Galaxy Digital jumps after Helios tenant rumors and Morgan Stanley’s Stephen Byrd highlights AI compute demand

Galaxy Digital’s stock surged by roughly 22% on Saturday after social-media chatter reignited expectations of a new tenant at its Helios data center campus in West Texas, according to a report published by Blockspace. The move also coincided with comments on CNBC by Stephen Byrd, Morgan Stanley’s head of Thematic Research, who praised Galaxy’s positioning as demand for AI computing continues to expand. No formal tenant announcement accompanied the rally, and the report characterized the capacity-rumor activity as unconfirmed.

The speculation centered on whether Galaxy might sign an additional agreement for Helios capacity with a firm such as Jane Street, but the report said the claims were limited to online posts and were not backed by a corporate filing or press release. In the same report, Blockspace said the market response reflected investors’ heightened sensitivity to incremental demand indicates for the campus.

Byrd, described by Morgan Stanley as head of Thematic and Sustainability Research, appeared on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on June 4 to discuss rising compute demand and strong power pricing tied to AI and high-performance computing infrastructure. Blockspace reported that Byrd spoke favorably about Galaxy’s growth potential, framing it as an extension of an argument Morgan Stanley had already laid out publicly.

Galaxy’s Helios program is a central part of its strategy to build an AI infrastructure business alongside its digital asset activities. Helios, originally developed as a high-performance bitcoin mining facility, is being repurposed for AI and HPC workloads, with Galaxy describing the transition as a move toward a contracted, cash-flowing data center model. In earlier company updates, Galaxy said Helios has 800 megawatts of approved power capacity and a pathway to scale substantially over time.

In a separate August 2025 announcement, Galaxy said it closed a $1.4 billion project financing facility to accelerate the retrofit and expansion needed for the first phase of Helios under a long-term agreement with CoreWeave. Galaxy said it supplied $350 million of equity for that deal and that the financing would fund initial retrofit and expansion work, with CoreWeave executing lease steps that increased its critical IT load commitments. Galaxy later reiterated in a May 2026 recap that the first data hall delivery marked the transition from construction to an operational data center for its anchor tenant and highlighted more than $15 billion in contracted revenue across the lease agreements’ life.

In addition to the CoreWeave relationship, Galaxy has been seeking incremental demand for Helios capacity beyond its initial contracted commitments. In its May 2026 Helios recap, Galaxy said discussions with potential tenants were supported by robust demand for large-scale power capacity, and it described continued work to deliver additional critical IT load for future phases.

Still, the most immediate catalyst for Saturday’s jump was the unannounced tenant chatter, and the report did not provide evidence of a signed agreement. Until Galaxy or a prospective tenant issues a filing, press release, or other formal confirmation, investors will have to weigh whether the rumor cycle reflects real dealmaking at Helios or short-lived speculation that can fade quickly. For Morgan Stanley, the more concrete element was Byrd’s public commentary tying AI compute demand to power pricing, which may reinforce investor interest even without new company disclosures.

Going forward, market watchers are likely to focus on whether Helios receives any additional tenant confirmations through official channels, as well as on Galaxy’s continued delivery milestones at the campus. With Helios moving from construction to live operations for its anchor tenant, the next data points could include updates on phase deliveries and any new contracted load beyond CoreWeave’s commitments.