Why American Superconductor Corporation Rallied in the First Half of 2026

Shares of American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) rallied 44.2% in the first half of 2026, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

American Superconductor is geared toward electricity transmission and is therefore an interesting company amid the artificial intelligence build-out. Its technology portfolio spans both standard electrical transmission equipment and high-temperature superconductors (HTS), as its name suggests.

Superconductors are metal alloys that can conduct electricity with little or no resistance, meaning they can transmit more electricity in a smaller form factor compared with copper or aluminum wires, which experience resistance, generate heat, and lose energy as electricity travels over a distance.

Thus, superconductors have massive potential, especially in an age of power-hungry data centers. The problem is that superconductors are still somewhat of a science experiment, lacking the maturity for commercial deployment. As such, American Superconductor's business is mainly composed of standard transformers and other electrical transmission products.

While those products are still seeing growth due to electrical grid modernization and the AI data center build-out, superconductor technology may also be inching closer to prime time, according to a couple of scientific papers published during the first half.

American Superconductor beats, but the rally comes from scientific progress

American Superconductor delivered two strong earnings reports during the first half, beating expectations on both its top and bottom lines for the December and March quarters. In fact, growth accelerated in the March quarter, with revenue up 29.6% compared with the December quarter's 21.4% growth. The company's backlog also ended the year 40% higher than at the same point in 2025.

Still, the majority of the company's revenue and earnings lie in more conventional utility and power management equipment, not superconductors. And the big increases in AMSC stock appeared to occur outside its financial releases, coinciding with the publication of scientific papers.

In February, a Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) executive wrote a blog post saying that Microsoft was seriously investigating the use of high-temperature superconductors in its data centers, adding, "Only recently, the economics and manufacturing aspects of this technology made it viable at Microsoft's cloud scale." While the executive didn't name American Superconductor specifically, the fact that a major AI and cloud data center operator is now touting superconductors as commercially feasible boosted AMSC stock.

Additionally, AMSC stock rallied again in early April, appearing to coincide with the publication of a study by Ohio State physics researchers in Nature Physics. In the study, the researchers introduced novel materials into a superconductor, enabling the team to control electron activity. The paper suggested that these new materials could control superconductors at room temperatures, thereby enabling commercialization.

Image source: Getty Images.

American Superconductor is a high-upside, high-risk bet

American Superconductor currently trades at roughly 35 times its fiscal 2027 estimates. While that's certainly not "cheap" by conventional metrics, the company is growing organically over 20%, and much of that growth is coming from standard utility transmission products.

But if superconductor technology overcomes some hurdles to become commercially viable, AMSC stock could really take off. Even though it may be a long shot, American Superconductor is an interesting speculation on a technology with lots of potential.

Billy Duberstein and/or his clients positions in American Superconductor and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends American Superconductor and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.