There’s an ETF perfectly positioned for the AI-data-center boom, and it’s poised to crush the S&P 500

There’s one ETF that looks like it could be a big winner of the data center boom.

NDR Research said the Tema Electrification ETF had the largest exposure to “datacenter bellwethers.”

The fund is up 31% year-to-date, handily beating the S&P 500.

There’s one investment at the heart of the data center revolution with massive upside — and it’s already blowing the S&P 500 out of the water in 2025.

The Tema Electrification exchange-traded fund (VOLT) is an ETF with a uniquely high exposure to critical utility, data center, and energy infrastructure stocks, according to analysts at Ned Davis Research.

The fund could end up being among the biggest winners of the AI spending spree and the proliferation of data centers across the US. Over the next few years, that could make the fund an even more valuable stock market play than the broader S&P 500, Pat Tschosik, the research firm’s chief thematic strategist, and Phillippe Mouls, an analyst at NDR, said.

“The Tema Electrification ETF (VOLT) offers the most direct diversified exposure to the Datacenter Electrification theme,” Tschosik and Mouls said, noting that the fund had high exposure to “data center bellwethers” — companies that are expected to benefit the most from AI infrastructure buildout.

“We rate the ETF Overweight versus the S&P 500, targeting roughly 20% relative outperformance by 2027,” they added.

The fund’s top holdings include Powell Industries, NextEra Energy, and Bel Fuse.

The ETF is receiving a glowing rating from the research firm for two reasons:

Data centers are expected to send power usage soaring.

Global electricity demand is expected to more than double by the end of the decade, from 415 terrawatt hours in 2024 to 945 terrawatt hours in 2030, according to projections from the International Energy Agency.

Energy demand in the US is expected to grow at a 15% compounded annual rate a year over the same time frame, the IEA says.

Most of that demand is expected to come from the commercial sector, according to the Energy Information Administration, a category that most data centers would fall under.

It’s not just a future projection, but a present reality that’s driving the electrification theme. OpenAI’s Stargate data center project will span states across the country and require enough energy to power major cities.

Power infrastructure in the US appears due for an upgrade, another bullish factor that feeds into the data center thesis, Tschosik and Mouls added.

Energy infrastructure across the US was rated as D+ in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ latest report card, the firm said.

“We believe we are in a grid-upgrade super cycle driven by datacenter demand and aging infrastructure,” Tschosik and Mouls said.

Excitement for AI and the data center boom is still alive, but investors have been growing wary of enormous spending plans by some mega-cap firms, which have propelled massive gains in stocks but also drawn parallels to the dot-com bubble.

Mega-cap tech has been pouring billions into chips and datacenters, though the ability of some companies to monetize those investments remains unclear.

Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Apple now look on track to spend a combined $349 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, according to Business Insider’s most recent analysis of company statements.

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