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The AI trade is entering a new phase. With mega-cap tech stocks facing valuation pressure and market volatility back in focus, Goldman Sachs says investors are beginning to shift their attention—from builders of AI infrastructure to companies quietly using AI to drive real productivity gains.
This pivot couldn't come at a more critical time. Third-quarter earnings of S&P 500 companies have blown past expectations, yet concerns are mounting around how long this momentum can last.
If you've been following this quarter's earnings season, you've probably noticed one thing: everyone is talking about AI.
In fact, 47% of S&P 500 companies mentioned AI on their third-quarter earnings calls. That's up sharply from the second quarter, with adoption chatter most prominent in Communication Services, at 74%, and Financials at 66%.
The most common use cases were predictable: automated coding and AI-assisted customer support, each cited by roughly 30% of the AI-mentioning firms.
Other applications included marketing optimization, expense management, and supply chain operations.
But here's the catch: only a small fraction of companies actually quantified any impact on revenue or earnings.
Among those who did, like ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW), the margin boosts were real—but they're the exception, not the rule.
Despite the widespread corporate adoption narrative, the returns from AI exposure in 2025 have remained highly concentrated in infrastructure providers such as chips, cloud and hardware.
Even with infrastructure names dominating, investors are beginning to hunt for the next wave of AI winners.
“The combination of continued corporate AI adoption and concerns about the risks to the AI infrastructure complex has increased recent investor focus on the next beneficiaries of the ever-expanding AI trade,” Goldman Sachs analyst David J. Kostin said in a report.
In short, it means investors are getting nervous about overbuild in the infrastructure layer—and they're hunting for the next place to put their money.
Goldman highlighted rising interest in the so-called “AI productivity beneficiaries”—firms with high labor intensity and exposure to automation.
Why? Because while the AI hype has inflated valuations for the builders, the real return on investment may emerge from firms that are simply using AI to cut costs and scale smarter.
The next wave of value creation might not come from building AI—it may come from using it wisely.
And as the initial frenzy around infrastructure plays cools, that more subtle AI story is just beginning to take shape.
Goldman ran a screen to identify companies best positioned to benefit from AI-powered productivity gains. To make the cut, a firm had to:
And they excluded infrastructure or AI-product-centric companies.
The result? A pretty diverse set of names across finance, consulting, software, and HR services.
A few standout tickers:
Goldman points out that these firms haven't seen massive stock gains—but they've already begun to quietly post better earnings revisions, outpacing even the broader market.
"Despite the recent underperformance, clients have increasingly expressed an interest in identifying high-probability productivity beneficiaries of AI," Kostin said.
"These companies may represent the next leg of the AI trade," he added.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
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