Entergy Stock Jumps On Partnership To Power Meta’s Largest Data Centre: Retail Lights Up

synopsis

Entergy’s stock rose 1.6% in midday trading Thursday after the company revealed it would power social media giant Meta’s soon-to-be largest data center facility, lifting retail sentiment. 

The $10-billion project will be developed on the expansive 1,400-acre Franklin Farm mega site in Richland Parish.

Entergy Louisiana plans to build three combined-cycle combustion turbines with a total capacity of 2,260 megawatts (MW), as well as construct new substations and transmission lines. 

The electric and natural gas provider expects construction of the new generation units alone to create between 1,500 to 1,800 jobs, while substation and transmission investments could generate another 3,500 to 5,000 construction jobs. 

Once completed, the data center is also expected to provide 44 permanent jobs for the local community.

Entergy Sentiment and Message Volume on Dec 5 as of 3:00 p.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits

Retail sentiment around the stock flipped to ‘extremely bullish’ (96/100) from ‘extremely bearish’ (7/100) a day ago while chatter remained in the ‘extremely high’ zone. 

"We're not going to just be powering a facility, we're going to be empowering a community," Entergy CEO Phillip May said in a statement. 

Both Meta and Entergy have expressed interest in exploring nuclear energy as a future power supply option, alongside renewable sources such as solar and wind, to meet the region's energy needs sustainably in the coming decades.

In the short term, the new generators will support 30% hydrogen co-firing, with plans to increase this to 100% hydrogen in the future. Additionally, the companies aim to incorporate carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. 

The announcement of a partnership with Meta came after KeyBanc downgraded the stock to ‘Sector Weight’ from ‘Overweight’ on Wednesday, citing valuation concerns.

The brokerage sees the stock’s potential on its geographical and regulatory advantages support above-average growth as largely realized.

Entergy’s stock has jumped 50% so far this year. 

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