The Australian state of Victoria has announced a ban on building data centres in residential areas, along with regulations requiring operators to source their own renewable energy, use recycled water for cooling, and cover the cost of upgrading the electricity grid, in a bid to reduce impacts on communities and counter local opposition. Victorian Premier Ben Carroll of the Labor Party said today that while data centres are critically important to the economy, operators must take measures that ensure they do not place severe strain on local water and electricity resources. Data centres will have to procure additional renewable energy generation to match their new electricity demand, and will not be permitted to locate in residential areas, with a buffer zone of at least 150 metres from homes. Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is pushing for a national standard for data centres, to balance capturing the benefits of surging demand against easing community concerns. Analysts at Westpac Banking estimate that spending on the data centre business could reach 225 billion Australian dollars, or about 160 billion US dollars, with most of the spending expected to occur over the next three years.
GE Vernova Backlog Hits $176B as AI Power Demand Drives Orders
GE Vernova closed its most recent quarter with a $176 billion backlog, with management guiding to $200 billion in 2027, as surging AI power demand drives turbine capacity rationing. Q2 orders came in at $24.2 billion, up 88% organically, and the company signed 20 GW of gas contracts in the quarter alone, expecting at least 125 GW of gas equipment under contract by year-end 2026. CEO Scott Strazik told analysts the company expects to be "mostly sold out through 2030," with 2031 slots already filling, while annual turbine output scales from 20 GW in Q3 2026 to 24 GW in 2028 and 30 GW in 2030. Q2 free cash flow hit $5.1 billion, exceeding all of full-year 2025, prompting management to raise 2026 free cash flow guidance to $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion from a prior range of $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion, double the quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, and lift buyback authorization to $10 billion. Electrification orders grew 66% organically at a book-to-bill of 1.7x, with data center orders crossing $5 billion year-to-date, more than double the entire 2025 total, though the Wind segment remains a drag with revenue down 10% in Q2 and roughly $400 million of full-year segment EBITDA losses expected.
IREN Trades at $47.23 With $13 Billion in Microsoft and NVIDIA Contracts
IREN is trading at $47.23, roughly 41% below the mean analyst target of $80.21, as the company works to convert a pre-secured power portfolio into contracted revenue. The company holds more than 5 gigawatts of announced power across Texas, British Columbia, Oklahoma, Spain, and South Australia, anchored by a $9.7 billion AI Cloud contract with Microsoft and a $3.4 billion five-year deal with NVIDIA, yet less than 10% of that 5-gigawatt portfolio is monetized. Management says $4 billion of ARR is contracted for 2026 capacity, with $1 billion already operating, and three-year contract pricing is up about 125% since November, with recent deals above $20 million per megawatt of IT load and active talks near $25 million per megawatt. IREN posted a $684 million net loss on $137.2 million of Q4 revenue that missed estimates and fell 26.75% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA fell from $59.5 million in Q3 to $19.2 million, and FY27 capex is guided at $25 to $30 billion. Consensus FY27 EPS has fallen from negative $0.94 ninety days ago to negative $3.92, and the balance sheet carries $11.60 billion of liabilities against $4.19 billion of equity, making March-quarter revenue the pivotal test of the contracted ARR story.
Heartland Flags Texas Instruments as AI Data Center Power Revenue Jumps Over 90%
Heartland Advisors' Opportunistic Value Equity Strategy named Texas Instruments a significant contributor to its second-quarter 2026 performance, citing the chipmaker's entry into the AI infrastructure narrative. In its Q2 2026 investor letter, the firm said Texas Instruments, the world's largest analog semiconductor manufacturer, has seen its data center power management revenues rise more than 90% year over year as its chips handle electrical power regulation and management in data centers. The strategy returned 12.32% in the quarter, trailing the Russell 3000 Value Index's 14.02% gain, with negative security selection in Technology offsetting positive selection in nine of eleven sectors. Heartland noted the stock rose more than 70% through late June and closed at $270.87 per share on September 21, 2026, returning 4.16% over the past month and 48.80% over the past 52 weeks, with a market capitalization of $247.37 billion. The firm said Texas Instruments has passed peak capital expenditures in its multi-year fabrication-capacity buildout, and that higher fab utilization should drive incremental profits and cash flow, though the business now trades between its price target and intrinsic value. According to the article, 111 hedge fund portfolios held Texas Instruments at the end of the second quarter, up from 71 in the previous quarter.
