Overview
- At CES, CEO Jensen Huang said Vera Rubin is in full production and can be cooled with 45°C water, adding that “no water chillers are necessary for data centres.”
- Shares slid after the remarks: Johnson Controls fell 7.5% to $112.40, Trane dropped 5.3% to $370.40, Carrier declined 1.1%, and Modine closed down 7.5% after an intraday plunge of 21%.
- Barclays flagged longer-term order risk for chiller-centric suppliers and estimated data centers are a low-double-digit share of Johnson Controls’ sales, about 10% at Trane, and roughly 5% at Carrier.
- Citi called the selloff overdone, noting Rubin still requires liquid-cooling infrastructure and that incumbent HVAC vendors have established customer relationships.
- Potential beneficiaries identified include nVent, with a position in data-center liquid cooling, and Vertiv, strong in precision air and liquid cooling; Vertiv slipped 2.1% while nVent edged up 0.5%.