This Secret Data Center Stock Is Up 180% in a Year. Is It Too Late to Buy?
Shares of small-cap stock Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ: STRL) are on a tear as investors gobble up anything that could seemingly have something to do with artificial intelligence (AI). That apparently includes this specialty infrastructure contractor. Sterling stock is up some 180% in the last year (as of this writing on April 24, 2024).
Sterling certainly is a unique way to play AI. Its largest and most profitable segment is called "E-Infrastructure Solutions," which handles construction services for large companies (think big tech) in need of data centers, e-commerce warehouses, power generation facilities, and the like. In fact, Sterling seems to be leaning into this important segment, as data centers are high priority these days. Is the stock still a good buy?
Since 2017 (when current CEO Joseph Cutillo took the reins of the business), Sterling has embarked on a growth mission. It started with strengthening its traditional heavy highway and civil business (the "Transportation Solutions" segment) by being more disciplined in bidding on jobs. The goal was to boost profit margins, which has been a successful strategy (more on that in a moment).
Source Fool.com
