Neoclouds: The Matrix has you

Research evidence excerpt

Neoclouds: The Matrix has you

ata centre contracts. We have published

extensively on hyperscaler demand for DC capacity in our Compute Cold War series here,

here and here. Less well understood by the market is neocloud-driven demand. In Australia,

neocloud entrants such as Firmus and Sharon AI are competing for the same scarce pool

of DC capacity, adding another source of demand to a market that was already supply

constrained.

The relevance for NXT is straightforward: neoclouds are being forced to secure DC capacity

ahead of GPU deployment, with NVIDIA supply of GPUs contingent on signing upfront DC

contracts. This pulls demand forward into an already constrained market. NXT’s agreement

with Sharon AI for 50MW of capacity at its M3 site is an example of this.

Ultimately, this dynamic is positive for DC operators because it increases competition

for limited supply without materially changing the risk profile of the DC business. NXT is

not underwriting GPU utilisation or obsolescence risk; it is providing the power, space and

infrastructure required to support deployment. As neoclouds and hyperscalers both move

to secure capacity, we expect two outcomes: higher contract volumes and firmer pricing,

particularly for operators with available power and AI-ready facilities. This should support a

faster cadence of contract news flow over the next 12 months: a key driver of DC share price

performance.

This demand may prove more durable if Australia captures a greater share of AI workloads

over time. While Australia has not historically been a core market for large-scale AI training,

the growing importance of inference and test-time compute could increase demand for local

GPU capacity. This would support the growth of neoclouds, and in turn should drive further