AI Data Center & Build-out

Amazon.com is reportedly considering moving roughly $8 billion of Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips into a special-purpose vehicle financed by outside investors and then leasing the hardware back, a structure that would make part of its AI buildout more asset-light as capital spending is expected to reach $220 billion this year. AWS revenue rose 37% to $42.2 billion in the second quarter, its fastest growth in more than four years, and contract backlog reached $496 billion, while CEO Andy Jassy said the company still lacks enough capacity to meet demand. Trailing-12-month free cash flow swung to negative $7.6 billion from positive $18.2 billion a year earlier as infrastructure spending accelerated. Amazon trades at 23.64 times forward earnings, and Tigress Financial recently raised its target to $385 from $315, arguing earnings from the investment cycle are approaching an inflection point where they grow faster than operating capital. The proposal also raises the question of residual chip value, since Grace Blackwell will eventually be superseded by Vera Rubin while Amazon assumes semiconductor generations remain useful for at least five years.

Analysts have lifted the implied fair value of New Era Energy & Digital to about US$11.67 from US$10.50, roughly an 11% increase, as Wall Street weighs progress at the company's Texas Critical Data Centers against sector and regulatory risk. Roth Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a US$10 price target, saying the share price does not fully capture potential commercialization of Texas Critical Data Centers Phases I and II. Northland raised its target to US$12 from US$10 with an Outperform rating, citing progress on the Phase 1 PPA, strong major tenant interest, and management guidance around capacity delivery in 2H27, while B. Riley lifted its target to US$13 from US$10 and kept a Buy rating. B. Riley also noted that the digital mining and HPC peer group has fallen 34% since June 22, compared with 6.2% for the Russell 2000, reflecting regulatory uncertainty, higher yields, and slower leasing activity. The updated model raised the revenue growth assumption to 626.36% from 344.38%, lifted the profit margin forecast to 20.24% from 17.82%, cut the future P/E multiple to 26.88x from 75.20x, and adjusted the discount rate to 7.236% from 7.108%.

Computing power leasing is becoming one of the most crowded tracks in the A-share market. According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the domestic computing power leasing market reached 68 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026, up about 60 percent year on year, and is expected to exceed 260 billion yuan for the full year. During the same period, domestic AI computing power demand grew 417 percent year on year, while supply grew only 128 percent. According to a Securities Times report in June this year, there are already more than 70 computing power leasing concept stocks, spanning 15 industries, with market capitalizations ranging from 2 billion yuan to 120 billion yuan. A recent investigation by Cailian Press found that among 16 listed companies with computing power contracts exceeding 500 million yuan, 10 had contracts that were terminated after a period of disclosure or had still not begun performance. Among them, Lanyun Technology's 3.707 billion yuan computing power cloud service agreement had still not entered actual performance as of September 8, 2026, while Annil is expected to lose up to 60.4285 million yuan after the termination of its acquisition of a 22 percent stake in Shenzhen Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. Samples of main-business drift are also dense. Qunxing Toys announced the termination of its restructuring, which had lasted nearly eight months, on the evening of October 20. Lianhua Holdings recorded computing power service revenue of 122 million yuan in 2025, accounting for only 3.53 percent of its total operating revenue of 3.452 billion yuan, while the value of computing power leasing contracts terminated early in the same period reached 1.228 billion yuan. On the regulatory front, China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Wu Qing made a clear statement at the 2026 Lujiazui Forum, saying that the commission will strictly investigate and punish those who use technology as a pretext to chase hot topics and speculate on concepts. So far this year, the commission has investigated and dealt with seven cases of misleading statements. On July 6, the Shanghai Stock Exchange also upgraded the permission functions of its SSE e-interaction platform, suspending reply permissions for 12 months for companies penalized for hype-chasing.

XMax announced on Friday that it agreed to acquire 100% of Hexa Creation, extending its AI strategy into power infrastructure aimed at AI data centers, electric vehicles, energy storage, and ultra-fast charging. Hexa Creation holds exclusive rights to university-owned intellectual property underpinning its high-voltage GaN platform. Yole Group projects the global GaN power device market will grow to $3B by 2030 from $355M in 2024, a 42% CAGR.

