Liberty Energy Stock Jumps on Data Center Power Partnership with SLB

Liberty Energy Inc. (LBRT) shares rose approximately 3% in pre-market trading Tuesday after the company announced a strategic alliance with SLB (SLB) to develop and deliver power and infrastructure solutions for data centers. The partnership aims to address the rapidly growing energy needs of the artificial intelligence sector by providing integrated, deployable solutions for new projects globally.

Addressing AI's Power Crunch

The collaboration is a direct response to the immense power requirements of modern AI and data center operations. As developers race to build new capacity, they increasingly face bottlenecks related to energy availability and grid connection timelines. This alliance seeks to provide "behind-the-meter" power solutions that can be deployed more quickly and without total reliance on traditional grid infrastructure.

"The bottleneck in AI infrastructure is no longer just compute. It is the ability to deliver infrastructure and power on the timelines the market now demands," said Gavin Rennick, president of SLB’s New Energy and Industrial business, in a statement. Ron Gusek, CEO of Liberty Energy, added that the "scale and complexity of AI energy infrastructure is fundamentally changing how power systems are built and deployed."

Partnership Roles and Outlook

Ad

The alliance combines the distinct expertise of the two energy services giants. SLB will contribute its modular infrastructure solutions and global project execution capabilities, while Liberty will provide its modular power generation systems and operational expertise.

Key details on the companies' current and planned projects include:

• SLB has shipped over 1.3 gigawatts of prefabricated modular infrastructure for data centers since April 2024.
• SLB expects its cumulative deliveries to exceed 2 gigawatts globally by the end of the year.
• Liberty plans to deploy approximately 3 gigawatts of power projects by 2029.

Following the announcement, SLB's shares saw a modest increase of 0.8% in pre-market activity. The companies also stated their intent to collaborate on future technologies, including hybrid power systems and advanced power architectures, to meet the evolving demands of the data center market.