Amazon named as Fermi’s 600 MW customer for Project Matador
Financial Times identified Amazon as the unnamed hyperscaler behind Fermi's $200 million prepayment deal, causing the company's stock to jump 20-26%.
Fermi spent Thursday describing its newest customer as an unnamed "investment-grade hyperscaler." By Friday, the Financial Times had supplied the name: Amazon. The customer has committed to an initial 600 MW of power at Fermi's Project Matador campus in Texas, starting in 2027.
Fermi announced the agreements on November 12, 2026, alongside its third-quarter results. The deal carries real money, not just a handshake. The arrangement includes a $200 million prepayment, which was due by November 13, plus $15 million for early construction work and $90 million for steel and building materials.
Struggling Developer Needs Good News
The timing matters because Fermi has had a rough stretch. The company reported a Q3 net loss of $141.6 million in the same announcement that unveiled the hyperscaler deal. It also confirmed that its lease with AI cloud provider TensorWave had been mutually terminated. That lease was originally meant to cover 222 MW, with provisions to expand.
Fermi has poured over $1.6 billion into Project Matador. The company also pushed its nuclear reactor timeline back further. Nuclear was a central part of the Project Matador story, which blends gas, solar, and nuclear generation.
Fermi went public in October 2025 at an estimated valuation of $15 billion. A prior deal with Amazon collapsed in December 2025, which made investors cautious. Add leadership changes and a tenant pullout, and the past year reads less like a victory lap and more like an obstacle course.
Market Reaction and Next Steps
Against that backdrop, a reported Amazon commitment with cash attached is precisely the type of headline a struggling developer hopes for. If the FT report holds, Amazon is coming back to the table after the earlier deal fell apart.
The stock reaction shows how much the market had discounted Fermi's ability to land a marquee customer. A 20-26% intraday move on a single report is the sound of skeptics recalculating.
The long-term lease is not finalized, and Fermi has not publicly confirmed Amazon as the counterparty. Until a definitive lease is signed, the relationship rests on a prepayment and early construction agreements rather than a full multi-year contract.
Fermi's next milestones are straightforward to track: a signed long-term lease, visible construction progress in Texas, and whether the late Q2 to early Q3 2027 delivery window holds. The 17 GW ambition makes for a good investor deck. The first 600 MW will decide whether anyone believes the rest.
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