Suchat Chomklin, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said after the first meeting in 2026 of the environmental subcommittee under the Data Centre Business Policy Committee that the government is pushing a draft Code of Practice, or CoP, for data centre operators to serve as an environmental regulatory framework and reduce impacts on nearby residents and communities. The draft CoP will set minimum standards that operators must follow, covering electricity use, water management, environmental management, and the storage and management of reserve fuel, in order to raise industry standards and reduce risks from potential impacts on communities and the environment. Suchat said the development of digital infrastructure is a key factor in boosting the country's competitiveness, but the growth of data centres must go hand in hand with environmental responsibility, with the government setting clear standards from the outset. He also stressed the need for clear operating guidelines, continuous communication of information to the public, and integrated work with relevant agencies. After hearing opinions from relevant agencies and experts, the draft CoP will be revised for completeness before being submitted to the Data Centre Business Policy Committee for consideration in the next step.

Australian AI data center operator Firmus, which is backed by Nvidia, has withdrawn its planned $5B initial public offering, citing market volatility and conditions. The company said its board determined the terms of the proposed offering did not adequately reflect the strength of its business and long-term growth outlook, and concluded that proceeding was not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. Firmus had planned to raise $5B in the IPO, pricing shares at A$11 apiece, which would have made it the second-largest new share sale in Australia's history and valued the company at around $30.6B. The company will now pursue capital from the private markets and consider alternative public and private market options. Firmus unveiled a $2B funding round backed by Nvidia, Coatue Management, Blackstone, and Jane Street in August, bringing its total equity raised over the preceding year to more than $3B and its valuation to over $10.5B. Investors began pulling their orders on Wednesday as they lost confidence in the deal, after being told on Tuesday about escrow arrangements that would have allowed more than half the stock to be sold by existing investors from day one.

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and crypto investment firm Maelstrom, said excessive AI investment could eventually trigger a crash and a government bailout that sends Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies higher. Speaking to CNBC at the Gamma Prime Investing Conference in Singapore on Tuesday, Hayes said humanity is wasting multi-trillion dollars building AI data centers, and that the construction surge will first create extremely plentiful, inexpensive computing power before producing overcapacity, a downturn and eventually government-backed support for the industry. He pointed to Nvidia and other memory-chip manufacturers that are already profitable, urging investors to assess whether current valuations adequately reflect expected future earnings, while noting that SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic rank among major computing-power users despite not making money. Hayes said pressure could surface in late 2027 or 2028, when new capacity comes online and infrastructure providers seek payment from AI companies, and told CNBC that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could soak up excess liquidity after such a bailout, potentially making them the strongest-performing assets. The comments build on his August prediction that Bitcoin could reach $250,000 as governments increase liquidity to address credit-market stress, rising bond yields and AI's enormous funding requirements.

Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, Chief Executive Officer of WHA Corporation Public Company Limited, or WHA, disclosed that operating results in the fourth quarter of 2026 will improve markedly from the third quarter of 2026 and will mark the highest growth period of the year, driven by a substantial volume of industrial estate land sales awaiting transfer and revenue recognition, together with support from asset sales into an investment trust. The company plans to sell assets into the WHA Premium Growth Real Estate and Leasehold Investment Trust, or WHART, worth more than 2.5 billion baht, with transfer and revenue recognition expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, and is in the process of filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, to seek approval for additional asset sales into the WHA Industrial Leasehold Real Estate Investment Trust, or WHAIR. For 2026, the company is maintaining its land sales target at approximately 2,500 rai, after selling about 504 rai in the first half of this year, not yet including a large volume of sales awaiting transfer. Meanwhile, the company must temporarily slow the intake of new customers pending clarity on government policy criteria and promotional measures for data center projects, which, if clarified, would help support the investment climate and land demand in WHA's industrial estates in the future. Its main customer base consists of global multinational technology groups with strong financial standing. Related agencies forecast that in 2026 total investment promotion applications will reach as much as 1.8 trillion baht, the highest since the BOI was established, of which 1.36 trillion baht will be foreign investment.

