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What we are beginning to discover is just how difficult it may be to finance the enormous infrastructure required to support the artificial intelligence revolution. Capital is not unlimited, and companies such as CoreWeave, which rely heavily on borrowing to build capacity against anticipated future revenues, are finding that lenders are demanding increasingly higher returns.

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Then there are the practical difficulties of building data centres quickly enough to meet demand. Planning restrictions, local opposition, shortages of skilled workers and inadequate electricity and water infrastructure are all potential obstacles. Interestingly, many of these constraints are entirely man-made rather than technological. Artificial intelligence may be advancing at extraordinary speed, but the physical world cannot necessarily keep up.

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Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that investors have begun rediscovering the attractions of companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Visa and Mastercard. These businesses provide products and services that people use every day, regardless of what happens to artificial intelligence or the latest technological breakthrough. After all, people still need toothpaste, washing powder, shampoo and something to drink.

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What makes these companies particularly interesting is not simply their longevity, but their extraordinary record of rewarding shareholders.

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Procter & Gamble, founded in 1837, has paid a dividend for 136 consecutive years and increased it every year for the past 70. Think about what has happened during that period: two world wars, the Great Depression, the oil crises of the 1970s, the dot-com collapse, the global financial crisis and a pandemic. Through it all, shareholders continued receiving their dividends.

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Coca-Cola is not far behind, having increased its dividend for 64 consecutive years. Indeed, the company distributed approximately $8.8 billion in dividends in 2025 alone, bringing its total payments since 2010 to more than $100 billion. That is real money returned to shareholders rather than a promise of what might be earned at some distant date. Johnson & Johnson too have increased their dividend every year for the last 64 years placing them firmly in the list of Dividend Kings.

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Visa and Mastercard offer another remarkable example. Measured by their returns on invested capital, they rank among the world's most profitable large businesses. Their networks process billions of transactions, earning a small amount from each without generally having to lend the money themselves. Having established their global infrastructure, they can accommodate growing transaction volumes with relatively little additional capital expenditure. Contrast that with the billions being borrowed and spent on AI data centres in anticipation of future profits.

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Yet these wonderful businesses have somehow become lost within the stock market indices.

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The S&P 500 is weighted by company size, meaning that the performance of hundreds of established businesses can be overshadowed by movements in a handful of technology giants. The concentration is remarkable. Information technology companies account for approximately 38% of the index.  By comparison, the entire consumer staples sector, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble, accounts for less than 5%.

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There is little question that artificial intelligence is here to stay and will transform the way we live and work. The uncertainty is how long it will take to deliver on its enormous promise, how much it will cost and, perhaps most importantly for investors, who will ultimately make money from it. In the meantime, there is something reassuring about businesses that have been quietly generating profits and rewarding shareholders for generations. Of course, even the finest company can prove a disappointing investment if too much is paid for its shares.

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Sometimes the most interesting developments in the stock market are the ones the index fails to show you.

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Comments from Gareth Evans, Investment Manager at EXE Capital Management.

The views are those of the author only and are not a recommendation to buy certain shares or assets.

The value of investments can fall as well as rise.

Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

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