This AI Energy Stock Is Up Nearly 2,000% in the Last Two Years. Could It Be Nvidia's Next Big Investment?

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has made its name in AI chips, and its dominance in that arena has made it the most valuable company in the world, with a market cap of $5.5 trillion.

However, along the way, Nvidia has established itself as a major investor in AI companies and something of a kingmaker as well.

Its recent 13-F filing showed that it owned eight stocks with a total market value of $63.4 billion at the end of the second quarter. Those stocks were the following, in order of market value:

• Intel (214.8 million shares)
• Space Exploration Technologies (122.8 million shares)
• CoreWeave (47.2 million shares)
• Nebius (22.3 million shares)
• Coherent (7.8 million shares)
• Nokia (166.4 million shares)
• Synopsys (4.8 million shares)
• Generate Biomedicines (833.3 million shares)

That portfolio gives Nvidia exposure to a wide range of AI companies.

The eight stocks Nvidia owns

Intel, which it bought when the stock was near its bottom, is a competitor to Nvidia in some ways, but Nvidia invested in Intel as part of a partnership to develop data center and personal computing products together. Intel is also the largest U.S.-based foundry, and the move comes as American semiconductor manufacturing has become a national priority.

SpaceX has become a close partner of Nvidia. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said his company would exclusively build on Nvidia architecture and called the new Vera Rubin platform the best AI system available. In turn, Nvidia strengthened the mutual relationship by taking a stake currently worth close to $20 billion in Nvidia. SpaceX is aiming to rapidly ramp up its AI compute capacity, with a goal of reaching 10GW by the end of 2027, which should favor Nvidia as well.

CoreWeave and Nebius both represent the leading neocloud stocks and are both close partners of Nvidia, as they essentially buy the company's chips and use them to rent out AI compute.

Coherent is a leading optics, photonics, and lasers company and plays a role in AI infrastructure by providing the optical connectivity that helps manage the power and heat generated in AI computing. Coherent is also a key supplier for Nvidia, and the investment helps secure that relationship.

Nvidia invested $1 billion in Nokia to lead the transition from 5G to 6G and to accelerate AI-radio access network (AI-RAN) technology, which integrates AI directly into mobile network base stations. The partnership will help build the AI-native wireless era.

Synopsys is an electronic design automation (EDA) software company which test microchips before manufacturing them. Nvidia's $2 billion investment in Synopsys and related partnership will accelerate Nvidia's chip design and its engineering simulations.

Finally, Nvidia took a small stake in Generate Biomedicines to gain exposure to the emerging field of generative biology, which includes AI-driven drug discovery and the design of proteins and medicines from scratch.

What's missing from the list

Nvidia has cleverly assembled a portfolio of investments across a range of partners, including foundry, Neoclouds, optics, telecom, and EDA, as well as SpaceX, which is a unique company.

However, energy supply is a key concern for AI companies and is emerging as one of the biggest potential bottlenecks.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently said that AI needs "1,000 times more power than we currently have."

One fast-growing company that is meeting that need with an alternative fuel source is Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE), a hydrogen fuel-cell company that recently crossed $1 billion in quarterly revenue. Bloom also just signed a $25 billion AI infrastructure power partnership with Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world's largest real estate developers.

Will Nvidia invest in Bloom Energy?

Bloom's revenue jumped 166% in its most recent quarter, and the stock is up nearly 2,000% in the last two years, showing it has emerged as one of the big winners from the AI boom.

The company's technology is now used by every major U.S. hyperscaler and more than a dozen neoclouds, AI labs, and data center operators, showing it's gained broad adoption.

Nvidia isn't a direct partner of Bloom since the chipmaker doesn't operate data centers, but it makes sense for Nvidia as an investment, especially if Huang is confident in the future growth of AI and its expanding energy needs.

Predicting future acquisitions or investments is difficult, but it would make sense for Nvidia to partner with some kind of AI energy company. Bloom Energy looks like a great choice.

Jeremy Bowman has positions in CoreWeave and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bloom Energy, Brookfield Asset Management, Coherent, Intel, Nvidia, and Synopsys. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.