When traders think AI, they usually think Nvidia, Microsoft or Alphabet. But besides software, an AI model also needs chips to run on, machines to manufacture those chips, data centers to house them, electricity to power them — and software to bring AI into actual businesses.
Many of the companies behind this infrastructure are based in Europe. With 140+ new European stocks now on IQ Option, traders have more ways to trade the AI boom beyond U.S. tech giants.
We’ve already looked at 20 of the most volatile stocks from the new European lineup. Now let’s zoom in on one of the biggest themes moving markets: AI.
1. The machines behind the AI chips
AI needs increasingly powerful chips. And before those chips can reach an Nvidia data center, somebody needs to build the machines used to manufacture them..
Europe has an unusual advantage in AI: it sells the machines behind the chips. ASML, ASM International and BESI supply critical equipment used by chipmakers around the world — from lithography and wafer processing to advanced packaging.
As AI pushes manufacturers to build more powerful chips and expand capacity, these European suppliers can benefit from the spending happening across the global semiconductor industry.
ASML: the giant behind advanced chips
ASML (ASMLa) is probably the most obvious European AI stock. This Dutch company makes lithography systems — machines that use light to print microscopic circuit patterns onto silicon wafers. Its most advanced EUV systems are essential for producing the smallest, most complex features in leading-edge chips.
ASML itself says ongoing AI investment is driving demand for advanced logic and memory chips. In Q2 2026, the company reported €9.3 billion in sales and raised its full-year sales outlook to €43–45 billion.
ASML
ASML.AS · Euronext Amsterdam · EUR
Watch for 👀
- AI spending by major tech companies
- TSMC and other chipmakers’ expansion plans
- ASML orders and guidance
- restrictions on semiconductor equipment exports
ASM International: another way to trade the chip boom
As AI chips get smaller and more complex, manufacturers increasingly need to control materials at almost absurd levels of precision.
ASM International (ASMa) specializes in Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) — technology that applies ultra-thin materials to silicon wafers one atomic layer at a time. ASM holds more than 55% of the single-wafer ALD market.
The thing is, advanced AI processors and memory increasingly rely on complex 3D chip structures that require exactly this kind of precision. In Q1 2026, ASM said AI-led demand accelerated, helping revenue reach €863 million.
So, ASM doesn’t need to predict which AI model wins. It benefits from the fact that AI chips are becoming harder to manufacture.
ASM International
ASM.AS · Euronext Amsterdam · EUR
Watch for 👀
- AI chip and HBM demand
- Growth in advanced 3D chip architectures
- Demand for ASM’s ALD technology
- Semiconductor manufacturers’ spending plans
BESI: AI needs more than better chips
Making a powerful chip is only part of the job. Advanced processors also need increasingly sophisticated packaging — connecting different components so they can work together efficiently.
BESI makes semiconductor assembly equipment, including technology used for advanced packaging and hybrid bonding. In Q2 2026, its revenue jumped 68.7% year over year, while orders rose 128.8%, with the company pointing to demand from AI computing, data centers and photonics.
BESI
BESI.AS · Euronext Amsterdam · EUR
Watch for 👀
- AI and data-center spending
- Demand for hybrid bonding
- Advanced packaging adoption
- BESI orders and guidance
Three ways to trade AI chips
| ASML | ASM International | BESI | |
| Role | Lithography | Wafer processing | Advanced packaging |
| AI link | Making advanced chips | Building advanced logic & memory | Connecting advanced chips |
| Watch | Chipmaker capex | Logic & memory demand | AI packaging demand |
2. AI’s next bottleneck: power and data centers
AI models run inside enormous data centers filled with processors that consume huge amounts of electricity and produce huge amounts of heat. Although indirectly, that creates another AI trade.
Europe is actively investing in this infrastructure. The EU has launched plans for up to seven AI Gigafactories, backed by up to €10 billion in EU and national funding and expected to unlock at least €20 billion in private investment.
Each facility is expected to combine advanced AI processors, cloud infrastructure, high-speed connectivity and energy-efficient data centers.
Schneider Electric: powering the data-center boom
Schneider Electric (SUp) isn’t an AI company in the traditional sense, but it makes something AI needs most: power infrastructure.
Schneider provides electrical systems, power management, cooling and other infrastructure used by data centers. AI is making those facilities much more demanding. The IEA expects global data-center electricity consumption to roughly double from 2025 to 2030, while electricity use by AI-focused data centers could triple. In 2025 alone, their electricity consumption surged 50%.
Goldman Sachs is even more bullish on the trend: its latest 2026 forecast sees global data-center power demand rising 220% by 2030 versus 2023.
