The AI power infrastructure trade is no longer a side bet. Two deals from the first week of May 2026 confirm that the $725 billion AI buildout runs on land, grid access, and energy storage. Both Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ:HUT) and Fluence Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNC) just locked in structural positions inside that demand. However, a third development, reported by The Wall Street Journal on May 12, introduces a long-horizon risk that most coverage of these two stocks has not addressed.
The Lease Structure Is What Investors Should Actually Price
On May 6, Hut 8 signed a 15-year, triple-net, take-or-pay lease at its Beacon Point campus in Nueces County, Texas. The base-term contract value is $9.8 billion. The tenant remains confidential but carries a high-investment-grade credit rating.
The structure matters more than the headline figure. A triple-net lease means the tenant covers all operating costs. A take-or-pay clause means the tenant pays even without using the facility. Together, these terms convert a real estate play into something closer to a contracted utility revenue stream. Expected average annual net operating income is $655 million upon stabilization, per Hut 8’s May 6 press release. With three five-year renewal options, the total contract could reach $25.1 billion.
The deal also brought Hut 8’s total contracted AI capacity to 597 MW. Aggregate base-term contract value across both campuses now stands at $16.8 billion. The facility runs on Nvidia Inc. (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s DSX reference architecture. Execution partners include American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP), Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT), and Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J). AEP Texas has executed an interconnection agreement for 1,000 MW of utility capacity. Initial energization arrives in Q1 2027. First data hall delivery follows in Q3 2027.
Hut 8 shares jumped more than 30% on the day. Needham subsequently raised its price target on HUT to $12.
Fluence’s Hyperscaler Agreements Signal a Category Shift
Before May 7, Fluence was a battery storage company trying to break into the data center market. After May 7, it is a pre-qualified global supplier to at least two of the world’s largest AI infrastructure spenders. That distinction is what investors should focus on, not the quarterly revenue miss.
Here is what actually happened. Two separate hyperscalers each ran structured competitive processes to find an energy storage partner. One process started with 26 vendors. Fluence cleared every round first and signed a global master supply agreement before any competitor, per CEO Julian Nebreda on the May 7 earnings call. The other customer set requirements so specific that most rivals could not meet them. Fluence qualified there too.
That kind of process is not a handshake deal. Hyperscalers run …
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