Goldman Sachs has identified four “critical” sectors in the clean energy market, beyond the usual suspects. They are: copper or aluminum, electricity transmission, semiconductors and cybersecurity. Dubbing them “greenablers,” the investment bank said these sectors are less appreciated by ESG investors but could be “in the framework of investors potentially looking beyond Solar/Wind/Water stocks.” “We believe Greenabler sectors could receive higher priority, on the back of the need for more urgent and timely investments to avoid supply chain bottlenecks downstream due to longer project lead-times,” Goldman analysts wrote in an Oct. 13 report. “These sectors are critical or — at a minimum — strongly needed for the vast majority of the Green Capex mosaic’s verticals,” the bank said. Stock picks Goldman produced a screen of buy-rated stocks from within the four sectors. All of them have a cash return on capital invested higher than 5%. That’s a metric used by some investors to assess a company based on cash flow. The bank’s picks include: Copper and aluminum: Major U.S. copper producer Freeport-McMoRan , aluminum manufacturer Constellium . Electricity transmission: U.S. energy infrastructure firm Sempra Energy , Public Service Enterprise Group . Semiconductors: Advanced Micro Devices , TSMC , ASML . Cybersecurity: Datadog , Sangfor. Easing supply chain bottlenecks An adequate supply of materials from the four sectors is critical in easing supply chain bottlenecks, Goldman added. “We estimate the lead time for Greenablers projects is 2-12 years, which will likely add an urgency/greater focus on investment levels for Semiconductors, Copper/Aluminum, Electricity Transmission and Cybersecurity in particular,” Goldman analysts wrote. For instance, new projects can take as long as eight years for copper, and four years for aluminum — after approvals. In electricity transmission, the permitting stage alone can take up to a decade or longer, said Goldman.
