AN AI PLAYER NOBODY'S TALKING ABOUT
(CLS), (MSFT), (GOOG), (GOOGL), (NVDA)
I was driving back from Salt Lake City a few weeks ago when I got a call from a former Concierge Service client who runs a drone manufacturing business.
His story is remarkable - what started as a hobby five years ago now generates $40 million in revenue, with military contracts on the horizon promising even more growth.
He keeps telling me that our weekly calls during those crucial early days were what kept him from selling to the first European conglomerate that waved a checkbook in his face.
"You told me to hold out for ten times what they were offering," he reminded me. I don't remember saying that, but who knows?
After thousands of client calls over the years, they tend to blur together. Still, he swears it was my portfolio review that convinced him to plow every nickel of profit back into engineering when his competitors were cashing out.
I'm not about to take credit for his success – the guy's a genius in his own right – but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make my day to hear that. Now he's being bombarded with takeover offers from European and Asian firms desperate for new profit streams at any cost.
That conversation got me thinking about AI stocks and where the real opportunities might be hiding.
AI fever is alive and well on Wall Street. But while tech giants like Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) operate under the shadow of China's DeepSeek, the architects of artificial intelligence systems—from semiconductors to servers to sprawling data centers—have emerged as the winners so far in 2025.
Look no further than Nvidia (NVDA), which saw its sales and profits surge as tech companies threw billions at its advanced chips.
The demand for its Blackwell series alone generated a staggering $11 billion in revenue last quarter. But with its valuation soaring, NVDA is no longer the under-the-radar opportunity it once was.
While Nvidia's dominance is undeniable, the real money in AI isn’t just in chips—it’s in the infrastructure that keeps the entire ecosystem running.
And that’s where Celestica (CLS) comes in. While most investors were fixated on Nvidia, CLS quietly delivered massive gains, positioning itself as a crucial player in AI’s supply chain.
Celestica makes the electronic guts that keep AI data centers running. It’s not as flashy as ChatGPT or robotics breakthroughs, but the companies that build and maintain AI infrastructure are often where the real money is made. It’s the same reason drone component suppliers have been making a fortune while the spotlight stays on the drones themselves.
And the numbers back it up. Celestica reported $2.55 billion in Q4 revenue, an adjusted EPS of $1.11, and a forecast of $10.7 billion in revenue for 2025—a 22% earnings growth rate in a market where consistent growth is getting harder to find.
Yet its valuation remains reasonable, with a PEG ratio of 0.8, meaning investors are paying less per unit of growth compared to sector averages.
In 2025, market volatility has been brutal. Geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and Donald Trump’s new tariffs on China helped fuel a 5% Nasdaq drop last week, sending investors into panic mode.
But CLS kept climbing. Over the last three months, while the broader market wobbled, Celestica delivered a nearly 29% gain.
Even better, nine analysts have revised their earnings estimates upward in the last 90 days, with zero downward revisions. That’s the kind of confirmation bias I can get behind.
It’s a strategy I’ve seen pay off before. My former client reinvested in engineering instead of selling out early, betting on long-term value over a quick exit.
Celestica has been following a similar playbook—focusing on becoming an indispensable part of the AI infrastructure rather than competing with the companies making headlines.
While others chase the next big AI breakthrough, Celestica is already supplying the backbone that powers them all.
It currently ranks as the top electronic manufacturing services stock and is among the top 10 technology stocks overall—solid proof to its growing influence in the industry.
And with hyperscaler demand accelerating and AI adoption still in its early innings, Celestica is positioned to become even more critical to the AI revolution in the coming years.
So, where is the next 10-bagger in AI? It's probably not limited to the household names that dominate the headlines.
As I've seen time and again throughout my career, sometimes the most profitable investments are found in the companies building the essential tools for the gold rush, not the miners themselves.
And just like my drone-building client who turned personalized investment advice into a $40 million business by avoiding the quick exit, the real winners in AI will be those who recognize the opportunities hiding in plain sight.
After all, fortunes aren’t made by chasing shiny objects—they’re made by supplying the circuit boards that keep them running.
