Sterling Infrastructure (STRL): A Beneficiary of AI Expansion Strategy

Soumya Eswaran

Wed, May 20, 2026 at 8:22 AM EDT 3 min read

Fidelity Investments, an investment management company, recently released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for “Fidelity Growth Strategies Fund”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The Fidelity Growth Strategy is a diversified equity strategy aimed at domestic midcap growth stocks. The approach focuses on identifying quality companies that deliver steady above-average growth and can outperform over time. The Fund (Retail Class shares) returned -3.21% in the quarter, outperforming the benchmark Russell Midcap® Growth Index’s -6.35% return. The outperformance was primarily due to industry and stock selection, particularly in the industrials sector. The US stock market started 2026 positively, but declined in late February amid concerns over the viability of artificial intelligence investments and Middle Eastern conflicts. Investors shifted to defensive strategies, favoring stable, large-cap firms, leading to value equities outperforming growth. The fund continues to favor companies with strong competitive moats and growth potential. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.

In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Fidelity Growth Strategies Fund highlighted Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) as a notable performance contributor. Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) is a leading infrastructure services company that provides e-infrastructure, transportation, and building solutions. On May 19, 2026, Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) closed at $728.29 per share. One-month return of Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) was 49.28%, and its shares gained 299.96% over the past 52 weeks. Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion.

Fidelity Growth Strategies Fund stated the following regarding Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

"The fund's outperformance of the Russell benchmark this quarter was driven primarily by industry selection, with stock selection also providing a modest boost. Stock picks and a large overweight in the industrials sector helped the most by far.

Looking at individual equities, our investments in several capital goods firms within industrials – including a non-benchmark stake in Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) (+33%) and overweights in MasTec (+48%) and Comfort Systems USA (+47%) – were among our top relative contributors. Sterling specializes in large-scale site development for data centers and semiconductor fabrication plants, as well as heavy civil infrastructure projects.

What they all have in common is that each has seen their business skyrocket as a direct or indirect result of the huge investments now being made to build AI-capable data centers. We slightly trimmed the stake in each this quarter to manage the position size, but Comfort Systems and Sterling Infrastructure were the second- and third-largest fund holdings, respectively, as of March 31, and all three stocks were among our top-20 portfolio overweights."