Power Plant Builder Argan Rides Data Center Boom to Blowout Gains

If the data center buildout is the modern-day gold rush, then Argan owns the shovels. 

Shares of the power plant builder climbed more than 76% through the first quarter of the year, lifted by a blowout earnings report late last month. Meanwhile, a pair of recent plaudits from analysts at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs suggest there’s plenty of room left to grow. For Big Tech, desperate to secure power for its massive data center buildout, the company’s infrastructure expertise has proven invaluable.

Hit the Gas

In a perfect encapsulation of the explosive data center buildout, Argan said in its fourth-quarter earnings report that its order backlog now stands at $2.9 billion, more than double the $1.4 billion backlog at the end of the same quarter a year ago. The boom proved enough for JPMorgan analyst Michael Fairbanks to upgrade the stock from neutral to overweight last month, while raising its price target from $370 to $550; the upgrade came just after Goldman analysts raised their price target from $399 to $518.

Gas-powered plants account for 77% of the backlog, CEO David Watson said in a call with shareholders. It’s hardly surprising for anyone following in the footsteps of Big Tech:

• Through 2025, a full 39% of gas power capacity under development in the US was being designed specifically for on-site data center use, up 5% from 2024, according to non-profit energy project tracker Global Energy Monitor.
• Overall, gas-fired capacity in development in the US (data center-related or otherwise) tripled in 2025, according to Global Energy Monitor. If all in-development gas projects are completed, the US’s gas-powered capacity will increase by 50%.

Private Practice: Increasingly, hyperscalers are going off the grid. By 2030, as much as one-third of data centers will be powered entirely by on-site and off-grid power generation, according to a recent report by Bloom Energy.