AI Trade Rotates From Chips to Infrastructure, Spotlighting Vertiv and Bloom Energy

Bualuang Securities said the Power Development Plan 2026, or PDP2026, is likely to be approved by October 2026 through the energy minister, the Energy Policy Administration Committee and the National Energy Policy Council, without needing cabinet approval, about two months faster than the market had expected. New capacity for 2026-2037 remains unchanged at 50.9GW, and the first power plant auction is expected in mid-2027. What has changed is not the size of investment but the sequence of investment, because the current grid serves today's demand, not the volume of renewable energy. Battery energy storage systems, direct power purchase agreements and data centers under PDP2026 mean investment in transmission systems, smart grid substations and engineering, procurement and construction work must come before new power plants. Case 4, expected to be the main approach, requires investment of about 500 billion baht for grid stability during 2029-2050. Demand for direct power purchase agreements already exceeds 2,000MW and is not limited to data centers, while electricity demand from data centers has been confirmed at about 7-8GW. The deciding factors are the wheeling charge for grid use and the readiness of the transmission system. For battery storage, the ministry is giving more weight to large, grid-scale systems, with battery capacity in the plan for 2026-2037 at 14.5GW and possibly rising to 55GW by 2050. The broker keeps an above-market view on the utilities sector, with GULF and GUNKUL still the top picks, but the order of attractiveness has clearly shifted, with GUNKUL moving to the front on its transmission EPC business and electrical equipment that benefit before the power plant auction. GULF still has the greatest opportunity to add profit in value terms and has businesses covering renewable energy, battery storage and gas. GPSC is supported by power plant renewals and battery storage, BGRIM still needs clarity on the wheeling charge, and EGCO and RATCH stand out for dividends and the opportunity from power plant renewals.

MASTEC Link Public Company Limited, or MASTEC, disclosed that it has established a new subsidiary to strengthen its capacity to bid for projects and form joint ventures with both public and private partners. Chief Executive Officer Dusadee Meechai said third-quarter 2026 results and the remainder of the year will grow significantly better than the first half, in line with the business's high season. The company currently has work in hand of approximately 400 to 500 million baht and targets a year-end 2026 backlog of 500 to 600 million baht under its JUMP+ plan, which aims for 2026 revenue of 1.338 billion baht and profit of 100 million baht. The company is preparing to join bids for power purchase agreements, or PPAs, in community solar projects with a combined capacity of no more than 1,500 megawatts, alongside partners in roughly four to five projects, and has already registered as an installer of public solar systems with the electricity authority. The program expands eligibility to cover 1.5 million households, with installation subsidies of 50,000 baht per rooftop. The company is also pressing ahead with expanding its data center business and building a global strategic partnership with Honeywell of the United States to develop Integrated Building and Infrastructure Solutions covering customers in office buildings, industrial plants, hospitals, hotels, data centers, and large real estate projects.

Tutor Perini Corporation announced that its subsidiary Fisk Electric Company has been awarded an electrical services contract worth approximately $24 million for a confidential data center customer in Houston, Texas. Fisk's scope covers prefabrication and assembly of modular containment systems and related electrical infrastructure, including liquid-cooled components and piping, for a new ground-up data center. Those units will be built at Fisk's new 75,000-square-foot prefabrication and manufacturing facility in Houston, which the company says positions it to serve a fast-growing prefabrication market driven by a nationwide shortage of electricians. Electrical construction work is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, with substantial completion anticipated in the first quarter of 2027. The contract value will be reflected in Tutor Perini's backlog for the third quarter of 2026.

Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch named GE Vernova, American Superconductor, Shoals Technologies Group and Ormat Technologies as the firm's top power technology picks heading into third-quarter 2026 earnings season, advocating selective trading positions with exposure to power management and labor savings solutions. The sector faces four key headwinds: rising material costs from strong demand growth in utility-scale and distributed power, tight construction labor markets due to data center buildout, elevated interest rates impacting project economics, and ongoing policy changes favoring domestic manufacturing. U.S. wholesale power prices remained sharply higher year-over-year in PJM, up 42%, and SPP, up 23%, despite a mid-single-digit decline in natural gas prices, while construction wage growth accelerated to 4.4% year-over-year, with electrical and powerline workers seeing even steeper increases of 7.3% and 7.7%, respectively. GE Vernova ranks first, benefiting from Executive Order 14420, which bans bulk power equipment imports from China and could add pricing power as domestic manufacturing preferences strengthen. American Superconductor ranks second on the same import ban, Shoals Technologies Group ranks third as a key provider of in-field labor efficiency solutions, and Ormat Technologies rounds out the list on its exposure to power management solutions.

SPIE announced it has acquired 94% of CLAUSER, a family-owned French company specializing in industrial maintenance and high-power electrical installations. Founded in 1963 and based in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Dunkirk, CLAUSER employs around 100 people and generated revenue of approximately €22 million in 2025. The company is recognized for its longstanding expertise in aluminium production and processing as well as electrochemical processes. SPIE said the deal strengthens its position in industrial maintenance and high-power electrical installations, a sector where the electrification of industrial processes is playing an increasingly important role. Frédéric Toussaint, Managing Director of SPIE Industrie (France), said CLAUSER's expertise in aluminium-related processes is a major asset for supporting the electrification and decarbonisation of French industrial sites.

Quanta Services raised its full-year 2026 free cash flow outlook to $2-$2.5 billion, alongside operating cash flow expectations of $2.9-$3.4 billion, after a strong first half. In the second quarter, Quanta generated operating cash flow of $1.10 billion and free cash flow of $886 million, bringing first-half free cash flow to $1.07 billion, sharply higher than $288 million in the comparable 2025 period. Management attributed the second-quarter strength partly to favorable working-capital dynamics, particularly from large-load and renewable projects, while days sales outstanding improved to 57 days. The outlook is underpinned by a record $53.4 billion backlog, expanding project activity and rising investment in electric grids, power generation, data centers and other mission-critical infrastructure. Quanta still expects roughly $900 million of net capital expenditures in 2026, and cash generation could fluctuate with project timing, working-capital requirements, acquisitions, weather, permitting, supply-chain issues, inflation and project execution. Quanta competes with MasTec and EMCOR Group across power, electrical and mission-critical infrastructure markets; MasTec reported negative $59 million of free cash flow in the second quarter, while EMCOR posted record remaining performance obligations of $17.14 billion.