Paid by the Gigawatt
JC Bahr-de Stefano@jcbds
−8.7%
since Oct 13
The idea
I think token prices will keep sliding, which hurts anyone paid per token and leaves gigawatt sellers untouched since they get paid for raw capacity regardless. This basket owns that side: power producers, turbine and grid equipment makers, data center landlords, and compute and cooling vendors whose biggest customers monetize through ads, enterprise, and government work rather than per-token pricing. Nvidia sits in at a small weight since it sells to both camps, while the most token-exposed chip and cloud names are deliberately left out.
What it owns
- These companies sell hardware and cooling to data center builders across many customer types, from cloud providers to enterprises to governments, so no single buyer's token economics determines their growth. · Arista Networks, Inc.Its largest revenue comes from Microsoft and Meta, companies that primarily earn from advertising, software and cloud services rather than selling AI output., Vertiv Holdings CoIt supplies the cooling systems and electrical distribution equipment that every new data center requires, priced based on the megawatt capacity it handles rather than what tenant equipment costs or earns., Micron Technology, Inc.It sells memory chips to a broad range of buyers including phones, cars, cloud providers and enterprise systems, so no single type of customer or application drives the majority of demand., Hewlett Packard Enterprise CompanyIt sells servers and networking systems to enterprises and government agencies that build their own AI infrastructure for internal use rather than as a service product., nVent Electric plcIt manufactures liquid cooling systems and the enclosures and electrical infrastructure that dense server racks require, priced per rack and per megawatt of installed capacity., NVIDIA CorporationIt sells processors to both advertising and cloud companies, which form the majority of its current customer base, while sales to token-selling companies remain a smaller portion of total revenue.33%
- Every new gigawatt of power generation and delivery requires turbines, transformers, transmission lines and grid equipment, and these companies build them on fixed contracts regardless of what the power gets used for. · GE Vernova Inc.It manufactures gas turbines for new power plants, and turbines are the longest lead-time equipment in any build, so demand for new gigawatts translates directly into orders., Quanta Services, Inc.It builds transmission lines, substations and grid connections for data centers and power plants, and earns fixed fees for construction work that does not depend on later power sales., Eaton Corporation plcIt manufactures transformers, switchgear and power distribution equipment that every data center and grid upgrade needs, sold per installation and per megawatt of capacity., Bloom Energy CorporationIt makes fuel cells that provide on-site power generation, allowing data centers to avoid years of waiting for grid connection and enabling power purchases by the megawatt.23%
- They earn revenue from selling electricity to data centers under long-term contracts priced per megawatt-hour, so their returns depend on power demand and grid capacity, not on what their customers earn per unit of compute. · Constellation Energy CorporationIt runs the largest US nuclear fleet and has recently signed long-term power supply deals with major tech buyers, so its earnings come from capacity and megawatt-hour prices, not customer output prices., Vistra Corp.It operates a large fleet of gas and nuclear plants that sell power on long-term contracts, so its revenue rises with power demand regardless of what customers do with the electricity., Talen Energy CorporationIt sells electricity directly from its own generation plants to data centers located adjacent to them, with revenue tied to megawatt capacity and long-term power purchase agreements., NRG Energy, Inc.It owns a large generation fleet that benefits from tight wholesale power markets, and data center growth is a primary driver of increased power demand and capacity premiums.23%
- They rent powered cabinet and floor space to data center tenants by the megawatt, collecting rent that does not change based on how much revenue the tenant generates or what it charges for its services. · Equinix, Inc.It leases powered data center space, cooling and connectivity by the megawatt to enterprises, banks and cloud providers, and collects rent independent of how those tenants use the capacity., Digital Realty Trust, Inc.It leases large blocks of powered data center space to cloud and enterprise buyers, with rents based on megawatts rented and renewed regularly regardless of tenant economics.13%
- Cash8%