Schneider reported record Q2 2026 revenue of €11.5 billion, with data centers among the strongest sources of demand. The company has also been expanding manufacturing capacity for modular data-center infrastructure as operators race to add AI computing capacity.
Watch for 👀
- hyperscaler data-center spending
- new data-center projects
- demand for cooling and power equipment
- Schneider orders and backlog
Legrand: the infrastructure inside the data center
As AI servers multiply, so does the infrastructure needed to connect and power them. Legrand (LRp) makes the equipment inside data centers: power distribution, racks, cabling, connectivity and other electrical infrastructure.
And this is already becoming a major business for Legrand. Data centers generated 26% of its total sales in 2025, while in Q1 2026, U.S. sales jumped 29.1%, driven by data-center products. In H1 2026: Legrand reported record 17% sales growth excluding currency effects, driven partly by data centers, and raised its full-year targets.
But look at the chart: the stock has repeatedly swung between roughly €125 and €158 over the past year.
For traders, that volatility may be interesting. Legrand is caught between rapidly expanding data-center demand and much weaker conditions in some traditional markets. In Q1, for example, sales grew 25.8% organically in North and Central America, but fell 2.8% in Europe and 1.8% in the rest of the world.
What could move LRp next? 👀
- Data-center growth accelerates → could strengthen the AI-growth story.
- Higher guidance / stronger orders → evidence that AI infrastructure is becoming a bigger earnings driver.
- European demand stays weak → could offset data-center growth.
- AI infrastructure spending slows → could challenge expectations built around this fast-growing business.
- Margins come under pressure as Legrand expands and acquires businesses → could matter even if revenue keeps growing.
Siemens Energy: AI has a power problem
So, AI needs enormous amounts of electricity. According to Siemens Energy, a traditional data center typically requires 15–60 MW of power. An AI-specialized data center can require 60–250 MW — potentially more than four times as much.
That puts Siemens Energy (ENRd) in an interesting position. It supplies the gas turbines, transformers and grid technology needed to generate and deliver that electricity.
AI/data-center demand is already showing up in its order book. In Q1 2026, Siemens Energy received hundreds of millions of euros in U.S. data-center-related grid orders. By Q2, it had 24 GW of gas-turbine commitments related to data centers.
The stock reflects that excitement: the price almost doubled over the past year.
Siemens Energy
ENR.DE · Xetra · EUR
What could move ENRd next? 👀
- More AI data-center projects → more demand for turbines, transformers and grid connections.
- Higher orders and backlog → Q3 backlog already reached a record €162 billion across the group.
- Stronger Grid Technologies growth → this division has been one of the company’s biggest growth engines.
- AI/data-center capex slows → could weaken one of the narratives supporting recent demand.
- Orders disappoint after very high expectations → after a nearly 50% one-year rise, strong results may not be enough if investors expected even more.
- Siemens Gamesa problems return → the wind division has historically been a weak spot, although it returned to quarterly profitability in Q3 2026.
3. AI moves into everyday business
Building AI infrastructure is only half the story. The other half is getting companies to actually use AI — and pay for it.
That’s where Europe’s software and IT companies enter the picture.
SAP: bringing AI into everyday business
SAP (SAPd) is Europe’s enterprise-software giant, used by companies to run everything from finance and HR to supply chains. Now it is embedding AI directly into those workflows through Joule and its Business AI platform.
Business is growing: in Q2 2026, cloud revenue rose 22%, while its cloud backlog grew 27% to €22.9 billion.
The stock has had a tougher year, falling from above €225 to around €135 before recovering toward €185. It’s still about 19% lower over one year.
For traders, the question is: can AI help SAP turn this recovery into stronger growth?
What could move SAPd next? 👀
- Faster adoption of Joule and AI agents → stronger evidence that SAP can monetize AI across its huge enterprise customer base.
- Cloud growth accelerates → could strengthen the recovery story.
- Backlog keeps expanding → signals future cloud revenue remains strong.
- AI monetization disappoints → lots of AI products without enough incremental revenue could pressure expectations.
- Cloud growth slows → especially important after investors have become accustomed to 20%+ growth.
- Margins disappoint → SAP’s Q2 non-IFRS operating margin declined year over year despite revenue growth, while acquisitions also affected its 2026 profit outlook.
Capgemini: somebody has to install all this AI
Capgemini (CAPp) helps large companies actually deploy AI across their businesses — integrating models into workflows, IT systems and day-to-day operations.
In Q1 2026, generative and agentic AI accounted for more than 11% of Capgemini’s bookings. Capgemini itself called AI its #1 driver of new demand.
It’s also moving closer to the technology itself: in May, Capgemini invested in the new OpenAI Deployment Company, designed specifically to help businesses move from AI experiments to large-scale deployment.
