00:00Today on Forbes, America's most successful small caps, the little-known companies powering the AI revolution.
00:07In March of 2024, Dell Technologies launched its so-called AI factory with NVIDIA,
00:13combining Dell's servers and networking power with NVIDIA's semiconductors and software to produce AI-driven products for other enterprises.
00:21While Dell's stock has grown four-fold since early 2023 due to its AI focus,
00:27behind the scenes, a little-known company called TSS Inc. has been a much bigger winner.
00:33Dell named TSS a quote-unquote first-choice partner for data center integration in September of 2023.
00:40By October 2024, TSS, whose market cap was only $10 million in September of 2023,
00:47signed a multi-year deal with Dell to integrate AI-enabled server racks.
00:51As of early November, TSS is valued at $440 million, with shares up 6,000% since early last year.
01:00The company's revenues nearly tripled last year and grew 410% in the first half of 2025.
01:07Its critical, higher-margin rack integration segment involves constructing, wiring,
01:12and installing cooling plumbing systems for complex servers.
01:15Peter Woodward, TSS's chairman, says,
01:18Everybody asks about why our OEM customer doesn't either do this themselves or acquire us,
01:24and the answer is pretty simple.
01:26They're very happy with the service they're getting today.
01:29Woodward expects to grow TSS's capacity to be able to serve other customers as well,
01:35eyeing cloud service providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle.
01:38Thanks to Dell, TSS earned the number one spot on Forbes' 2025 ranking of America's most successful small-cap companies.
01:48To come up with the 100 best small-cap stocks, Forbes analyzed about 1,400 companies
01:53with market caps between $300 million and $5 billion.
01:58Ken Farsalis, portfolio manager of the Oberweiss Small-Cap Opportunities Fund,
02:03which has $1.7 billion in assets, says,
02:06We believe AI will disproportionately benefit small-cap businesses because they're more nimble,
02:12and they'll be better able to adapt and implement AI workflows.
02:17Large-cap companies are fat and lazy and loaded with bureaucracy.
02:21For them, it's like turning an oil tanker in a river.
02:24For investors looking for small-cap names directly linked to the AI revolution
02:28with more customer diversification than TSS,
02:32there are more than a dozen to choose from on Forbes' list.
02:36The fourth-ranked firm on the list,
02:38Inadata, a $2 billion market-cap data engineering firm in Richfield Park, New Jersey,
02:44is the fourth-ranked small-cap on Forbes' list linked to the AI revolution.
02:49Under the leadership of CEO Jack Abbehoff since 1997,
02:54the firm has seen a significant boost from the AI revolution.
02:57The company's core business involves processing and supplying large volumes of data
03:02to major tech firms, which is essential for training their AI models.
03:06Inadata's $228 million in 12-month sales have doubled year-over-year,
03:12netting $43 million in profit,
03:14with five of the so-called Magnificent Seven tech giants as customers.
03:18Shares are up 2,000% since early 2023,
03:23and analysts suggest Meta's $29 billion valuation deal for a 49% stake in competitor's scale AI
03:30could drive Meta to look to other options like Inadata for their data needs.
03:35The top 20 on the list also include industrial power providers Power Solutions International,
03:40Argon, Gramcorp, and Powell Industries,
03:43whose stocks have all soared from providing the energy infrastructure for data centers.
03:48Growth investors could also look at Ampria's Technologies,
03:52a battery manufacturer based in Fremont, California,
03:55focused on drones and robotics,
03:57as an interesting prospect for growth investors.
04:00After going public via a SPAC merger in September of 2022,
04:04the company initially lost 93% of its value by September of 2024.
04:09However, it has since staged a dramatic comeback,
04:13recouping all losses with a 1,500% gain as of early November,
04:17despite recording only $33 million in revenue over the last year.
04:22This performance earned it the 82nd spot on the list.
04:25Similarly, Omdas Holdings, a Boston-based drone maker, achieved the 79th spot.
04:31Despite having just $16 million in 12-month sales,
04:35a 600% increase in its stock price over the last year
04:38has propelled its market capitalization to $1.5 billion.
04:41For full coverage and to see the whole list,
04:45check out Hank Tucker's piece on Forbes.com.
04:48This is John Palmer from Forbes.
04:50Thanks for tuning in.
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