Energy IPOs Surge as Investors Seek Ways to Play the AI Boom

A large number of energy companies are holding initial public offerings as investors look for ways to profit from artificial intelligence's growing power demand, the Financial Times reported. Companies going public are raising money at what the paper described as the fastest pace this century.

The reasoning is that data centers running artificial-intelligence systems consume large amounts of electricity, so investors are treating power producers and infrastructure as a way to gain exposure to the trend without buying the technology firms directly.

The Financial Times cautioned that many of the newly listed stocks have performed poorly after their debuts, a sign that demand for exposure to the theme is greater than the underlying businesses justify.