Venture Global is looking to shed its image of simply being a major liquefied natural gas producer and exporter with a shift into the artificial-intelligence data-center energy business.
Venture Global stock rose 3.7% to $12.24 in the premarket trading session on Tuesday after ending Monday up 2.3%.
As of Monday, shares had risen 73% this year but have been under pressure latrely, falling 20% since closing at $14.79 on Oct. 30.
The stock on Tuesday, however, was poised to advance for a third consecutive trading session.
One reason for that was rather mundane.
Venture Global posted far better-than-expected third-quarter profit with revenue edging past analysts' expectations. The company raised its full-year consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, guidance to $10 billion to $10.3 billion, up from its previous $8.7 billion to $9.1 billion expectation.
But a potentially more exciting detail for investors was that Venture Global expanded on how it sees its business evolving in the age of data centers and AI.
Baker Hughes last month announced frame agreements with Venture Global and GE Vernova to support the development of behind-the-meter power generation for data-center buildout in the U.S.
Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel sounded an optimistic tone in the earnings release Tuesday.
"We are also excited about a potential new, additive line of business for the company: Expanding our existing and proven capabilities building and operating an island-mode power and infrastructure network to be able to offer an off-grid AI utility to support data centers," Sabel said.
The company added that it sees this maneuver into the AI buildout as a "defining step" for Venture Global into a "first fully vertically integrated AI Utility."
Venture Global said it expects to offer reliable, large-scale computing capacity without any reliance on public electricity or water supply and that it will begin delivering capacity in late 2028 and scale to approximately 5 gigawatts by the end of 2031.
The shift into the data-center buildout business comes as the AI trade has taken a hit following the Democratic Party's big win the midterm elections that could mean heightened regulation for data centers.
But onsite, along with off the grid energy solutions, might be the way to ease concerns. Venture Global is getting in on the opportunity as Wall Street firms broadly believe the recent AI trade weakness won't have a long-term impact on the long-term buildout.
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