The ASX data centre stock Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) has been one of the most impressive performers in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), in my view, rising more than 50% in the past 12 months. And one expert thinks there are more gains to come.

For many years, Goodman has been best known for its huge industrial property portfolio of warehouses and business parks worldwide.

However, the business is rapidly expanding in another area of commercial property – data centres.

Writing on The Bull, Tony Paterno from Ord Minnett noted the increasing focus on the data centre theme and is bullish on the outlook for the business.

Buy rating on Goodman shares

Paterno rates the ASX property stock as a buy following its move to embrace data centres, "particularly fully fitted facilities as a greater proportion of its strategy moving forward in order to capitalise on the global cloud computing theme."

The expert said data centres were currently generating 42% of the work in progress (WIP), which is expected to rise to more than 50% in the next 12 months. Ord Minnett is forecasting this could rise to as much as 80% within five years.

Paterno said that, in Ord Minnett's view, the strategy pivot towards higher-value data centres elevated the attractiveness of Goodman Group shares.

Ord Minnett isn't the only institution that sees ongoing data centre demand as a positive.

According to reporting by The Australian, E&P analysts believe that ASX data centre stocks can continue to be positive investments, with other businesses like Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) and Macquarie Technology Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ) also in line to benefit.

The E&P analysts suggested the AI boom would help drive ongoing significant demand for data centres because AI systems were utilising numerous data centre locations. As one example of the growth of demand for AI and data centres, E&P said in a note:

AI Agents look like they are the real next technology trend in software after SaaS – agents that are able to act with autonomy and perform a job – in some roles already as a substitute for a human, in others as an augmentation for a human.

Goodman share price snapshot

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, but in the past five years, the Goodman share price has climbed 150%. Time will tell just how lucrative data centres will be for Goodman in the coming years.