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This project strengthens Jupiter International’s position in the solar pump sector and as an integrated renewable energy solutions provider View More
Electricity generated from the facility will be sold under a 25-year power purchase agreement with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited, ensuring long-term revenue stability for the project View More
Marked by faster and transparent deployments, State initiative promises to keep farmers happy without straining the exchequer View More
Record rallies in silver and aluminium, tightening supply from China, and a weaker rupee have driven module prices higher by a third since late December. That threatens to drive tariffs higher. View More
Reliable power, nuclear investment, data-center efficiency, and grid capacity are now core drivers of stock returns from the AI theme as demand ramps. View More
watch nowVIDEO7:3807:38New names in power evolution offer 'huge opportunity': TCWâs GrancioETF Edge Artificial intelligence is no longer a narrow technology trade. It is reshaping energy markets, infrastructure spending, and portfolio construction. Investors who focus only on chips and software risk missing where the next phase of value is occurring, according to investing experts on this week's episode of CNBC's "ETF Edge."Some of the trends and innovations driving the market, and the rapid scaling of companies, are tied to AI's physical requirements. Power, cooling, grid stability, and data center efficiency have become binding constraints. Just look at the stock price of Bloom Energy, which for years after its 2018 IPO struggled to eke out a return above its IPO price. Since last year, when its onsite fuel cells began being ordered furiously for data centers, Bloom has seen its shares shoot up over 500% and the company reached a market cap above $30 billion. Many opportunities are being created in small- and mid-cap companies for investors. Firms that once sat outside the market's focus are now "very quickly moving up the cap table," TCW Group global head of distribution Jennifer Grancio said on "ETF Edge" on Monday. In many cases, these companies operate in narrow segments with limited competition, allowing fundamentals to improve faster than investor awareness. Energy reliability is the central issue. In recent years, as the cost of renewable energy sources came down and became competitive with fossil fuel sources, the market debated "How much regularity could we get out of wind, or could we get out of solar?" Grancio said. But AI has shifted the conversation since data centers cannot tolerate intermittency, requiring a constant supply of power to avoid unintended downtime.That reality has driven "a huge shift towards nuclear," according to Grancio, including renewed investment in servicing existing plants and developing small modular reactors. These projects are spawning new suppliers and accelerating growth for specialized players that sit upstream of utilities and hyperscalers.Nuclear power ETFsFirst Trust Bloomberg Nuclear Power ETF (RCTR)VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR)Themes Uranium & Nuclear ETF (URAN)Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ) Global X Uranium ETF (URA) Efficiency inside the data center is equally critical. As AI workloads expand, cooling and power management have become the chokepoints. Investors are increasingly drawn to companies that are "one or two in their field" and "the best at a certain technology" particularly where alternatives are limited, Grancio said.The structure of these markets matters. In some cases, there are "only a few providers" bordering on oligopolies, Grancio said. That concentration creates operating leverage, but it also means missteps can be costly.Actively managed ETFs are gaining traction as a result. While passive indices can capture broad market returns and the indexes do add new companies as components as they scale, active strategies aim to identify them earlier and hold them through multiple phases of growth.But the risks can be significant. Some parts of the AI-powered ecosystems include "small, financially weak companies" that are leveraged to electricity demand, VanEck CEO Jan van Eck. "That also means you get a lot of volatility along the way," he said on "ETF Edge."As a result, he said no single AI theme should dominate an investor's asset allocation. "You don't want to overweight them in your portfolio," Van Eck said.He described Van Eck's nuclear ETF as having traded at "nosebleed levels" last year before it came down to a more reasonable entry point for new investors.The ETF experts said that as investors bring the AI theme into their portfolio construction in a more targeted way in 2026, active rebalancing and clear risk expectations will allow investors to stay invested without chasing peaks or panicking at drawdowns.
India added a record 37.9 GW of solar and 6.3 GW of wind capacity, marking its highest-ever annual renewable additions View More
Aritas Vinyl's Rs 38 crore IPO is now open, but the grey market shows no premium, suggesting a flat listing. The issue, priced between Rs 40-47, aims to fund working capital and a solar project. With a significant portion reserved for retail investors, the company manufactures artificial leather for various sectors and exports globally. View More
The IPO of Aritas Vinyl has opened for subscription on Friday with the issue entering the market amid muted grey market sentiment. The Rs 38 crore book-built issue is quoting at a grey market premium of 0%, indicating expectations of a flat listing at current levels. The IPO, which will close on January 20, is priced in a band of Rs 40 to Rs 47 per share and is slated to list on the BSE SME platform on January 23. Aritas Vinyl's public offer comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 32.9 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 4.6 crore by existing shareholders, taking the total issue size to about Rs 37.5 crore. The proceeds from the fresh issue will be used primarily to fund working capital requirements and capital expenditure for a solar power project, along with general corporate purposes. In the grey market, the IPO is currently trading with no premium over the issue price. A GMP of 0% suggests that unofficial market participants are not factoring in any immediate listing gains. While grey market trends often reflect short-term sentiment, they are only a directional indicator and can change closer to the listing date depending on subscription response and broader market conditions. The IPO structure is tilted towards retail investors, with around 56.5% of the net offer reserved for the retail category. Non-institutional investors have been allocated about 37.5% of the issue, while qualified institutional buyers account for just under 1%. A portion of the issue has also been reserved for the market maker. Live Events The minimum application size for retail investors is 6,000 shares, translating into an investment of Rs 2.82 lakh at the upper end of the price band. Aritas Vinyl is engaged in the manufacturing and trading of artificial leather products, including PU synthetic leather and PVC-coated leather. The company caters to sectors such as automotive, fashion accessories and interior design, and also exports to markets including the UAE, USA, Greece and Sri Lanka. Its manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad has an annual capacity of about 7.8 million square metres. On the financial front, the company reported total income of Rs 98 crore in FY25 and a profit after tax of Rs 4.1 crore. For the five months ended August 2025, profit stood at Rs 2.4 crore. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times) .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