Tianyang Technology announced before market open today via its official WeChat account that it has signed a GPU Procurement Agreement with Company X to purchase 20,000 NVIDIA RTX PRO 5500 Blackwell units. Boosted by the news, the company's closing price that day was 16.16 yuan per share, up 12.38% from the previous trading day. A Cailian Press reporter interviewed multiple industry insiders and learned that the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5500 Blackwell has not yet officially gone on sale, and its official pricing has not been determined. The domestic quote for this GPU may exceed 100,000 yuan per unit. Based on a purchase volume of 20,000 units, the aforementioned agreement could be worth more than 2 billion yuan, but practitioners bluntly said the order has barely begun to take shape, and getting the goods is estimated to happen no earlier than the first quarter of next year. Xia Hailong, a lawyer at Shanghai Shenlun Law Firm, said a preliminary estimate puts the order amount at potentially several billion yuan. If it reaches the financial threshold requiring disclosure, it should be disclosed through statutory channels in accordance with the law, and publishing it only through a WeChat official account is clearly non-compliant. A representative from Tianyang Technology's securities department responded that specific details are inconvenient to disclose, and if the relevant disclosure threshold is met, there will be subsequent disclosure. Previously, Tianyang Technology had already disclosed large-scale computing power projects, including a project cooperation agreement signed in May with Qiming Xinghan and others for an overall computing power procurement scale in the range of 3.5 billion to 4 billion yuan, a joint venture established in June with Capital Online with a capital contribution of 70 million yuan for a 70% stake, and a Computing Power Cloud Service Agreement signed with Yunli Zhihui with a total tax-inclusive amount of 303 million yuan, which was raised to 402 million yuan in July. The semi-annual report shows that as of the end of June this year, the company's fixed assets were approximately 275 million yuan. The two major contracts with Qiming Xinghan and Yunli Zhihui recorded zero sales revenue recognized in the current period and cumulatively. In the first half of the year, non-GAAP net profit was negative 6.9296 million yuan, turning to a loss year-on-year. Net cash flow from operating activities was approximately negative 341 million yuan. Monetary funds were approximately 508 million yuan, and short-term borrowings were approximately 615 million yuan.

Aofei Data announced on October 9 that its actual controller and chairman, Feng Kang, proposed the company use its own funds or self-raised funds to repurchase part of its RMB ordinary shares through centralized bidding. The buyback amount will be no less than 50 million yuan and no more than 100 million yuan, with a buyback period of 12 months from the date the board approves the plan. In the first half of 2026, Aofei Data achieved revenue of 1.469 billion yuan and net profit attributable to the parent of 197 million yuan.

Nvidia-backed AI infrastructure startup Firmus Technologies is expected to delay its planned initial public offering in Australia, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. Firmus is instead in talks with existing investors and others for a private funding round, though order-taking for the IPO closed as scheduled on Thursday morning with no clear indication of the price or deal structure. Deliberations are ongoing and details could still change, the people said, and a spokesperson for Firmus did not immediately respond to a Bloomberg request for comment. Bloomberg reported last month that Firmus was in talks to raise about $10 billion in financing ahead of its planned Australian IPO. Firmus began as a Bitcoin miner in Tasmania in 2019 and now operates seven AI factories across Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Oracle stock fell on Thursday after a Wall Street Journal report said the enterprise cloud provider is preparing to tap debt markets to fund its AI infrastructure build-out. Oracle is reportedly in talks with Apollo and Goldman Sachs to arrange financing and wants a deal done as soon as this year, with investors likely funding a separate company that buys the chips and leases them to Oracle over time so the company avoids borrowing more money itself. Broadcom and SpaceX were also mentioned by the Journal as pursuing similar deals. Oracle shares are down nearly 30% this year, and its capital spending hit $28.5 billion in the June-to-August quarter, up from $2.3 billion in the same quarter two years earlier. Adding further pressure, OpenAI's annualized revenue is reportedly $20 billion short of prior estimates; OpenAI is one of Oracle's biggest cloud customers, and the contract backlog stood at $664 billion last quarter. Oracle has nearly doubled its long-term debt to more than $160 billion over the past two years, according to Bloomberg, ranking it as the fifth-largest borrower in the US corporate bond market.