Betting on a data center company? See who’s really ahead before you pick a side

Updated October 202670+ pagesPDF

Data Centers: Who’s Ahead
Cover of NewMarketPitch's Data Centers: Who’s Ahead report, 2026 edition
Crusoe or Nscale: who is really ahead in building AI campuses? Crusoe, on every line both publish: power, contracts, sales, value and money raised. Nscale’s order book grows faster, and its IPO could narrow the gap. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.
How much of Big Tech’s nuclear power deals is actually running? None from new reactors. The giants’ deals for new reactors add up to ~9.5 GW at most, all due in the 2030s. Only deals with existing plants deliver power today. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.
Who is closest to a gigawatt of data centers actually running? Crusoe, with ~1 GW running, the only one of these startups there. Fluidstack has ~1 GW locked in but leased. Firmus runs 46 MW, Fermi nothing yet. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.
Who is on the hook for a trillion dollars of data-center leases? Five tech giants. They signed ~$1.12T of rent, mostly for data centers, in buildings not yet open, ~4 times the leases on their books. Microsoft alone signed $329B. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.
Is the AI campus startup Crusoe really worth $31 billion? Partly, two thirds of it, if its sales arrive. Priced like the listed landlords, ~$2B of sales would be worth ~$20B. The other ~$11B is a bet on its growth. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.
Is the data-center boom showing signs of strain? Yes, on the money side. Tenants backed out, an IPO was pulled and loans on an Oracle campus trade below face value, while space stays full. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.
How much is borrowed per dollar of data-center equity? Up to $11. On the biggest projects, lenders put in 1.6 to 11 times more than the owners. Meta’s Hyperion campus borrowed $27.3B on ~$2.5B of equity. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.
Is power now the real bottleneck for data centers? Yes. Requests to plug big new users, mostly data centers, into the Texas grid add up to 5.2 times the state’s record demand. Gas turbines are booked for years. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.
Are data-center companies priced like big tech? Yes, most listed ones, at ×10 to ×39 their yearly sales. The UK startup Nscale, the only one with 12-month sales on file, is priced at ×90, above Palantir. Chart from NewMarketPitch's Data Centers report.

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Inside the report

  • Who’s ahead, and who’s falling behind
  • How far the challengers are behind
  • Who has real customers, who only promises
  • What technologies are gaining traction
  • Who are the top companies today
  • What are their valuations
  • Who’s getting funded, and by whom
  • Which business models are winning
  • What are the biggest unsolved problems
  • What has changed in the last 12 months
  • Where are the biggest opportunities
  • Who are the likely future winners
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Verified data with sourcesUpdated in October 2026