Key Takeaways
- Shares of HVAC company Comfort Systems were jumping Friday to extend a long upward run in 2025.
- Comfort Systems is one of the companies to see growth and share-price appreciation as AI spending has excited investors in firms across a range of industries.
Comfort Systems shares are looking hot.
The heating, ventilation and air conditioning company’s stock was recently zooming higher, jumping nearly 18% on Friday to extend 2025 and all-time highs; the shares, recently trading around $971, finished last year at $422.82. Today’s jump marks the second big one-day move in the second half of this year alone.
Some investors have seized on the stock as a beneficiary of AI-related growth and the belief that it can continue. Recent sources of demand, the company has said, have largely come from data centers and chip plant projects. That’s attracted investors looking for different ways to benefit from booming spending.
Why This Matters to Investors
High-profile chipmakers get a lot of the attention when investors discuss the AI boom, but stocks in a wide range of other industries have also attracted notice—and big gains. Comfort Systems, which says demand has been lifted by data center and chip activity, is one example: Its shares have more than doubled this year.
It’s showing up in the numbers. Yesterday Comfort Systems (FIX) reported substantial third-quarter year-over-year growth in revenue, net income and free cash flow, as well as a bigger backlog. That backlog, which implies sustained strength in sales, is likely a large reason for the stock’s upward move today.
“This was the second consecutive quarter where backlog expanded [by more than $1 billion] sequentially, highlighting the strength of demand backdrop,” wrote UBS analysts, who have a bullish rating on the stock, on Friday. The shares’ valuation, meanwhile, was already rich by some historical measures before today’s jump, William Blair analysts wrote today, though they found it “justified” by the company’s performance.
The stock isn’t too widely covered by Wall Street analysts, per Visible Alpha, despite a market capitalization north of $30 billion. But today’s move has the current consensus price target, a few bucks under $920, in the rear-view mirror.
