Now that positioning didn’t happen by accident, and it didn’t happen because fund managers suddenly fell in love with boring cash flows. It happened because the most sophisticated capital allocators in the world figured something out before the broader market did: the AI trade that rewarded chip companies and cloud providers for the first two years is now generating a second, larger wave of demand that flows directly into the physical world – into electrical equipment, power generation, cooling infrastructure, and the industrial machinery required to build and run everything AI depends on. 

Put another way, the first trade was about the intelligence. And the second trade is about the infrastructure that makes the intelligence possible.

Goldman Didn’t Just Spot A Rotation. It Explained Why.

Goldman Sachs’ Prime Brokerage data showed hedge funds rotating aggressively into cyclical sectors through late 2025 and into 2026, with industrials absorbing the largest share of institutional buying. Trading activity across the sector climbed to five-year highs globally as money concentrated in electrical equipment, machinery, commercial services, aerospace and defense, and airlines… the parts of the industrial economy positioned to benefit most directly from AI infrastructure spending and rising defense budgets. 

What makes this rotation structurally different from a typical cyclical trade is the thesis driving it. Coatue Management’s own industrials analyst, Max Cook, described the logic that led the firm to pivot its entire sector coverage: if AI drives a massive data center buildout, that buildout requires industrial equipment – often made by the same companies his team had originally been analyzing as potential shorts. That realization, replicated across dozens of major hedge funds, is what produced 7.34 percentage points of overweight positioning before most retail investors noticed anything had changed.

Three Stocks Explain The Entire Rotation

The individual holdings tell the story better than any sector allocation can.

T1 Energy Inc (NYSE: TE) became the most aggressively accumulated industrial stock, with 36 hedge funds increasing positions during the fourth quarter alone. The company followed that institutional interest with first-quarter net sales of $177.6 million, more than tripling the $53.5 million reported a year earlier. Situational Awareness LP disclosed a new 10 million-share position, while BlackRock increased its stake by 42%, adding another 4.55 million shares. 

Carrier Global Corp (NYSE: CARR) attracted 33 hedge funds, making it the second-most accumulated industrial stock. And that makes complete sense when you understand that every AI data center generates heat that has to go somewhere, and Carrier’s HVAC and cooling systems sit directly inside that problem. AI density per rack keeps increasing, which means cooling requirements per facility keep increasing with it, compounding Carrier’s addressable market without requiring any new product category to be invented. 

Then there’s Bloom Energy (BE), which may be the clearest validation of the entire theme. Revenue surged 130% year over year to $751.1 million, adjusted EBITDA climbed from $25.2 million to $143 million, and management raised full-year revenue guidance to $3.4-$3.8 billion. Just days later, Brookfield Asset Management expanded its AI factory partnership with Bloom from $5 billion to $25 billion, a move that effectively validated on-site power generation as a critical piece of AI infrastructure rather than a niche opportunity. 

Notice what connects all three companies? 

None of them build GPUs, or train language models, or sell AI software. Instead, they’re solving the physical constraints AI keeps creating.

Why This Rotation Has Room To Run

There’s a phrase hedge funds have reportedly been using internally: “atoms over bits.” I think it captures this rotation perfectly.  For the first two years, AI rewarded companies selling bits like chips, software and computing power.

Now institutions appear focused on the atoms: power infrastructure, cooling systems, industrial automation and the manufacturing capacity needed to keep AI expanding.

Goldman recently noted that hedge funds are actively searching for second and third-order AI beneficiaries. That is, the less crowded positions in power infrastructure, thermal management, industrial automation, and chip supply chain adjacencies… because the obvious first-order trades have become increasingly crowded and expensive. 

The positioning data and the stock performance are telling the same story from different angles. When 36 hedge funds are piling into an energy equipment manufacturer in a single quarter, and Bloom Energy is up 1,000% over twelve months while Brookfield expands a $5 billion commitment to $25 billion in the same period, the rotation isn’t quiet anymore. It’s the loudest signal in the market – the kind that tends to look obvious in hindsight and unbelievable in real time. 

