Fermi LLC is entering its second-quarter earnings report with a new chief executive, an expanded power-development strategy and its first major customer agreement. Shares rose nearly 7% on Wednesday after the company appointed Lee McIntire as CEO, while a separate partnership with Hillcore Energy Capital could add roughly 2.6 gigawatts of power capacity at Fermi’s Project Matador campus in Texas. With the company still pre-revenue, Thursday’s results will be less about current earnings and more about whether Fermi can demonstrate credible progress toward building a large-scale AI power infrastructure business.

New Leadership Puts Execution at the Center

McIntire assumed the CEO position effective August 11 after serving as an independent director since September 2025. His appointment ends a prolonged search following the April removal of former CEO Toby Neugebauer and places an executive with extensive engineering, construction and energy experience at the center of Fermi’s next phase.

McIntire brings more than four decades of leadership experience and previously held senior positions at Bechtel, CH2M Hill and TerraPower. His background includes complex infrastructure and energy projects, making the appointment particularly relevant as Fermi moves from development plans toward construction and power delivery.

The company has framed this transition around execution, with the immediate challenge being to deliver major projects on schedule, within budget and under appropriate safety standards.

Project Matador Gains 2.6 GW of Planned Capacity

Fermi’s partnership with Hillcore Energy Capital represents another significant development. The companies plan to develop approximately 2.6 GW of generation capacity at Project Matador through a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer structure. The project is expected to include about 2.5 GW of natural gas generation alongside 100 MW of solar and battery storage.

The first 350-MW block could begin construction following definitive agreements, with first power targeted within 24 months. Importantly, Hillcore would finance, build and operate the facility, potentially allowing Fermi to expand its available power capacity without taking on the full upfront capital burden.

Fermi estimates the partnership could increase power available to customers to approximately 4.8 GW within 30 months. That capacity could become strategically important as AI infrastructure developers seek reliable, large-scale power for data centers.

First Customer Raises the Stakes Ahead of Earnings

The power expansion follows Fermi’s recently announced 15-year turnkey data-center lease with AI cloud provider TensorWave for a facility backed by 222 MW of power. The agreement gives investors a more concrete reference point for Fermi’s strategy, which has previously been based largely on planned infrastructure rather than established revenue.

That distinction will matter during the earnings release. Because Fermi remains pre-revenue, investors are likely to focus on liquidity, capital expenditure requirements, financing capacity and progress at Project Matador rather than traditional revenue growth metrics.

Market Outlook

Fermi’s second-quarter results could provide an important test of whether its ambitious power infrastructure strategy is progressing from concept toward execution. Wall Street expects a loss of $0.06 per share, compared with a $0.05 loss in the previous quarter, but the more important signals may come from management’s discussion of financing, construction timelines, customer development and the TensorWave agreement. If Fermi can demonstrate disciplined capital deployment while expanding contracted power capacity, the new leadership structure could strengthen the long-term investment narrative. However, execution risk remains substantial because the company is still pre-revenue and its strategy depends on successfully financing and delivering complex infrastructure projects.