AI-driven power market strengthens! Funds with heavy holdings achieve high returns, gas turbines become the new main investment focus

[Global Times Finance Report] In 2025, the high-performing computing power sector entered a consolidation phase after a surge, while the electricity sector continued its rally, becoming the new market focus. The consensus among some fund managers is that energy will be the next phase of AI development.

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Among active equity funds, the most impressive performers this year are concentrated in resource sectors such as gold and oil, or benefiting from rising storage chip prices. Additionally, Ping An Ding Yue and Ping An Xin An, which heavily invested in the electricity-related sectors, achieved approximately 40% returns within the first two months of the year.

Moreover, after sectors like UHV (ultra-high voltage) and smart distribution networks reached high levels, the gas turbine sector, a key part of power infrastructure, performed even better.

For example, both Ping An Ding Yue and Ping An Xin An heavily invested in Jereh Holdings, which has the capacity to deliver complete gas turbine units. The company has established stable partnerships with international manufacturers like Siemens and Baker Hughes. After securing billion-dollar orders in North America, its stock price has increased by over 250% since late last year, with a rise of more than 70% just since the beginning of the year. By the end of last year, 156 funds held this stock as a major position, with Harvest Multi-Asset Portfolio and Morgan Stanley Quality Life Select among the top holders.

One fund manager pointed out that under the ongoing power supply tightness, self-built power sources have become a trend. Gas turbines, with advantages such as quick response, strong adaptability, lower costs, and high reliability, are becoming the mainstream power solution for AI data centers. Some analysts note that the gas turbine industry has been in a downturn over the past few years with limited global capacity expansion. Currently, demand is surging, but supply cannot respond quickly, and it is expected that the supply-demand gap will continue to widen over the next 3 to 5 years. The situation of “scarcity of machines” may become the norm.

Furthermore, domestic companies not only possess leading delivery capabilities and technological levels but also have significantly higher profitability quality on overseas orders. This makes power sector exports, especially core components like transformers, a promising investment theme with both certainty and growth potential. In addition, China’s core advantages include: 1) a complete industrial chain and cost advantages; 2) leading technological strength and service capabilities; 3) high and sustainable profitability. Regarding the third point, overseas projects tend to be more diversified, with overall higher gross margins than domestic projects. The long upgrade cycles of European and American power grids, the continuous growth in AI data center power demand, and the accelerated electrification in emerging markets provide long-term stable market opportunities for Chinese companies. (Nan Mu)