FT: Nvidia is unnamed customer behind Hut 8's $19.6B Texas data center lease

Author: Habib Ur Rehman Read Time: 3 minutes

• NVDA: +2.93%
• HUT: -0.59%

Overview

Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) is reportedly the previously unnamed customer behind Hut 8 Corp.'s (NASDAQ: HUT) Beacon Point data center leases in Texas. The Financial Times identified Nvidia as the tenant on July 28, citing five people familiar with the arrangement. Nvidia discussed its work with infrastructure partners but neither confirmed nor denied that it was the customer. Hut 8 has also not publicly named the tenant.

Contract Value and Lease Details

While the attribution is significant, the contract math warrants equal attention.

• On July 20, Hut 8 disclosed a second 15-year lease for 352 megawatts (MW) of IT capacity, doubling the same investment-grade tenant's footprint to 704 MW.
• The two leases give the campus a $19.6 billion base-term contract value.
• The often-quoted $50.2 billion figure applies only if renewal options are exercised. It is neither guaranteed revenue nor the present value of a firm $50 billion obligation.

Strategic Implications

If the Financial Times reporting is correct, Nvidia's role extends beyond simply using AI chips at Beacon Point. As the reported lease counterparty, Nvidia would:

• Support rent on 704 MW of Hut 8 capacity.
• Potentially turn that capacity into a deployment channel for customers buying Nvidia systems.

The Financial Times reported that Nvidia could sublease the site to neocloud partners that purchase its GPUs and sell AI computing services. However, no sublease has been announced.

Nvidia's public response instead emphasized DSX, its architecture for designing, building, and operating large AI factories with ecosystem partners.

Hut 8’s Role and Financial Position

Hut 8's link is contractual:

• Tenant rent underpins the $19.6 billion base-term value and the credit case for the project.
• Hut 8 must supply the energized buildings on schedule.
• The company closed $4.25 billion of non-recourse, investment-grade senior secured notes for Beacon Point in June.
• The first Phase 2 data hall is expected in the second quarter of 2028.
• Hut 8 must still manage construction, tenant concentration, and the financing demands of a 1-gigawatt development.

Hedge Fund Activity

Insider Monkey's database showed a small decline in hedge funds backing the stock:

• As of March 31, 2026: 60 hedge-fund portfolios reported long positions in HUT.
• As of December 31, 2025: 64 hedge-fund portfolios reported long positions.

Nvidia Short Interest

As of July 15, 2026:

• 324,052,767 NVDA shares were sold short, representing 1.39% of public float.
• Nvidia's latest 10-Q showed no pending stock merger or convertible debt balance that would obviously create an arbitrage short.
• The low percentage does not indicate a crowded short and provides little basis for a squeeze thesis.

Story Continues

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Disclosure: None.