Southern Copper is a critical upstream supplier to AI: it doesn't make AI software or chips, but mines the copper the massive physical infrastructure behind AI requires. It fits a relevant theme flagged by a proprietary algorithm. x.comÂ
GrowthTurtle
Data Science PhD & IEEE Fellow, Ex-Two Sigma
Southern Copper is outperforming copper itself thanks to operating leverage, as AI and grid demand push copper toward a widening deficit. Copper gained about 50% over the past year to a record near $14,545 per tonne in August, supported by demand from AI data centers and power grid expansion, while major producers cut output, pushing the market toward a deficit expected to widen through 2030. Southern Copper has the highest momentum rating among US mega-caps. x.comÂ
Copper will follow the AI trade lower, making it a good catch-up short. x.comÂ
Copper is a forgotten bottleneck of AI and is breaking out, which sets up copper miners to run. The names include giants Freeport-McMoRan, Southern Copper and Teck; growth producers Hudbay, Ero Copper and Lundin Mining; next-generation developers Ivanhoe Mines and NGEx Minerals; high-beta Taseko Mines; and the Global X Copper Miners ETF. x.comÂ
Freeport-McMoRan and Southern Copper own the real AI bottleneck, copper, a link almost no one is pricing yet. AI data centers are wrapped in copper wire, EVs need 2-3x the copper of gas cars, and every grid upgrade needs it; per S&P Global, demand nearly doubles by 2035. Supply can't respond fast: a US mine takes 29 years from discovery to production, and only three major US mines have opened since 2002. Freeport is the liquid bellwether; Southern Copper is the lowest-cost producer. x.com x.com … Show more
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VNP.TOCritical-materials suppliers offer exposure to a major bottleneck this decade: AI, data centers, defense, robotics and electrification should drive massive demand across copper, graphite, rare earths, nuclear fuel and other inputs.
hypertechinvest on X
Copper miners look attractive because copper could quickly double and become a true AI supply-chain bottleneck, though the trade is fairly consensus. Per a quoted thread on S&P Global data, tier-1 discoveries fell from 714.8Mt in the 1990s to 8.7Mt over 2020-2025 despite exploration spending above $3 billion a year. A mix of explorers and producers works best: Hudbay and Taseko for US assets, Ero as cheap, Solaris as built for a sale, plus Glencore, Teck, Southern Copper and Freeport. x.com … Show more
Credo's MicroVCSEL offers upside that does not appear priced in. Its copper and optics exposure, a SpaceX tailwind and fundamentals that look too good for its current valuation make it one of the tidiest AI infrastructure investments. x.comÂ
Southern Copper sits at the bottom of the global copper cost curve, which has kept it profitable through every downturn. Byproduct sales of molybdenum, zinc and silver from the same ore cut its net cost to 5 cents a pound last quarter. Over 21 years its worst net margin was +12.7%, while Freeport-McMoRan's was -82.7% in 2015; when prices fall, higher-cost mines slip into losses while Southern Copper stays above the line. x.com x.comÂ
An early AI buildout, healthcare data, tokenized finance and copper's clearest supply-demand imbalance favor a 15-stock growth basket now. Marvell, Applied Optoelectronics, Nebius, Eli Lilly, Tempus, Ouster, Regal Rexnord, Bloom Energy, Fluence, SpaceX, Brazil's EWZ ETF, Nu Holdings, Coinbase, Securitize and the COPX copper-miners ETF are the picks. Keep Fluence smaller; SpaceX stays bullish long term despite rejecting $500B-$1T ARR in 2027. x.comÂ
Copper is one of the clearest trades over the next three years because supply is worse than most realize while AI accelerates demand. Chile, about a quarter of global production, just hit a nine-year production low, and copper miners have held up far better than silver and gold. Deutsche Bank forecasts copper soaring 50% to $22,050 a ton. x.comÂ