AI-generated conversation tends to start and stop with chips. But the companies that are quietly landing multi-year, multi-billion dollar contracts aren't currently making semiconductors—they're making the glass, connectors, and routing systems that hold the entire data center together.
TradeSmith's Lucas Downey sees the AI infrastructure stack as five distinct layers: global and site development, power, cooling, commute, and memory, and finally, network and connectivity.
That last layer—fiber, optics, and high-speed interconnects—is where he's focused, and where he believes analysts are still playing catch-up.
The Shift From Copper to Glass
The need to drive change here is straightforward: data centers are moving away from copper cables and towards physical links made of glass and fiber. Optical connections carry data at the speed of light, generate less heat than copper, and reduce cooling costs.
For hyperscalers that run large AI workloads, those hyperscalers benefit from faster convergence.
Downey estimates that AI infrastructure spending is approaching $1 trillion worldwide. The optical networking segment alone is seeing supply constraints—there aren't enough components to meet demand—which is exactly the kind of constraint that often rewards legacy manufacturers with the power to scale.
Amphenol: Connectors at the Core of Every Rack
Amphenol Today
- 52 week interval
- $95.19
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$168.75
- Dividend Yield
- 0.60%
- The P/E ratio
- 47.88
- Target Value
- $178.07
Downey's first name in bold is Amphenol Corporation NYSE: APHone of the world's largest manufacturers of electrical connectors and interconnect systems. Amphenol doesn't make lasers or chips—it makes physical connections between all the components inside a data center: racks, servers, assemblies. Every nanosecond of latency is critical to high-speed AI workloads, and every connection matters.
The company delivered one of its biggest profits of the latest season, with revenue of $7.62 billion, above the Street estimate of $7.08 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) also beat, and guidance came in above expectations. Downey notes that the magnitude of this latest beat is what has renewed the attention of analysts, who he says are still revising the numbers higher.
Amphenol has a market cap of nearly $200 billion and has posted double-digit revenue and earnings growth projections through 2028—making it, in Downey's view, a prime position in an undiminished body.
Corning: Fiber Backbone for the AI Era
The most popular name on the list is Corning Incorporated NYSE: GLWa company that has been producing specialty glass for over 170 years and is now in the midst of the next generation of fiber optic infrastructure.
Corning Today
- 52 week interval
- $51.32
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$254.22
- Dividend Yield
- 0.44%
- The P/E ratio
- 121.93
- Target Value
- $182.62
Corning recently secured two significant hyperscaler deals. First is collaboration with NVIDIA Corporation NASDAQ: NVDA to increase US-based communications productivity—Corning expects to increase its US optical connectivity capacity 10x and US fiber capacity by more than 50% under the agreement. The second is a multi-billion dollar deal with Amazon.com NASDAQ: AMZN of US fiber production, announced earlier this month.
At the JP Morgan conference, Corning's executives indicated that its sales will reach $20 billion by the end of the year, $30 billion by 2028, and $40 billion by 2030. On the earnings side, Downey points to diluted EPS of around $3.19 this year, accelerating to $4.21 next year and $5.28 more as it is expected to be revised by 2. hyperscalers follow NVIDIA and Amazon at the table.
The stock has already outperformed, and the analyst consensus has slowed to keep pace. Downey draws a direct parallel to Micron Technology NASDAQ: MUwhere analysts have been underestimating the demand cycle before experiencing a wave of rate improvements. You see the same dynamic unfolding in the optical.
Ciena: Optical Network Traffic Director
Ciena Today
- 52 week interval
- $76.89
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$637.51
- The P/E ratio
- 158.57
- Target Value
- $530.56
The third name is Ciena Corporation NYSE: CIENwhich Downey describes as the intelligent routing layer of the optical ecosystem. Where Amphenol handles physical connections, and Corning makes fiber cables, Ciena optimizes how data travels on those cables—moving signals at the speed of light, managing bandwidth, and reducing congestion across distributed AI clusters with thousands of simultaneous data packets traveling.
Ciena's latest earnings showed a similar story of demand: EPS came in at $1.64 versus estimates of $1.46, revenue was flat, and the company raised its full-year guidance to $6.3 billion—above the previous estimate of $6.15 billion—while noting margin expansion.
The stock has bounced back after a nearly 500% one-year run, which Downey attributes to seasonal mechanics—the rebuilding of the Russell index and quarterly rebalancing—rather than any change in fundamentals. He sees the pullback as a buying opportunity, with full-year 2026 EPS estimated at around $6.50, rising to $9.65 the following year and $14.28 in 2028.
Pursue Salary, Not Titles
The broad framework Downey applies to all three terms is the same: track where earnings are going, not where the stock price already is. When a company makes multi-year deals with the world's largest cloud providers, the official ratings are usually comfortable. Analyst upgrades follow contracts, and stock re-ratings follow upgrades.
Near-term fluctuations—whether from AI bubble topics, sector rotations, or index rebalancing—do not change the fundamental picture of demand. Data center construction has committed revenue up to 2030 and beyond. For investors willing to look beyond the noise, the virtual layer may be the quietest opportunity left in AI trading.
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