The NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price is marching higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) data centre operator and developer closed yesterday trading for $14.53. In morning trade on Thursday, shares are changing hands for $14.61 apiece, up 0.6%. That sees shares up 45.5% since the recent 7 April closing lows.
For some context, the ASX 200 is also up 0.6% at this same time, with the benchmark Aussie index up 21.0% since 7 April.
Here's what's grabbing investor interest today.
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NextDC share price lifts on funding news
Investors are bidding up the NextDC share price after the company announced that its senior debt facilities have increased to $6.4 billion.
To put that figure in some perspective, that's $6,400,000,000.
The ASX 200 data centre stock said that after the successful completion of general syndication, it has secured $3.5 billion in new senior debt facilities. That's an increase of $1.3 billion from the underwritten new facilities the company previously disclosed on 18 June.
Management expects the financial close of the new facilities, subject to customary conditions, will occur on 3 September.
Maturity dates for the various tranches range from December 2029 through to December 2032. NextDC noted that upon financial close of the new facilities, its weighted average loan maturity profile will increase from 5.2 years to 5.6 years.
What did management say?
Commenting on the new debt facilities that look to be supporting the NextDC share price today, CEO Craig Scroggie said, "In light of recent record contract wins that are accelerating our revenue and earnings growth, NextDC is well positioned with $6.4 billion in debt facilities and pro forma liquidity of approximately $5.5 billion."
Scroggie added:
This strong financial flexibility enables us to confidently deliver on our record contracted capacity pipeline while maintaining our industry-leading momentum.
These new facilities further empower NextDC to expedite the expansion of our data centre footprint to meet the rapidly rising demand for AI and cloud infrastructure across the Asia Pacific region.
Scroggie has been emphasising the massive potential growth of data centre demand, and the resulting potential growth for the NextDC share price, since the early days of the generative AI revolution.
In June, Scroggie noted, "As the next industrial era takes shape in a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape, AI infrastructure will be defined by five enduring pillars: speed, scale, security, sustainability and sovereignty." And he said he aims to put NextDC at the heart of all that.
Despite the strong run higher since April, the NextDC share price remains down 13% since this time last year.
