Artificial intelligence has produced a long list of buzzy stock ideas. Most of them sit in the United States.

But the infrastructure AI actually runs on, the data centres, the power grids, the networks, is being built right here in Australia.

Three ASX AI stocks are capturing that opportunity in very different but equally compelling ways.

NextDC: where AI workloads live

NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) is Australia’s largest independent data centre operator, and the closest thing on the ASX to a direct, pure-play bet on AI infrastructure demand.

The numbers confirm the demand is real and accelerating.

Contracted utilisation surged 60% to 667MW in the March 2026 quarter alone. This was driven by massive contract wins as AI workloads requiring intensive computing power, storage, and connectivity flooded into NextDC’s facilities.

The company’s forward order book, combined with existing billing, is expected to generate contracted EBITDA in excess of A$1 billion. This is more than four times the midpoint of FY26 guidance, as that contracted capacity converts to revenue progressively from FY26 through FY30.

OpenAI, one of the world’s largest and best-funded AI companies, is the foundational customer for NextDC’s $7 billion AI data centre campus in Western Sydney. This relationship relationship validates both the strategic importance of Australian AI infrastructure and NextDC’s position within it.

The risks are equally visible.

$5 billion in FY27 capital expenditure means execution matters enormously given the large sums of capital invested.

Goodman Group: a surprise ASX AI infrastructure play

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) is the landlord of the AI revolution.

Before a data centre can be built, someone needs to secure the land, obtain planning approvals, connect the power, and deliver the shell.

That is Goodman’s role, and it is an increasingly scarce and valuable one.

Data centres now make up 73% of Goodman’s development pipeline, which is on track to reach $18 billion by June 2026. The company possesses a global power bank of 6.4 gigawatts across 16 cities that took years to assemble and that no newcomer can replicate quickly.

This is Goodman’s competitive advantage.

Morgans has noted that industry data centre capital expenditure requirements likely exceed global capital market funding capacity. This statement describes a market where the constraint is not demand but the ability to build fast enough.

Consequently, Goodman is positioned on the supply side of that constraint, with secured power, sites, and locked-in capital partners already in place.

On the broker side, Morgans retains a buy rating on Goodman with a $36 price target, and UBS endorses Goodman’s outlook with a $36.41 price target.

Megaport: how AI workloads move

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) has changed the most of the three over the past twelve months.

The company was already known as a network-as-a-service provider connecting businesses to cloud platforms.

But its acquisition of Latitude.sh pushed it deeper into the AI infrastructure stack by adding high-performance GPU, CPU, and storage capabilities alongside its core connectivity offering.

Subsequently, Megaport rose almost 50% in FY26, smashing the ASX 200’s 3% gain, as the market began to recognise it as an AI infrastructure contender rather than simply a cloud connectivity story.

$254 million in new AI contracts through Latitude.sh, generating $90.6 million in annualised recurring revenue, confirmed that AI demand is already flowing into the business.

CEO Michael Reid described the contract wins as evidence that

Megaport is becoming an essential platform for powering the applications of tomorrow.

The risks across all three ASX AI stocks

However, none of these three ASX AI stocks is without risk.

NextDC’s $5 billion FY27 capex plan means any slip in execution or AI demand would hit the stock hard.

Goodman’s premium valuation reflects how much the market has already priced into its data centre transition. This leaves little room for disappointment.

Megaport has to prove the Latitude.sh contracts convert into attractive returns over time, not just headline contract values.

Additionally, all three are also sensitive to interest rate movements given their capital-intensive operating models.

Foolish takeaway for ASX AI stocks

NextDC, Goodman, and Megaport each capture the AI infrastructure opportunity from a different angle.

NextDC provides the capacity. Goodman provides the land and power. Megaport provides the connectivity.

For investors who believe AI-driven infrastructure demand will keep accelerating, all three deserve a place on the watchlist.

The post The best AI stocks on the ASX right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mark Verhoeven has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Goodman Group and Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Goodman Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares rose 2.77% and delivered total returns, including dividends, of 7% in FY26.  

On The Bull this week, Remo Greco from Sanlam Private Wealth shares his insights on three ASX 200 shares for FY27.  

Let’s take a look. 

Dexus Convenience Retail REIT (ASX: DXC) 

The Dexus Convenience Retail REIT fell 14.8% to finish at $2.59 per share on 30 June. 

Greco has a buy rating on this ASX real estate investment trust (REIT).

Greco said:

This real estate investment trust owns service stations and convenience retail assets, mostly on Australia’s eastern seaboard.

The fund’s portfolio was valued at about $760 million on December 31, 2025. The company was recently trading at a significant discount to net tangible assets (NTA) and was yielding about 8 per cent.

The trust has an attractive development pipeline, modest debt and recently increased its buy-back target. Importantly, the NTA is supported by recent asset sales of 1.5 per cent above valuation.

Recently announced capital gains tax changes make the company’s assets appealing to self managed super funds looking for reliable income generating assets.

