Big tech corporations are spending close to $700 billion this 12 months building AI information facilities. Most of the consideration goes to chipmakers like Nvidia. However, two very completely different corporations just reported earnings that show how much money is flowing to companies that do not make a single chip: a copper miner and a company that owns and rents out the buildings information facilities sit in.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX): Copper Prices Are Doing the Heavy Lifting
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) beat expectations. The copper mining giant earned 74 cents a share, excluding one-time prices, versus the 59 cents analysts expected. Regular revenue, i.e., internet income, came in at $984 million, or 68 cents a share, up from 53 cents a share a 12 months in the past. Here’s the twist, though: the firm truly mined 18.2% less copper this quarter, not more. So the beat came from price, not quantity. The average price of copper rose 41.5% from a 12 months earlier, pushed by provide worries and sturdy demand from China.
Freeport’s manufacturing dropped because its Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the second-largest copper mine in the world, is still recovering from a lethal mud stream catastrophe last September that killed seven staff and shut the mine down for weeks. Repair prices alone were about $363 million this quarter. CEO Kathleen Quirk said the mine’s restoration is “on track” and still expects it to reopen absolutely by the finish of the 12 months. There’s also a doable bonus forward: the Trump administration has been expected to announce a tariff on copper, which would doubtless enhance Freeport’s earnings further, though no determination has come yet. The stock truly fell 2.3% the morning outcomes came out, roughly in line with the relaxation of the market that day.
Copper itself is value understanding here. It’s one of the best supplies for conducting electrical energy, and it’s used worldwide in motors, computer systems, batteries, and wiring. As AI infrastructure retains getting constructed, copper demand is expected to keep sturdy for years, even if this explicit quarter’s beat came principally from price, not from a sudden AI-driven shopping for spree.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR): Getting Paid Rent by the AI Boom Directly
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR)’s quarter exhibits a much more direct hyperlink to AI spending. The company owns and leases out information facilities, and this quarter its income jumped 29% to $1.92 billion, blowing previous the $1.66 billion analysts expected. Its major money stream quantity, Core FFO, came in at $2.65 a share versus the $1.86 expected, though that determine consists of $188 million in one-time income from a joint-venture development deal. The more comparable quantity was $2.13 a share, still up from $1.87 a 12 months in the past. The firm raised full-year steering and now expects $8.15 to $8.20 a share for the 12 months, up from $8 to $8.10, and raised its income forecast too. New leases signed in July alone are value $410 million a 12 months in rent at full worth, though Digital Realty’s own share of that, since some properties are collectively owned, is $205 million. When current tenants renewed their leases this quarter, Digital Realty raised the rent by over 25%, a signal of just how much pricing energy it has proper now. The company also just closed a $3.5 billion deal to buy a larger stake in three information facilities in Northern Virginia, the world’s largest information middle market, from investment firm Blackstone.
CEO Andy Power said the outcomes show “robust customer demand and strong execution.” The stock rose 3% after the report. JPMorgan raised its price goal afterward, and TD Cowen upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy with a new goal of its own.
That raises a actual query. Are these two shares genuinely using the same AI wave, or is one of them just getting fortunate on commodity costs while the other is the actual factor?
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) and Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) Just Showed Who Else Profits When Big Tech Builds Data Centers
Analysis: One Is a Direct Bet, the Other Is a Longer-Term Story
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) is about as direct a guess on AI infrastructure spending as you can make without shopping for a chip company. Its business rents information middle space to the same type of cloud and AI corporations driving the broader spending increase, and Digital Realty gets paid rent whether those corporations’ AI merchandise succeed or not, as long as the information facilities keep full. Its backlog and July leasing numbers show that demand is not slowing down.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s story is more difficult. This quarter’s beat came from copper costs rising, not from Freeport promoting more copper into AI-driven demand, since a mine accident truly cut its output. The AI buildout is a actual long-term purpose to expect more copper demand, but it’s one demand catalyst among several, alongside electric autos, energy grids, and common construction. Investors shopping for Freeport for its AI publicity should perceive they’re also betting on a mine restoration staying on schedule and on copper costs, which transfer for a lot of causes that have nothing to do with information facilities.
Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Data Analysis
Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database exhibits more confidence building in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) than in Freeport. Digital Realty was held by 46 hedge funds at the finish of Q1 2026, up from 43 the quarter before, value just under $1 billion, though it makes up a comparatively small 1.6% of the average holder’s portfolio. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was held by more funds total, 82, but that quantity was truly down from 91 the quarter before, even though the greenback worth held stayed roughly flat at $9.46 billion. Freeport also carries much increased focus, at 11.2% of the average holder’s portfolio, which means the funds that do own it deal with it as a larger, more significant guess than Digital Realty’s holders do.
Conclusion
Both of these shares had sturdy quarters, but for completely different causes that say various things about how instantly they’re linked to the AI increase. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) is about as close to a pure, direct AI infrastructure play as exists outside of chipmakers themselves. Its clients are the hyperscalers, and its growth numbers transfer in step with theirs.
On the other hand, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) advantages from AI too, but AI is just a small half of the total copper demand story, and this quarter’s outcomes truly occurred despite a manufacturing drawback, not because of surging AI-driven gross sales. If you need the more direct AI story, Digital Realty is it. If you’re wanting for a longer, more cyclical guess where AI is just one piece of the puzzle, that’s Freeport.
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