How Did Trump's Infrastructure Affect ACS’ Stock Price?

ACS [BME: ACS] reached a record high on Thursday, 23 January, peaking at approximately EUR 51.75. President Donald Trump's plans to invest 500 billion USD in building AI infrastructure for OpenAI seem to have driven this. 

Trump’s substantial investment, part of the Stargate project, kicks off with an immediate USD 100 billion deployment supported by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX.

The plan focuses on a significant expansion of data centres across the US, a sector and market where ACS holds a strategic advantage through its subsidiary Hochtief and its ownership of Turner Construction, an American construction company.

As a result, Spain-based ACS, chaired by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, saw its shares climb from EUR 48.10 at the start of the year to a record high of EUR 51.75 on 23 January —surpassing its previous peak of EUR 50.95 set in June 2007.

However, by 28 January, the stock had slightly corrected to EUR 48.16.

Turner: A Key Driver of ACS's Strategy

Turner's significance within ACS may be evident in the company’s latest available results.

At the close of the first nine months of 2024 (9M24), it contributed EUR 221 million to ACS’s ordinary net profit, accounting for 45.2% of the total EUR 489 million reported by the group. Between January and September 2024, Turner’s ordinary net profit rose by 48% year-over-year, reaching EUR 221 million. This highlights the company's strong momentum, driven in part by its data centre projects across the US.

Meanwhile, ACS’s total ordinary net profit in the first nine months of 2024 grew to EUR 489 million, a 13.6% increase compared to EUR 431 million in 9M23, reflecting the group's broader positive trajectory.

Turner’s US Data Centre Projects

Some expect Turner to gain from  the wave of investment in US data centres, which is fueled by growing demand for supporting AI services.

Operating in a sector with high barriers to entry, the company has established a strong track record, including projects in prime locations like Silicon Valley. According to its website, Turner has already completed four data centre projects in the US. 

Moreover, a key project driving market expectations for ACS’s expansion in this sector is Meta’s January 2024 selection of Turner to develop a USD 800 million, 700,000-square-foot data centre campus in Indiana. 

ACS’s Technical Outlook

ACS shares have displayed strong momentum over the past five years, gaining 60.91% and steadily growing since late 2022.

In the past year, the stock rose 35.5%, reaching a 52-week high of around EUR 51.75 this month before slightly correcting to EUR 48.32. Year-to-date, ACS experienced volatility but remains stable near its opening levels.

The key resistance is around EUR 51.75, with a break above potentially driving shares higher. However, given its psychological significance, EUR 50.00 may act as an additional resistance.

Support levels include around EUR 47.22, which has held steady since mid-January, and approximately EUR 46.60, a crucial zone for potential corrections. (Source: Yahoo Finance)

Conclusion

The long-term uptrend in ACS shares may reflect strong investor confidence, driven by strategic projects like US data centre developments and robust financial performance.

The stock has a PER of 12.57. Continued resilience in global construction markets, coupled with increasing US infrastructure needs for data centres, might help sustain ACS's bullish momentum in the near term.

However, only time will tell what actually lies ahead for this company and how Trump’s policies will affect its trajectory.*

*Past performance does not reflect future results.