Sydney, June 20, 2026, 07:09 (AEST)
- NEXTDC finished Friday at A$15.18, up 1.6% on the day and 4.3% for the week.
- Sharon AI’s US$1.6 billion fundraise has drawn attention to a current NEXTDC AI computing client.
- NEXTDC is building the GE1 edge data centre in Geelong, aiming for 4.4 megawatts of planned capacity.
NEXTDC shares last changed hands at A$15.18 in Friday’s session, up A$0.24, with 11.42 million shares traded. That was one of the notable moves as the S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.92% to 8,828.7, trimming its weekly advance to under 0.3%. The Australian market is closed for the weekend.
Execution is now the key issue, not just demand. NEXTDC raised A$1.5 billion in April, with CEO Craig Scroggie saying it was “a unique opportunity to materially expand NEXTDC’s contracted capacity.” The real challenge will be turning those contracts into live data halls and recurring revenue, and hitting deadlines. Reuters
Sharon AI said June 18 it brought in US$1.6 billion, splitting US$900 million in equity and US$700 million in convertible notes. The cash will back the company’s Australia-Asia growth. Sharon AI has deals for up to 50 MW of extra capacity across the NEXTDC network. “We continue to see demand for GPU compute significantly outpacing supply,” co-founder and CEO James Manning said, talking about chips used for AI. The financing puts Sharon on stronger financial ground, but the company didn’t announce a new NEXTDC order in the release. Business Wire
Kapitol said work is underway on the GE1 site in Corio, Geelong. The build will have about 4 MW of IT load and 2,100 sqm for technical use. The edge data centre is closer to end users and handles data nearby to cut latency. GE1 adds to NEXTDC’s footprint outside big cities, but it’s smaller than the company’s Sydney builds.
Southern Cross Electrical Engineering said its Heyday division got the green light for limited early work on electrical and communications jobs at NEXTDC’s S4 campus in Horsley Park. The first works will cover about 60,000 square metres. The full campus is set to provide 350 MW. The company said this shows the project is shifting out of the approvals phase and starting physical delivery.
NEXTDC’s pro forma contracted utilisation hit 667 MW at March 31, with recent contract wins added in. That refers to the amount of power capacity customers have formally signed up for. Out of that, just 123 MW is already billing. The rest—544 MW—is booked but not yet earning revenue. The company said it expects to bring that online gradually by fiscal 2030. For capex, NEXTDC put guidance at A$2.7 billion to A$3.0 billion for fiscal 2026, and around A$5 billion for fiscal 2027.
Funding is hefty, but comes at a price. NEXTDC said in May it lined up A$1.8 billion in new senior debt facilities. After the deal wraps up, expected in July, senior facilities will total A$8.2 billion and estimated June 30 liquidity should be near A$8.4 billion. That gives some breathing room on funding, but costs and build control still matter for shareholder returns.
Macquarie Technology Group climbed roughly 1.3% from Friday to Friday, while NEXTDC gained 4.3% in that span. The difference points to specific factors for each company playing a bigger role than any overall sector move, but it’s only one week of trading.
Risks remain clear for NEXTDC. The company reported a A$39.4 million net loss for the first half and is spending A$1.285 billion on development. Any holdup in construction, getting electricity connected or customer fit-outs could push out revenue further, with financing costs still here. Local pushback about noise, energy use and land issues near Australian data centres is another hurdle for planning and delivery.
S&P/ASX 200 makes its quarterly changes before the open Monday, but NEXTDC isn’t among the five to join or leave. Australia’s May CPI print lands Wednesday at 11:30 AEST. If inflation comes in high, bond yields might climb and pull down valuations for companies like NEXTDC that sell future growth. If it’s lower, the pressure eases. For NEXTDC, though, what matters most is proof that signed megawatts are now live and bringing in revenue.
