The Spreadsheet Is Ugly. The Results Are Not.
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Nvidia says it could grow faster than 70% next year if the physical world would cooperate, and up to half the data centers meant to house that growth may never get built. |
Grab a coffee, water or drink of choice and let's get into it. Today is a story about electricity. The most valuable company on earth told investors last night that the ceiling on its growth isn't customers and isn't cash. It's how fast the physical world can produce transformers, switchgear and power hookups. On the same afternoon, an investment firm that makes its living forecasting energy demand said as much as half the data centers currently on paper may never get built, because towns are voting them down. Those two facts are going to meet somewhere, and the place they meet is the bill taped to your fridge. Nvidia says demand is running well past 70% growth and the only reason it won't promise more is that it can't get the parts fast enough. I have made that exact excuse about my garage, except in my case the part I can't source is me. |
Today by the #s
Today in a Nutshell 📊
Nvidia can't grow as fast as its customers want, and that's the actual news
We flagged this report as Monday's thing to watch, and the number that mattered wasn't the one everybody was waiting on. The company reported $96.2 billion in revenue for the quarter ended July 26, up 106% from a year ago, with data center sales of $89.0 billion, up 117%. It guided the current quarter to $108.0 billion. Then it did something it had never done before and forecast the full year after this one: roughly 70% revenue growth in fiscal 2028, against the 44% Wall Street had been modeling. Jensen Huang's explanation is the part you should keep. "Even though our demand is much greater than 70%, our supply allows us to confidently deliver 70%," he said. Read that slowly, because it reframes everything you're going to hear about AI for the next two years. The binding constraint on the biggest company in the world is no longer money and no longer customers. It's how many physical objects can be built and plugged in — and physical objects get built in somebody's town, on somebody's grid.
One AI company just leased enough electricity to run 345,000 homes
Bloomberg and CNBC reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal, that Anthropic agreed to pay roughly $45 billion over six years to rent computing capacity from Nscale, at a data center development in West Virginia that comes online late in 2027. The size of the lease is about 460 megawatts. Bloomberg put that in the only unit that matters to you: enough electricity to run roughly 345,000 American homes at any given moment. That is one contract, from one company, in one state. Your utility does not build new generation because a corporation signed a lease. It builds it because regulators approve a rate case, and rate cases are paid for by everybody on the line.
Up to half the data centers on the drawing board are at risk, and towns are why
Here's the counterweight nobody put in a headline yesterday. Ben Dell, co-founder of Kimmeridge Energy Management, told Bloomberg that as many as half of the data centers proposed in the US are at risk of delay or cancellation, not from a funding problem, but from local politics and the plain difficulty of building physical things. "The sort of Silicon Valley model is running into a real-world infrastructure constraint," he said. Transformers and circuit breakers are a small share of a data center's cost and an absolute prerequisite for finishing one. Dell noted that opposition has turned bipartisan in Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio, states that used to welcome these projects, and that it's becoming an issue in the midterms. If you own broad index funds, you are holding both sides of that trade whether you meant to or not.
Bill Gates says the tax code makes you more expensive than a robot
Gates published a long essay Wednesday arguing for two things: a "robot tax" on automation, and "Human Reserved" job categories that AI would be barred from. The mechanism behind the first one is worth understanding even if the policy never happens, because it already affects hiring decisions being made about your job right now. When a company hires you, it pays payroll taxes on your earnings. When it buys a machine to do your work, it can generally write that purchase off as a business expense. Gates expects customer support, software engineering and paralegal work to thin out first. You cannot vote on the tax code this week. You can make sure your next twelve months don't depend on one employer's spreadsheet math.
Meta wrote an $18 billion check, and your kid's phone is what changed
Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle claims brought by 29 states alleging it designed Instagram and Facebook to addict children. Just over $17 billion settles the joint state suit; the rest covers other states and territories. Meta admitted no wrongdoing and said it expects to book roughly a $10 billion legal expense in the third quarter. The part that lands in your house is not the money. It's that teen accounts on both platforms will now default to a combined two-hour daily limit, and a teenager needs a parent's permission to switch it off. If you have a kid with one of those accounts, that setting is about to become a conversation at your kitchen table, and it's better to have it on purpose than by ambush.
New York is building fewer starter homes, and that isn't a New York problem
Corcoran Sunshine's 2026 Pipeline report, covered by Bloomberg, projects new condos launched for sale across Manhattan and studied parts of Brooklyn and Queens will fall 11% through 2029. At the entry-level end of the market the projected drop is 74%. Overall, an average of about 13,000 condo and rental units a year come to market through 2029, versus 13,400 over the past decade. The reason is not mysterious and it is not local: when construction gets expensive, developers build for the top of the price range, because that's where the margin survives. New York just published the math earlier and louder than everybody else. If you're saving for a first place anywhere, assume the cheapest tier of new inventory shrinks before the expensive one does.
"For three years the limit on AI was money, and money is close to infinite when enough people believe. The limit now is copper, land, transformers and a town council, and every one of those eventually shows up on a bill that somebody who lives there has to pay." |
Things You Can Action Right Now ⚡
Paying off debt Gates is arguing about whether the tax code should make you cheaper to keep than a machine, and that argument will outlast every balance you're carrying. What you control this month is not adding a payment you can't pause. No financed furniture, no new car note, nothing with a fixed monthly obligation attached to it. Instead, pull up your highest-APR balance today and send it one extra payment, even $25. Building your emergency fund Grid strain shows up in your utility bill long before it shows up in a headline, and the buildout above is a multi-year story, not a one-month one. Move $40 into a high-yield savings account today and label it utilities. Keep the automatic transfer running toward 6 to 8 months of essentials, and a higher winter bill becomes a paid bill instead of a balance. Starting to invest The most anticipated earnings report of the quarter landed last night, and if you hold a broad index fund you owned the result either way, along with Meta's $10 billion charge and every utility that has to serve these projects. You did not need a call on any of it. Confirm this month's automatic contribution actually cleared, then close the app. |
Back in Somerville a landlord once told me the building's wiring was "original," which I heard as charm and my electric bill heard as a business opportunity. Old infrastructure is never free, and the person who pays for it is always the one living on top of it.
That's the issue. Fund future-you with one small move today, then go enjoy your Thursday. See you tomorrow.
Educational Disclaimer: Ari Sinanis is not a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, financial planner, attorney, or tax professional. Money Built Better is published for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice of any kind. Nothing contained in this newsletter should be construed as a recommendation, solicitation, or offer to buy or sell any security or financial instrument. All content reflects personal opinions and experiences only. Investing involves substantial risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Any specific securities, ETFs, tickers, or financial products referenced are for educational illustration only and are not buy or sell recommendations. Always consult a licensed financial professional who understands your personal financial situation before making any investment decisions. By reading this newsletter you agree that Ari Sinanis and Money Built Better bear no liability for any financial decisions you make. My job is to give you the foundation. What you build on it is yours. |
The Sequence 1. Build your budget 2. Pay highest-interest debt first 3. Emergency fund (6 to 8 months) 4. Start investing 5. Always take the full 401k employer match |
Money Built Better • For educational purposes only |