Key Highlights

  • Akamai has already had its own breakout catalyst in 2026 tied to a roughly USD 11.6 billion deal with Anthropic that reportedly included a 5 percent Equity warrant.
  • Nebius has drawn attention after its financial forecasts were raised by at least one major bank and after the company issued a roughly USD 5 billion convertible offering to fund AI infrastructure buildout.
  • Datadog has posted a roughly 103 percent gain in 2026, already establishing itself as one of the stronger performers in the broader AI infrastructure and monitoring software category.
  • Each of the three companies represents a different flavor of AI infrastructure exposure: content delivery and Cloud Computing capacity, GPU cloud infrastructure, and observability software, respectively.

Akamai: The Anthropic Deal Already Happened

Akamai's case as an AI infrastructure beneficiary is arguably the most concrete of the three, anchored by its roughly USD 11.6 billion deal with Anthropic that reportedly came with a 5 percent equity Warrant attached, a structure that ties Akamai's own upside directly to Anthropic's future value. That deal has already been a significant catalyst for the stock, meaning much of the immediate reaction to that specific news may already be reflected in Akamai's share price, and the question for investors now is whether the company can build on that momentum with additional large-scale AI infrastructure agreements rather than relying on the Anthropic deal alone.

Nebius: The GPU Cloud Bet With Fresh Fuel

Nebius has positioned itself as a dedicated GPU cloud infrastructure provider catering to AI workloads, and its story has been reinforced by at least one major bank raising its financial forecasts for the company, alongside a roughly USD 5 billion Convertible Bond offering raised specifically to fund further infrastructure buildout. That combination of analyst upgrades and fresh Capital dedicated to expansion suggests Nebius may still have room to grow into a larger AI infrastructure player, though convertible Debt of that size also adds financial Leverage that investors should Factor into their risk assessment.

Datadog: Already Popped, Or Just Getting Started

Datadog's roughly 103 percent gain in 2026 makes it the clearest example among the three of a stock that has already 'popped' in a meaningful way, driven by strong Demand for observability and monitoring tools as enterprises scale increasingly complex AI and cloud infrastructure deployments. The question for Datadog going forward is less about an initial catalyst, since that has already played out, and more about whether the company can sustain a growth rate that justifies further gains from an already elevated starting point, compared with Akamai and Nebius, which arguably have more room left to run if their more recent catalysts continue to develop.

Where Things Stand

Of the three, Datadog has already delivered the clearest 2026 breakout with its roughly 103 percent gain, while Akamai and Nebius each have their own distinct, more recent catalysts, the Anthropic deal and the convertible-funded infrastructure buildout respectively, that could still be in earlier stages of being priced in, making the honest answer that all three offer different risk-and-reward profiles rather than one clear single winner.