Everyone's talking about NVIDIA, Palantir, Vertiv when it comes to AI plays, but honestly there's a whole other layer of companies most people aren't paying attention to that could benefit just as much from this wave.

I've been looking at Photronics lately. It's a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy) and basically owns the photomask game - they make these stencils that print circuits onto semiconductor wafers. Critical stuff for chip production. They had a solid breakout around late February, though it didn't hold as strong as you'd want to see. But here's the thing - as AI chips get more complex, their role becomes even more important in the supply chain. Their latest earnings showed record high-end revenue with solid US strength. Plus they're seriously ramping up CapEx. Last fiscal year hit 188.1 million compared to 131 million the year before. That's real money being deployed to expand in the US and South Korea. The EPS revisions are still pointing up too.

Then there's Teradyne. They make the equipment that tests chips, and obviously the fastest growth segment is AI data center chips and accelerators. More complex chips equal higher test demand, and AI chips right now are about as complex as it gets. Stock's up 40% year-to-date, which is pretty solid. They've got that Zacks Rank 1 (Strong Buy) rating and the EPS outlook looks really bullish.

What's interesting is both of these are flying under the radar compared to the mega-cap names everyone discusses endlessly. But they're actually foundational to the whole AI infrastructure buildout. Yeah both have seen some weakness recently, but the fundamentals and revisions tell a different story. Worth keeping on your radar if you're thinking about the AI supply chain angle rather than just the headline names.