The funds that understood the AI buildout required physical infrastructure moved first. The stocks reflect that. The question now is whether the market has fully priced the duration of the opportunity, and based on the scale of committed capital flowing through names like Bloom and Carrier, the answer appears to be no. 

This surge is being fueled by a combination of improving earnings expectations, the prospect of additional interest rate cuts, and ongoing signs of strength in the U.S. economy.

Small-cap stocks are particularly sensitive to shifts in economic conditions and Federal Reserve policy. As CNBC recently noted, these companies tend to generate more of their revenue domestically, making them more responsive to U.S. growth trends.

History also favors small-cap stocks in easing-rate environments. Because many smaller companies rely more heavily on debt financing, lower interest rates can significantly reduce borrowing costs and improve access to capital. That dynamic can translate into stronger balance sheets and improved profitability. For these reasons, many investors view small-cap stocks as among the biggest potential beneficiaries of future rate cuts.

The Other Side of Small-Cap Stocks

However, if you like to pick your own stocks, that becomes more challenging with small-cap stocks. Many of these stocks are penny stocks, which means they trade at or below $5. Some even trade below $1 (literally penny stocks).

The ability to accumulate a substantial amount of shares at a low price can be appealing. Particularly, if you believe the share price will go much higher. However, many of these stocks are low-priced because they have very little revenue and are not profitable.

That can make owning these stocks more like gambling or buying a lottery ticket. Great if they work out, not so great if they don’t.

Also, many small-cap stocks have very little analyst coverage and little institutional ownership. That means these stocks can be too volatile for risk-averse investors.

Small-Cap ETFs Can Help Manage Risk

A simple way to manage the risk and volatility of small-cap stocks is by owning exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These funds hold a basket of stocks that track specific indexes.

Investors get exposure to dozens of stocks within the fund, and the holdings are balanced on a quarterly basis, so investors don’t have concerns about timing the market.

With that backdrop in mind, here are three small-cap ETFs worth considering.

Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (VB)

The Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA: VB) tracks the CRSP U.S. Small Cap Index and holds 1,336 stocks. The fund’s holdings include SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI), NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG), Atmos Energy (NYSE: ATO), Reddit Inc. (NYSE: RDDT), and Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG).

One of the most attractive features of the fund is its low expense ratio of just 0.05%. VB also pays a quarterly dividend. Most recently, it distributed just over $0.92 per share on Dec. 24, 2025, following a payout of more than $0.80 on Oct. 1, 2025.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM)

The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA: IWM) offers direct exposure to U.S. small-cap companies. The fund tracks the Russell 2000 Index and has a low expense ratio of 0.19%. The fund holds 1,965 stocks, including Credo Technology (NASDAQ: CRDO), Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE), IonQ Inc. (NYSE: IONQ), Fabrinet (NYSE: FN), and Rambus (NASDAQ: RMBS).

IWM also pays a quarterly dividend, with its most recent payment exceeding $0.84 per share on Dec. 19, 2025. Prior to that, it paid just over $0.67 on Sept. 19. 2025.

Scwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF (SCHA)

With one of the lowest expense ratios in the category at 0.04%, the Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA: SCHA) tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Total Stock Market Index. The fund holds 1,687 stocks, including Reddit, Credo Technology, Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ: AFRM), Bloom Energy, and IonQ Inc.

The Last Word on Investing in Small-Cap Stocks

With the Russell 2000 at record highs and monetary policy potentially turning more accommodative, small-cap stocks appear well-positioned to benefit from a favorable economic backdrop.

Improving earnings expectations, easing financial conditions, and strong domestic exposure all support the case for continued momentum in the space. For investors looking to gain diversified exposure while keeping costs low, ETFs like VB, IWM, and SCHA offer efficient ways to participate in a potential small-cap tailwind as rate cuts move closer into view.