歐洲工業板塊是AI交易的重要推動力，佔Stoxx 600約五分之一的權重。施耐德電氣、ABB等電力基礎設施企業報告數據中心需求出現三位數增長並上調業績預期；Kingspan因數據中心建設強勁動能而大漲。巴克萊在評估約500個數據中心項目後，推薦了Belimo、Alfa Laval、Atlas Copco等具吸引力估值的工業股。
歐洲目前處於AI採用週期的早期階段，企業資產負債表健康、自由現金流收益率高於美國，且股東回報更高、股票發行量更低。高盛策略師指出，歐洲雖在AI創新初期落後，但歷史經驗顯示，最終受益的往往是善於利用原始投資的後來者，而非率先投入的先行者。歐洲在數據中心建設和能源基礎設施方面仍需大量投資，預計將為公用事業帶來超級週期。
The European stock market is delivering a surprisingly strong year, powered by its own AI trade. Despite having only about 9% tech exposure versus 44% for the S&P 500, the Stoxx 600 has kept pace with its US counterpart. A Citigroup basket of European AI enablers has surged 46% over the past year with notably lower volatility than the 60% rally in US AI winners.
Europe's industrial sector, the largest Stoxx 600 weighting after financials, is a key beneficiary of the AI trade through data center demand. Power infrastructure firms like Schneider Electric and ABB have reported triple-digit surges in data center orders, while newer winners such as Kingspan are emerging from data center construction momentum. Barclays analysts, after assessing roughly 500 data center projects, identified attractively valued names including Belimo, Alfa Laval, and Atlas Copco.
Europe sits in a strategic sweet spot at the early stages of AI adoption, boasting healthier corporate balance sheets and higher free cash flow yields than the US. Goldman Sachs strategists argue that being a late mover may prove advantageous, as history shows that companies benefiting most from technology waves are often those that capitalize on prior investment rather than those that fund it. Significant spending on data centers and energy infrastructure is expected to trigger a supercycle for European utilities.