Data centres attract major investment on AI demand
Up nearly 46; top gainer in the realestate sector
Stock on track for biggest annual gain since 2006

Dec 30 Reuters Goodman Group39;s stock has been on a hot streak this year, shining bright among its Australian realestate peers as the artificial intelligence boom has driven a frenzied demand for data centres.

Global hyperscalers, or largescale cloud service providers, such as Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, have been spending billions on data centres to cater to growing demand for AI services.

Australia39;s datacentre market, though nascent, saw outsized investment this year with Blackstone buying AirTrunk for A24 billion 14.91 billion in September and developer NEXTDC raising nearly A4.6 billion in equity and debt.

Goodman, the country39;s biggest property developer, counts the world39;s largest hyperscalers as its customers, its website says, but the company did not confirm the identities of its customers in response to Reuters.

Its inventory, however, reflects the heightened demand for these specialized facilities, with data centres under construction making up 42 of its A12.8 billion 7.96 billion portfolio of projects under development at the end of September, up from 37 at the end of last year.

This has sent its stock flying 45.8 higher this year, positioning Goodman for its best performance since 2006. It is also the Australian real estate index39;s top performer.

Higher exposure to data centres in development…