BHEL, NTPC, NTPC Green, NBCC, Indus Towers, Transrail, HBL Engg, Highway Infra, Pace Digitek, Krystal Integrated to hog limelight View More
Automakers Ford and GM are trying to figure out what to do with battery factories now that EV sales are falling way short of forecasts View More
U.S. automakers are increasingly entering the energy storage business as they pivot away from electric vehicles and try make use of battery factories that cost billions of dollars.Energy storage uses a lot of the same underlying technology as EV batteries to store power for homes, businesses and even utilities. Tesla has been investing in this area for at least a decade. Others automakers, such as Ford and GM, made significant announcements in 2025, just as uncertainty about the near future of EV sales began to grow. Electricity demand is growing after years of relatively flat prices, largely fueled by the rise of data centers, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Electrification â or gas heaters, stoves and other appliances moving to electric ones â is also a factor, said Ramteen Sioshansi, a professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University who studies the electricity industry. But this market is still relatively new, he added, and how much demand there will be in the near future is speculative. "If a lot of auto manufacturers head in this direction, you end up with a glut of supply and not enough demand to absorb it," he said. "It could be a move where the vehicle manufacturers essentially find themselves in the same position they are right now with respect to electric vehicle demand." Battery power Renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines can have an "intermittency problem," meaning they only generate power when the sun is shining or a breeze is blowing â and that might not be when it's needed. Batteries can fill the gap by collecting and stockpiling electricity to use at another time or sell it back to the grid. Batteries can also collect energy from the grid at times when rates are lower, like at night. Energy-hungry businesses can use that storage to cut electricity costs. "It's a perfectly valid way of operating," said Pete Tillotson, senior research analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. "And it will form a revenue stream for the majority of assets on the grid." Automakers Ford said in December it would convert a Kentucky battery factory it had recently built with partner SK On to make batteries for energy storage. It also plans to devote some factory space to make cells for residential storage at a factory in Marshall, Michigan. Ford is still using the Marshall plant to make batteries for an upcoming midsize electric truck. It has spent about $10 billion on both the Kentucky and Michigan factories and is spending another $2 billion to grow the energy business, according to the company. Tesla's Energy division has been around since 2015, when CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company's Powerwall and Powerpack batteries. It has become a bright spot for Tesla, as its own EV market sales and share have fallen. Margins in that business are about double those of Tesla's automotive business, and its revenue is now about 20% of the EV maker's total. Fred Closter checks his Tesla Powerwall battery system on Thursday Feb. 17, 2022, at his home in Boynton Beach. Susan Stocker | Sun Sentinel | Getty Images Ford's crosstown rival General Motors founded GM Energy several years ago, then released a Tesla-like residential solar product called the PowerBank in October 2024. Last year, it said it would partner with Redwood Materials to used both old and new EV batteries for energy storage. GM Energy said in October that sales had quintupled since January, with 30% month over month revenue growth. Apart from the PowerBank batteries, the division also sells charging adapters and tech for using the vehicle itself as a backup battery for a home. Demand The cost of battery storage systems is significantly lower than forecasts were projecting about 15 years ago, Sioshansi said. There is also an all but guaranteed customer base. Utilities are required by law in some states to at least consider deploying energy storage, and California has set energy storage targets.Residential market-batteries, such as the Tesla Powerwall or GM PowerBank, can supplement a solar panel on the roof, act as a backup power source for blackouts or help with selling excess power back to the grid. But the relatively high cost of these systems for homeowners is liable to limit demand, Sioshansi said. Commercial uses vary. Demand from businesses like data centers is expected to surge. GM and Redwood Materials cited Department of Energy research showing a potential threefold jump in energy demand by 2028 over 2023 levels. Data centers that need a lot of power could see energy storage as a needed solution in the face of the shortfall. Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company, announces at a press conference that Ford will be partnering with the worlds largest battery company, a China-based company called Contemporary Amperex Technology, to create an electric-vehicle battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, on February 13, 2023 in Romulus, Michigan. Bill Pugliano | Getty Images Meanwhile, EV sales in the U.S. dropped from about 10% of the new car market in the third quarter of 2025 to just under 6% the following quarter. Ford said in 2023 the company was expecting EV sales to be about 45% of new car sales by 2030. Now the forecast is 9% to 18%, Ford spokesperson Emma Bergg told CNBC. But energy storage is a very different business from selling cars. Though batteries share the same underlying technology, they are somewhat different technically; vehicle batteries have to be optimized for lightweight and compact shape and those for energy storage do not, for example. "They're significantly different products," Sioshansi said. "The customer, and how you need to market and sell these products, is going to look different compared to what a company like, take GM as an example, is accustomed to doing."Ford has no direct experience in energy storage, Tillotson said. However, he added, it does have experience working with CATL, the world's largest battery maker, which is providing battery tech for Ford's Marshall factory. The challenge is that these firms will have to compete against established players."You've then got relative skills gap â finding the workforce to be able to produce these quite complicated cutting-edge technologies against a competitor that has mastered scale and performance at scale," Tillotson said. "That will prove challenging. And that's not to say that I don't think the market could get there in the U.S., but it would have to take a relatively long time to get there unless they can find a workforce."One carrot for firms like Ford is a push toward U.S. manufacturing. There are tax credit incentives in the energy industry for projects that avoid certain countries considered "foreign entities of concern." In the case of energy storage, that means China, which is the world's largest producer of energy storage tech. "That's the big incentive to shift towards that technology," Tillotson said.