including data centers. Wall Street wasn’t a huge fan of the stock when it spun out, expecting earnings to grow at just 15% annually. Investors were quicker to realize Solstice’s potential. Shares are up 65% year to date, and analysts have come around, too—they now see earnings growing at a 20% clip annually through 2028.
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5. Trane Technologies (TT / NYSE)
Recent Price: $462.56
Market Value: $102.4 B
Forward P/E: 31.3
52-Week Return: 35.7%
Heat is one problem. But data centers also need to manage and cool water. That’s Trane Technologies’ business. It builds coolant distribution units and air handlers, and invested in immersion cooling by buying LiquidStack in March. Wall Street expects sales and earnings to grow by 8% and 13% a year on average, respectively, for the next three years. Above-average earnings is why shares trade for 31 times estimated earnings over the next 12 months. Next-generation cooling could push profits higher. Bookings in Trane’s Applied Solutions, which serves data centers, grew 120% in the fourth quarter.
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6. Vertiv Holdings (VRT / NYSE)
Recent Price: $301.16
Market Value: $115.2 B
Forward P/E: 49.1
52-Week Return: 314.7%
Vertiv Holdings didn’t need to make acquisitions to merge power and cooling technologies—it already had. The stock returned 70% annualized over the past five years, but there’s no reason it can’t keep rising. Shares jumped 25% on Feb. 11 after fourth-quarter numbers, which showed that orders had grown 252% year over year. Earnings estimates for 2026, now at $6 per share, rose 40% over that span. The stock trades at 46 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, but profits should grow by 34% annually over the next three years. And Wall Street tends to underestimate Vertiv’s earnings.
Sources: Bloomberg.
Disc: No buy and sell. This information only for education purpose only.