Amphenol Corporation

New York Stock Exchange
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Bullish +75

Brendan Caldwell’s Top Picks for March 25, 2026

AI-generated analysis

👋 Brendan Caldwell, President & CEO of Caldwell Investment Management, shares his top stock picks for March 25, 2026.

📈 Equity markets are expected to move constructively but with increased volatility following the strong performance in 2025.

💰 Global growth remains resilient due to rate cuts, fiscal support, and continued capital spending in AI and productivity sectors.

⚠️ Monetary policy paths have become less straightforward as higher energy prices and geopolitical tensions complicate inflation control.

🏛️ Both the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada recently held rates unchanged while adopting a data-dependent stance.

📉 Earnings growth is now expected to be the primary driver of equity returns rather than multiple expansion due to elevated valuations.

🌐 Market leadership has broadened beyond mega-cap stocks with improving participation in industrial activity and productivity sectors.

🇨🇦 The Canadian market is supported by firm commodity prices and strength in banks, gold, and energy sectors.

⚡ Caldwell's top pick Amphenol is a leading global manufacturer of high-tech interconnect, sensor, and antenna solutions.

🔌 Amphenol benefits from the secular "electrification of everything" trend and record demand for data center interconnects.

🏭 The company maintains startup-like speed with over 140 autonomous business units while leveraging global scale.

✈️ Howmet Aerospace is selected for its exposure to rising aerospace OEM production rates and aging aircraft fleet spares growth.

⚙️ Howmet benefits from robust industrial gas turbine business capacity secured well into the late 2020s.

🤖 Alphabet is highlighted as the only AI company with a full vertical stack, owning frontier models, hardware, and distribution.

☁️ Alphabet's Google Cloud Platform shows continued growth acceleration driven by a significant backlog expansion.

🚀 AI results are net positive for search revenue and user engagement metrics for Alphabet.

🛡️ Caldwell emphasizes a focus on high-quality companies with strong earnings power and disciplined capital allocation to navigate volatility.

Bullish Signals
  • Amphenol is positioned as a leader in the secular 'electrification of everything' trend across military, commercial aerospace, and industrial markets.
  • The company benefits from record demand and strong content gains in the data center end market for high-speed copper and fiber interconnects.
  • With over 140 autonomous business units, Amphenol combines startup-like agility with global scale, resulting in remarkable margin stability through economic cycles.
  • Howmet Aerospace sees durable growth supported by significant backlogs from Boeing and Airbus following a recovery from supply chain challenges and inventory destocking.
  • Robust growth in spare parts is expected to remain strong due to the aging aircraft fleet and the time lag between current OEM production ramps and future retirements.
  • Howmet holds a dominant market position with capacity spoken for well into the late 2020s across its gas turbine business, securing revenue visibility.
  • Alphabet is the only company owning the full AI vertical stack, including frontier models, hardware, and distribution at scale.
  • Alphabet's custom hardware strategy drives cost advantages for customers while positioning the company to capture share gains in cloud computing.
  • Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is experiencing significant growth with a backlog of US$155 billion and multiple deals exceeding US$1 billion.
  • AI results are generating net positive impacts on search performance, increasing user time on site, and improving conversion rates.
Risk Factors
  • Equity markets face increased volatility and inflation uncertainty due to rising energy prices and geopolitical tensions, complicating the Federal Reserve's monetary policy stance.
  • Valuations in several markets remain elevated, leaving less room for multiple expansion and making earnings growth the sole primary driver of future returns.
  • Market participants are highly sensitive to any potential earnings shortfalls or delays in execution regarding structural investment themes like AI and data infrastructure.
  • In Canada, despite firm commodity prices, risks such as sticky inflation, slower growth, and policy uncertainty could contribute to higher volatility.
  • Amphenol's strategy of decentralized autonomous business units may limit its ability to achieve the same economies of scale as more integrated competitors, potentially capping margin expansion.
  • Alphabet's AI results are noted as only 'net positive' for search and user engagement, indicating that the benefits from AI adoption have not yet fully overcome headwinds or could be incremental rather than transformative.
Full Analysis
Caldwell Investment Management President and CEO Brendan Caldwell presents his top stock picks for March 25, 2026, highlighting Amphenol Corp (APH), Howmet Aerospace Inc., and Alphabet Inc. As global equity markets navigate a constructive yet volatile environment following a strong performance in 2025, Caldwell notes that earnings growth remains the primary driver for returns amid elevated valuations. While global growth is supported by previous rate cuts and AI-related capital spending, higher energy prices and geopolitical tensions have introduced inflation uncertainty, prompting a cautious stance from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada. Caldwell specifically recommends Amphenol as a beneficiary of the electrification trend and data center buildout, noting its decentralized structure allows for startup-like speed within a large corporation. He points to strong demand for high-speed copper and fiber interconnects in data centers as well as organic growth driven by organic growth across military, aerospace, and industrial sectors. The company's "buy-and-build" strategy is cited as expanding its technological moat, with recent acquisitions bolstering fibre optic capabilities. Additionally, the firm highlights Howmet Aerospace's robust position, which benefits from rising original equipment manufacturer production rates and a significant backlog, alongside strong aftermarket parts growth due to aging aircraft fleets. The third pick, Alphabet, is selected for being the only company in its sector with a full vertical stack, owning both the frontier AI model and the hardware at scale, which drives cost advantages and supports share gains in cloud services. Caldwell notes continued growth acceleration in Google Cloud Platform driven by significant backlog expansion over $155 billion and growing usage of the Gemini API as models shift toward inference. Alphabet also sees AI results as net positive for search and advertising conversion rates, while Howmet's opportunities arise from manufacturing footprint rationalization and new facility ramps.