--- title: "These nontech stocks can ride the AI build-out for years" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/295822117.md" description: "Bob Robotti, CIO of Robotti & Company Advisors, advocates investing in non-tech 'hard asset' companies benefiting from AI infrastructure build-out, citing undervalued opportunities compared to high-flying tech stocks. He highlights Finning International, a Caterpillar dealer serving mining sectors critical for AI materials, and Subsea 7, an offshore energy services firm merging with Saipem to capitalize on efficient offshore production. The strategy focuses on physical economy assets like equipment dealerships and offshore engineering rather than direct AI developers." datetime: "2026-08-13T15:48:14.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/295822117.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/295822117.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/295822117.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # These nontech stocks can ride the AI build-out for years By Philip van Doorn Massive spending on data centers and AI infrastructure can benefit 'HALO' companies: hard assets, low obsolescence These are two companies Bob Robotti expects will benefit over the long term as the AI build-out feeds demand for hard assets. It's time investors stop ignoring certain nontech industries, especially those that stand to benefit for years from the build-out of infrastructure to support generative artificial intelligence, one fund manager said. After a couple of years of triple-digit gains for chip makers, "the incremental demand for real hard assets" is providing investors with a less expensive opportunity to ride the AI wave without trying to pick winners among hyperscalers and companies developing AI agents, Bob Robotti told MarketWatch. Robotti is the founder and chief investment officer of Robotti & Company Advisors, which is based in New York and manages about $1.1 billion in private-equity funds and individual accounts. In his second-quarter letter to clients, Robotti wrote: "The market has bid the recognized beneficiaries of AI to prices that leave little room for disappointment, while the physical economy that must be built to realize any version of the AI future remains largely ignored." In other words, valuations for the best-known AI-related stocks have gotten so high that they "embed decades of flawless execution," he wrote. We all know how difficult it can be to predict long-term winners in the stock market, and at this stage of the AI build-out, it might be foolhardy to do so. During an interview with MarketWatch, Robotti and Theo van der Meer, a senior investment associate with the firm, discussed three stocks they favor among companies producing, selling or servicing hard assets. "We are believers in the reindustrialization of America," Robotti said. "The demand for real assets \[has been \] accelerated recently by the build-out of data centers." Finning Finning International (FINGF) (CA:FTT) is headquartered in Canada. It bills itself as the world's largest dealer of equipment manufactured by Caterpillar (CAT) by volume, with exclusive rights as the authorized dealer in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, western Canada, Ireland and the U.K. "Caterpillar is clearly a critical player providing infrastructure," Robotti said, but he made clear he would much rather own a dealer than a manufacturer of heavy equipment or vehicles, because a dealer provides essential services even when slowing sales might hurt the equipment maker. And the dealership's repair and maintenance services run at higher profit margins than those on the sale of new equipment. Finning's services to lithium miners in Bolivia and copper miners in Chile and Argentina give it "a very significant opportunity for profits," with those materials in such high demand during the AI build-out, Robotti said. And van der Meer pointed out that those materials give the company exposure to demand for expanded energy sources. After visiting Finning's facilities in Chile, van der Meer and Robotti found that the company can provide parts and service for Caterpillar's equipment and can plan maintenance on the fleet level as well as using AI to monitor specific equipment for parts that need to be replaced. Subsea 7 Subsea 7 (SUBCY) (NO:REACH) is based in London, although it has historical roots in Norway. The company provides engineering and construction services for the development of offshore oil fields. With so much capital investment focused on domestic hydraulic fracturing over recent years, some investors may not realize that the offshore extraction business has a much lower cost, Robotti said. And that makes this a low-cost long-term play on the increasing demand for power during the AI infrastructure buildout. Subsea 7 has an agreement in place to merge with Saipem (SAPMY), which is based in Milan, Italy. The merger is expected to be completed before the end of the year, with the combined company renamed Saipem7. Each company's current shareholders will be 50% owners of the combined company. With capital underinvestment in offshore for many years, the surviving companies have substantially reduced the cost to develop offshore fields, Robotti said. The main competitor to the soon-to-be combined Subsea 7/Saipem among providers of engineering and construction services to the offshore industry is TechnipFMC (FTI). "An offshore field with 15 to 20 wells might produce 150,000 barrels a day," Robotti said, while estimating that an onshore well might produce "a thousand barrels a day if you are lucky." He said a typical onshore well will suffer a 50% decline in production over the course of a year, while an offshore well is more likely to have a 20% decline. Van der Meer called offshore oil production "the backbone of the international business" and predicted a sharp decline in fracking production within a decade. "Now the scene has flipped. So the question is whether or not there is enough capacity to meet demand," he said. Robotti highlighted other advantages of offshore oil production. "Wells onshore are producing thick product. Offshore is like water - it comes right out," he said. He added that onshore, shale extraction might enable a producer to get at 10% of the oil embedded in the rock, while "with an offshore field in sandstone, you can recover 40 to 50% of the oil." Finally, Robotti said that for the largest producers investing in new production, such as ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX) and BP (BP), "onshore is a bunch of singles. You can hit a home run offshore." And this means longer-term investment commitments that can benefit Subsea 7 and the combined Saipem7. Another provider of hard assets: Builders FirstSource Builders FirstSource's (BLDR) primary business is providing structural and other materials to large U.S. home builders. The company's stock has declined 29% this year, during a period when rising mortgage rates have led to slower home sales. Between 60% and 70% of the company's revenue comes from lumber and lumber-sheet goods, Robotti said. But an increasing amount of those sales are actually within prebuilt components, such as frame sections for houses, built to specifications provided by the builders. "So there is less waste, less cut lumber and less labor" in an automated process. Robotti said. "Off-site construction is a large component in what goes into a home, with greater efficiency." And that efficiency underscores the opportunity for long-term investors when the housing market perks up. Van der Meer tied the current housing-market doldrums to the long period of underinvestment in the offshore oil industry. "When capital returned, they were better businesses and consolidated and more efficient," he said. He expects a similar capital cycle to fuel a resurgence for Builders FirstSource. Don't miss: An active fund holding a whopping 800 stocks is beating major indexes. Here's how. -Philip van Doorn This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 08-13-26 1148ET ### Related Stocks - [CAT.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CAT.US.md) - [FTI.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/FTI.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Oak Harvest Investment Services Acquires 10,203 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296461343.md) - [Advocate Group LLC Reduces Stake in Caterpillar Inc. $CAT](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296447903.md) - [Leonteq Securities AG Sells 5,280 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296462179.md) - [Tufton Capital Management Sells 2,156 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296461340.md) - [Prospera Financial Services Inc Buys 2,124 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. $CAT](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296080052.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**