Blue Owl Capital (NYSE: OWL) shares climbed about 6% in recent trading as markets reacted to reports that its data center arm, Stack Infrastructure, is exploring a partial or full sale of its Asia operations, a deal that could exceed US$30 billion. The rally came on the heels of a strong Q1 2026 earnings report that shattered expectations, reinforcing the firm’s position as a leading alternative asset manager.
Asia Data Center Sale Talks Gain Momentum
Stack Infrastructure, owned by Blue Owl, is reportedly in early-stage discussions with advisers regarding assets across Australia, Japan, and Malaysia. A centerpiece is a 220-megawatt campus in Johor’s Iskandar Puteri region, designed to support AI and cloud workloads, with phased delivery set for late 2026. The potential transaction highlights how institutional investors are repricing exposure to the rapidly expanding AI and cloud infrastructure sector, which has seen over US$150 billion in announced investments across Asia-Pacific recently.
Capital Rotation and U.S. Expansion
While reviewing its Asia holdings, Blue Owl has been ramping up U.S. commitments, including a multibillion-dollar stake in a Meta-linked AI data center in Louisiana and a projected US$12 billion campus for Amazon. This dual strategy reflects a broader trend of infrastructure investors recycling capital from maturing international assets into larger domestic builds, especially amid tighter liquidity conditions following earlier redemption requests.
Q1 Earnings: Fee Revenue and Margins Impress
The Q1 2026 report added fundamental weight to the stock’s move. Revenue hit $753.8 million, up 10% year-over-year, beating consensus by 9.3%. Fee-related earnings jumped 14% to $393.6 million, with margins expanding to 58.4%. Distributable EPS of $0.19 topped the $0.18 estimate. Assets under management grew 15% to $314.9 billion, while $30 billion in undeployed capital and $29.9 billion in committed-but-not-yet fee-paying AUM signal a built-in revenue pipeline of approximately $349 million in additional annualized fees. The firm also added 33 new institutional clients and deepened ties with 14 existing ones.
AI Infrastructure: A Quiet Hedge
Blue Owl’s real assets AUM reached $85 billion, up 27% year-over-year, with net lease AUM surging 38%. The firm is uniquely positioned for the AI buildout: it finances the physical infrastructure—data centers—that hyperscalers like Meta and Amazon need, collecting rents regardless of which AI model prevails. The market’s fear of loan exposure to AI-vulnerable software companies is offset by this real-asset growth runway.
The Meta and SpaceX Deals
Late 2025, Blue Owl sealed a landmark $29 billion joint venture with Meta to finance a 5-gigawatt AI data center in Louisiana, the largest private capital deal on record. Blue Owl owns 80% of the venture. Meanwhile, a $27 million SpaceX loan from 2021 converted into an equity stake was partially sold in May 2026 at a $1.25 trillion valuation, netting roughly a 10x return. Blue Owl retains half its SpaceX position ahead of a potential record IPO.
Outlook
Blue Owl raised $57 billion over the past 12 months—its second-best fundraising year ever—despite negative sentiment in private credit. With private credit still less than 25% of the overall leveraged credit market and banks retreating from commercial lending, the runway remains long. If the Asia sale proceeds, it would unlock significant liquidity to fuel U.S. expansion and likely reset valuation benchmarks across the data center sector.
