This AI connectivity play nearly doubled in 2026. Evercore ISI says it has more room to run

Credo Technology stock has nearly doubled this year, but it's likely to gain even more ground as the connectivity company lends its copper-based solutions to the infrastructure that undergirds artificial intelligence models, according to Evercore ISI. The investment firm initiated coverage of the connectivity name with an outperform rating. It also put a $325 price target on shares, implying 20% upside from Thursday's close. "Credo is viewed as a copper-based AI-connectivity play, largely because it created the [architecture, engineering and construction] interconnect standard and drove its success by delivering a reliable, systems solution - i.e., whole cable + chips instead of just chips," analyst Mark Lipacis said in a note to clients. "However, we believe it will be increasingly viewed as a broad copper + optical AI-connectivity play as it prosecutes its optical roadmap, which includes optical [digital signal processors], Silicon Photonics [integrated circuits], microLED cables and most importantly its [ZeroFlap Optics] modules, where consistent with its AEC playbook." CRDO YTD mountain CRDY year to date Copper is favored as a material for AI interconnects — or the networking links that enable processors, memory, and servers to communicate with one another — because it offers an inexpensive and largely reliable conduit for power at relatively low costs. …