But the stock tells a much less bullish story.
Capgemini
CAP.PA · Euronext Paris · EUR
That creates an interesting tension: AI demand is accelerating, while investors still have reasons to be cautious.
What could move CAPp next? 👀
- AI bookings keep rising → stronger evidence that enterprise AI is becoming meaningful revenue.
- More large-scale AI contracts → companies moving from pilots to deployment plays directly into Capgemini’s strengths.
- Margins improve → could make the combination of AI growth + recovering profitability more compelling.
- AI projects remain stuck in pilot mode → lots of interest, but slower monetization.
- Profit and EPS stay under pressure → revenue growth alone may not satisfy investors.
- Companies cut consulting/IT budgets → Capgemini remains exposed to broader enterprise spending.
Dassault Systèmes: AI goes industrial
Dassault Systèmes (DSYp) is best known for software that lets engineers design, simulate and test products virtually before building them in the real world — from cars and aircraft to factories and new materials.
That business is now getting an AI upgrade. In February 2026, Dassault announced a long-term partnership with NVIDIA combining its Virtual Twin technology with NVIDIA AI infrastructure. The goal is industrial AI that can help companies design products, simulate physics and optimize manufacturing.
The partnership has already expanded into NVIDIA’s new AI-factory ecosystem: Dassault is using its CATIA technology to build virtual twins of AI factories, allowing data centers to be designed and simulated before construction.
What could move DSYp next? 👀
- NVIDIA partnership produces commercial wins → stronger evidence that industrial AI can become meaningful revenue.
- Virtual Twin adoption accelerates → especially across manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and AI data centers.
- The recent recovery continues → a move back above the recent ~€22–23 area could put earlier highs back in focus.
- The rebound loses momentum → after gaining more than 20% in three months, another rejection around recent highs could bring sellers back.
Nemetschek: AI builds buildings
Nemetschek (NEMd) is an interesting AI play because it targets an industry that is still relatively early in its digital transformation: architecture, engineering and construction. In 2026, it launched Bluebeam Max, an AI product that helps automate time-consuming work such as document analysis, quality checks and information search.
But the stock has struggled. NEMd is down about 44% over the past year, falling from around €110 to the €50–60 area. It has recently bounced from its lows, but the broader trend remains weak.
What could move NEMd next? 👀
- Bluebeam Max adoption grows → evidence that Nemetschek can turn agentic AI into actual recurring revenue.
- SaaS growth stays around 30% → could reinforce the combination of AI adoption + recurring revenue growth.
- HCSS integration delivers → Nemetschek completed the largest acquisition in its history in July, expanding into infrastructure and heavy civil construction.
- SaaS growth slows → would weaken one of the company’s strongest current growth drivers.
- HCSS integration or acquisition costs disappoint → the larger acquisition creates another source of execution risk alongside the AI opportunity.
Which AI trade are you actually making?
You don’t need to believe that every AI stock will rise together. Different developments benefit different parts of the AI chain.
| If you think… | Stocks to watch |
| AI chip demand keeps booming | ASML · ASM · BESI |
| Data-center construction keeps growing | Schneider Electric · Legrand |
| Electricity becomes AI’s next bottleneck | Siemens Energy |
| Businesses spend more on AI | SAP · Capgemini |
| Industrial AI adoption accelerates | Dassault Systèmes · Nemetschek |
What can move European AI stocks?
Follow the events that can actually change expectations.
Nvidia earnings
Nvidia sits at the center of the global AI spending cycle. Strong demand can support expectations for the entire AI supply chain — including European semiconductor-equipment companies.
TSMC spending
Chip factories need enormous amounts of manufacturing equipment. When major manufacturers increase or cut their investment plans, suppliers can react.
Big Tech AI spending
Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon spend billions building data centers and AI infrastructure. Watch what they say about capital expenditure (capex). More spending can support companies exposed to chips, power and data centers.
New EU AI investment
Europe wants more of its own AI computing capacity. The EU currently has 19 AI Factories being set up and plans up to seven much larger AI Gigafactories.
That means European AI infrastructure itself can become a market catalyst.
AI adoption by businesses
Eventually, companies need to turn AI spending into useful products. Watch enterprise AI contracts, cloud growth, new AI agents and signs that companies are moving from testing AI to using it across everyday operations.
Final thoughts
AI isn’t one trade — it’s an entire chain. Europe gives traders exposure to several parts of it: ASML, ASM and BESI help build the chips; Schneider, Legrand and Siemens Energy power the infrastructure; SAP, Capgemini, Dassault Systèmes and Nemetschek bring AI into real businesses.
With 140+ new European stocks now available on IQ Option, there are more ways than ever to find the part of the AI story that’s moving.
