Five Rules for Treating AI Infrastructure Stocks as Tactical, Not Core

Five Rules for Treating AI Infrastructure Stocks as Tactical, Not Core

Debt-to-equity across the five AI infrastructure names runs from 31% (Coherent) to 387% (CoreWeave). Treat them all with the same position size, and the weakest link ends up holding the most weight in your book. Here are the five rules I run them through.

1. Separate core holds from tactical bets explicitly

Nvidia and TSMC are core. Coherent, CoreWeave, Nebius, Iren, and Applied Digital are tactical. Mixing them in your sizing means your highest-risk names get core-sized exposure. I keep the combined weight of these five inside a low-to-mid double-digit percentage of the portfolio, no more.

2. Make D/E the first filter

One-line rule: if D/E crosses 100%, tighten the macro scenario by one notch.

Company	D/E
Coherent	31.1%
Nebius	108.3%
Applied Digital	110.1%
Iren	148.8%
CoreWeave	387.6%

CoreWeave's 387.6% alone is enough to disqualify it as a core hold.

3. If operating cash flow is negative, price in dilution upfront

All five have negative OCF. They can't pay their own bills from operations. That leaves two paths — issue more debt or issue more shares. Both are bad for existing shareholders. My base case is mid-to-high single-digit annual dilution for this group.

4. Pre-set position sizes by macro scenario

Build three macro paths — rates higher, sideways, lower — and pre-commit a size for each name in each path. Deciding after an event is too late. CoreWeave-style leverage only gets full size in a rate-cut path.

5. Separate "story" from "business"

CoreWeave with negative gross margin isn't a business yet — it's a story. Stories are fine to bet on, but only at "story size." Businesses (think Coherent — profitable, low leverage) can carry "business size." Treating them the same is how your largest exposure ends up on the most fragile name.

FAQ

Q: Should I just own Coherent? A: It's the safest, but its 21.4% growth is the lowest in the group. If you want growth exposure, pairing in a small Nebius position is reasonable. The "single safe name" isn't always optimal.

Q: Is Iren's 148.8% debt too risky? A: On its own, yes — but it pairs with Nvidia's $2.1B right to invest and a PEG of 1.44, the cheapest in the group. "Cheap risk" and "expensive risk" are different trades.

Q: Can Nebius keep growing at 506%? A: Most of that is the base effect — growth off a small revenue base. It will likely normalize to double digits over the next 12-24 months. That normalization itself is the biggest risk to the stock.

Q: Should I buy all five at once? A: All five share the same macro exposure (rates, hyperscaler capex), so diversification within the group is weaker than it looks. Building in tranches against scenario triggers beats a single full-size entry.