Goldman Sachs lifts 2026 data center capacity forecast, trims 2027 view
The bank now sees 64 GW of US data center capacity by the end of 2026, up 5 GW, while cutting its 2027 estimate by the same amount to 90 GW
Published
The bank's 2027 figure marks a pullback from the roughly 95 GW it had projected for that year in a forecast issued in May 2026, according to Goldman Sachs Research as republished by the Public Power Association.
Taken together, the revisions move more capacity into next year and less into the year after, leaving the cumulative buildout through the period roughly where it stood before. For investors tracking the pace of AI infrastructure spending that has underpinned mega-cap technology valuations, that is the detail that matters: neither forecast accelerates nor derails the broader buildout timeline.
The shift comes as Goldman's own trading desk has already flagged signs of strain within the AI momentum trade and a search for related plays elsewhere in the market. A forecast that lands roughly flat on balance does little to settle that internal debate, and the 2027 cut in particular raises the question of whether capacity growth plateaus sooner than markets have priced in, a question that may carry more weight in future quarters than the near-term increase for 2026.