DXC is a solid defensive play in the current environment.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The BHP share price soared 62% to finish FY26 at $59.40 last Tuesday. 

Greco has a hold rating on the ASX 200 mining share for FY27. 

He said: 

Several disappointing events have led us to downgrade BHP to a hold.

Cost over-runs at its Jansen stage 2 potash project in Canada lifts the investment cost by about $US2 billion to $US6.9 billion. Possible industrial action, although averted in June, may re-ignite at the company’s iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Any industrial action may impact stock performance.

Longer term, we like BHP’s exposure to copper – the key metal of the future.

As reported in our best-performing commodities of FY26 article, the copper price rose by 18% while iron ore increased 7% over the year. 

Resmed CDI (ASX: RMD)

The Resmed share price fell 26.6% to $28.88 on 30 June amid a broader healthcare sector rout in FY26. 

Greco has a sell rating on this ASX 200 healthcare share, and commented: 

The company makes medical devices to treat sleep apnoea. The company lifted revenue by 11 per cent in the third quarter of financial year 2026 when compared to the prior corresponding period.

In my view, GLP-1 weight loss drugs may reduce the incidence of sleep apnoea.

ResMed’s share price has been volatile in the past 12 months as investors weighed up the company’s outlook in light of popular GLP-1 drugs.

The shares have risen from $25.84 on June 3 to trade at $29.37 on July 2.

It may be prudent to sell some shares prior to RMD’s full year result.

Resmed is due to release its 4Q FY26 results on 7 August. 

The post Buy, hold, sell: Dexus, Resmed, BHP shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in BHP Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) tech shares were smashed over a seven-month period between late August through to 30 March this year.

The downturn led to technology being the second-worst performer of the 11 market sectors in FY26.

The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) fell 37.22% and delivered total negative returns of 36.97%. 

Tech investors had much on their minds last financial year.  

Firstly, they became worried that high share price valuations and massive artificial intelligence (AI) investment in the US may create an AI bubble. 

Some experts likened the AI boom to the internet boom of the late 1990s. They warned that excessive investor enthusiasm could lead to a dot-com-style correction.

That fear spread throughout the sector quickly, with ASX 200 tech shares peaking in September and entering a bear market just two months later.

A bear market is defined as a 20% (or more) fall from the most recent high point.

There were also fears that AI may decimate software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers after Anthropic released a new legal plug-in for its agentic AI assistant, Claude, in early 2026. 

Within a week, shares in Thomson Reuters, whose SaaS platforms Westlaw and Practical Law serve legal professionals, had lost a fifth of its valuation. 

The SaaS concern hit ASX 200 tech shares hard given four of our six largest companies by market capitalisation are SaaS providers.

Wisetech shares weighed the sector down 

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC), which was previously the market’s largest listed tech company, was also a significant drag on the sector in FY26. 

Investors were disappointed with Wisetech’s FY25 earnings, released in August, and governance issues became a big distraction. 

Wisetech went on to become the worst performer of the entire ASX 200 in FY26, dropping 70% in value. 

The company lost its status as the sector’s largest stock by market cap to Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) in May. 

A strong turnaround for ASX 200 and US tech shares began on 31 March. Since then, ASX 200 tech shares have rebounded by almost 20%. 

Here are the three winners of the tech sector last financial year. 

1. Codan Ltd (ASX: CDA)

Electronics solutions provider Codan delivered the best capital growth among ASX 200 tech shares in FY26.

The Codan share price skyrocketed 119.49% to finish the year at $44.14.

Codan designs and manufactures electronics solutions, including communications equipment and metal detectors, for government, corporate, NGO, and consumer clients worldwide. 

The company reported a 55% increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) to $71.2 million for 1H FY26.

2. Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) 

Megaport provides cloud and data centre connectivity services through a global network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform.

The Megaport share price ripped 49.45% to finish FY26 at $21.58. 

In June, Megaport announced it had won four new AI infrastructure contracts worth $458.9 million.

The new work required significant capex, so Megaport ran a fully underwritten $827.3 million entitlement offer at $14.30 per share.

3. Data#3 Ltd (ASX: DTL)

Data#3 is an information and communications technology (ICT) provider. 

The Data#3 share price rose 29.43% to $9.85 on 30 June. 

Data#3 reported a 9% lift in gross sales to $1.54 billion for 1H FY26. Statutory revenue increased 8% to $423 million.

The NPAT was 3.7% higher at $23 million. 

The post ASX 200 tech shares tanked in FY26, but there were 3 winners appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why did Megaport shares smash the ASX 200 in FY26?
• 10 of the best ASX shares to buy in FY 2027
• Top ASX 200 share of each market sector in FY26
• 7 ASX shares downgraded by brokers this week
• 3 ASX tech stocks tipped to rocket higher in FY27

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Megaport, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Thomson Reuters. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended WiseTech Global and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Data#3. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.