Hut 8 Stock Jumps on $7B Google-Backed AI Compute Deal, Anchoring 245MW Build in Louisiana

Bitcoin miners have been edging into AI infrastructure for a year; Hut 8 just put a flag in the ground. The company signed a 15-year, $7 billion agreement with Fluidstack—supported by a Google financial backstop—to deliver high-performance compute from a 245MW data center at its River Bend campus in Louisiana. Shares of HUT traded around $42.55 shortly after Wednesday’s open, up more than 15%. The stock is up nearly 13% over the past month and better than 150% across six months.

Here’s what matters: a long-dated, backstopped revenue stream changes a miner’s profile. With renewal options extending up to another 15 years, the total contract value could climb to $17.7 billion. That is the kind of duration that can compress a miner’s cost of capital, smooth cash flows, and reframe the business from hashprice-sensitive extraction to contracted digital infrastructure.

The structure is deliberate. Google is providing the financial backstop. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are tied in for deal financing and loan underwriting. Hut 8 cites the State of Louisiana, Entergy, Vertiv, and Jacobs among delivery partners—signaling power procurement, thermal and electrical systems, and EPC execution are being locked in early. Management characterizes the win as the product of patience and focus on the “right” transaction rather than the fastest one, and that tone aligns with how miners will need to approach multi-hundred-megawatt AI builds.

Execution will be staged. Hut 8 expects the first data hall at River Bend to be ready in Q2 2027. The company anticipates up to 265 new jobs in Louisiana. It continues to run five Bitcoin mining sites across the U.S. and Canada. A representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Context matters. This is not a one-off. In September, Cipher Mining rallied on a $3 billion Google-backstopped AI cloud hosting deal. TeraWulf also struck a Fluidstack arrangement underpinned by Google, and the tech giant increased its stake in the miner in August. Marathon Digital (MARA) has been expanding AI services alongside Bitcoin mining, while Bitfarms is winding down BTC operations to concentrate on AI compute.

My read: the Google backstop is the fulcrum. It derisks counterparty exposure, invites bank balance sheets, and sends a signal to equity holders who have been discounting miners for commodity beta and short-duration revenues. It also nudges miners toward being power-optimized, latency-aware data center operators—very different muscle memory than chasing hashrate. That shift can unlock multiple expansion, but only if teams can navigate grid interconnects, long-lead equipment, and AI workload density without blowing out capex or timelines.

For investors, the setup is straightforward: - Don’t mistake a press release for near-term EBITDA; meaningful revenue likely tracks the 2027 ramp. - Watch for binding PPAs with Entergy, firm EPC schedules with Vertiv/Jacobs, and transformer/cooling lead times. - Track the credit mechanics behind the Google backstop and the loan syndication from JPMorgan/Goldman. - Assess how Hut 8 balances BTC mining and AI capacity to avoid operational whiplash as market cycles evolve.

Miners leaning into AI compute are pursuing durability over volatility. If Hut 8 executes, this kind of contract could become the standard template for crypto-native infrastructure players looking to compound through the cycle.