Megawatt Gold Rush: How Top Data Center Stocks Are Thriving Despite AI Market Concerns

Wall Street dealmaking remains remarkably resilient, even as concerns linger about whether the artificial intelligence boom has peaked. The reason is straightforward: bitcoin miners and AI infrastructure operators still need serious amounts of power, and investors are backing top data center stocks that can deliver capacity. According to Joe Nardini, head of investment banking at B. Riley Securities, the fundamental shift toward GPU-intensive operations has fundamentally reshaped market dynamics—and created a genuine investment opportunity for companies positioned in this space.

Power Remains King in the AI Era

The energy appetite from crypto and AI sectors shows no signs of slowing, even entering 2026. Bitcoin’s price has adjusted to $77.49K, but mining operations continue bidding aggressively for megawatts of capacity, often competing alongside hyperscalers and specialized AI firms. The pivot is clear: after the bitcoin halving squeezed margins, miners increasingly repositioned toward hosting artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) hardware, transforming their data centers into AI powerhouses.

“Demand for power from bitcoin miners remains huge, but the pull from AI and HPC is even bigger,” Nardini told CoinDesk. This dual-engine demand explains why top data center stocks have captured investor attention. Facilities offering GPU-ready capacity are attracting multiple creditworthy tenants at strong pricing, signaling that the underlying business fundamentals remain intact despite recent market volatility.

The M&A Engine Driving Data Center Valuations

Mergers and acquisitions activity in the data center space reveal just how competitive and valuable this real estate has become. Recent transactions show dollars per megawatt reaching extraordinary levels—valuations as high as $400,000 to $550,000 per megawatt in premium locations with quality power infrastructure. This contrasts sharply with distressed assets, which still draw bids of $100,000 to $250,000 per megawatt from buyers willing to compromise on location but not on electricity access.

One standout example: Hut 8 shares surged roughly 20% following its 15-year, $7 billion lease agreement with Fluidstack for 245 megawatts of IT capacity. That deal encapsulates why institutional investors continue viewing top data center stocks favorably—long-term contracts with blue-chip tenants provide stable cash flow even when headlines scream about market corrections.

The buyer universe has expanded beyond traditional crypto-native players. Hyperscalers like Amazon, AI-focused firms, and international mining operations now compete for limited capacity. Nardini described negotiation processes where a single industrial asset attracted roughly 25 prospective buyers seeking confidentiality agreements, underscoring extreme scarcity in desirable locations.

Bitcoin Miners to AI Operators: The New Tenant Base

Bitcoin miners that successfully transitioned toward HPC hosting have unlocked higher valuations and access to cheaper capital—a strategic shift that’s reshaping portfolios and creating new winners. The composition of tenants matters tremendously. Where a facility previously housed only mining rigs, operators now host a mix of GPU clusters for artificial intelligence training, inference workloads, and traditional crypto operations, maximizing revenue per megawatt.

This transformation has proven economically powerful. Bitcoin miners leveraging their existing infrastructure—power agreements, cooling systems, real estate—to serve the booming AI market have effectively de-risked their business models. Rather than relying solely on BTC price appreciation or block reward sustainability, they now earn diversified revenue streams. This explains why savvy investors monitoring top data center stocks have seen outperformance among companies exhibiting this operational pivot.

The tenant quality also indicates future stability. According to Nardini’s on-the-ground conversations, prospective customers are not merely interested—they’re desperate. In one negotiation, a tenant offered to prepay rent before facility completion, demonstrating how acute the shortage of premium capacity remains.

Investment Thesis: Why These Stocks Aren’t Going Away

Nardini poses a simple test to executives running data center operations: Do customers have genuine demand? Yes. Do they have tenants? Yes. Are those tenants creditworthy? Yes. Do facilities command strong pricing? Yes. The consistency of affirmative answers across multiple conversations reinforces a fundamental truth: actual demand underpins valuations and deal activity, independent of hype cycles.

The old industrial real estate market has also awakened to this opportunity. Private owners are converting 160-year-old factories, repurposing office blocks, and building modular 30-megawatt units specifically to serve miners and AI operators. These asset conversions generate meaningful funding opportunities and explain why M&A pipelines remain robust. Strategic decisions arise naturally: should traditional industrial companies remain passive landlords, or actively develop their properties into AI-era infrastructure?

Looking forward into mid-2026, Nardini articulates a favorable setup for top data center stocks if interest rates decline, which would foster a “risk-on environment” supportive of dealmaking. His caveat remains sensible: if developers construct capacity they cannot lease, or fail to achieve required pricing, then concerns would be justified. “For now, he isn’t hearing that,” reflecting actual tenant feedback rather than theoretical worries.

The Resilience Factor

Despite recent equity market corrections—CoreWeave shares retreated more than 50% from June peaks, and broad AI beneficiaries faced profit-taking—underlying operational metrics tell a different story. Developers with operational data center capacity report sustained demand from multiple quality tenants at favorable rates. The fundamentals haven’t rotted; valuations have merely normalized after frothy peaks.

Nardini’s final verdict carries weight: “The AI trade is still alive as of December 2025. The demand for power and HPC data center capacity continues unabated. Developers with data center capacity have demand from multiple creditworthy tenants at good rates, so the core economics of business remain intact.”

This assessment explains why savvy institutional investors continue allocating capital toward top data center stocks. Market sentiment may have shifted away from indiscriminate AI enthusiasm, but genuine infrastructure needs persist. The winners will be companies that own or operate premium capacity in favorable jurisdictions, maintain strong tenant relationships, and execute disciplined capital deployment strategies.

The megawatt gold rush continues, albeit with more selective investor participation and higher operational standards. For those seeking exposure to the actual economic underpinnings of the AI era—rather than speculative hype—top data center stocks offer tangible utility, contracted revenue streams, and demonstrated tenant demand that transcends sentiment cycles.