Some energy stocks have been soaring as investors look to get in early on new technologies that could help supply growing power demand. With electric vehicle (EV) sales continuing to increase and data centers popping up seemingly everywhere to supply increasing needs for artificial intelligence (AI) compute power, investors want to cash in too.
One name that jumped as much as almost 12% this week was solid-state battery company QuantumScape (QS -3.12%). The stock was still higher by 9.3% as of late Thursday afternoon, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
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Solid-state batteries are for more than just electric vehicles
Much of the recent attention on data center power needs has centered on fuel cells or small modular nuclear reactors. The technology QuantumScape is developing has been focused on the EV market as it scales into prototype production and customer testing phases.
QuantumScape is making progress toward commercializing its battery technology. In its first-quarter report, the company said it is ahead of schedule to bring its next phase of manufacturing solid-state battery cells into baseline production.
EV customers are getting closer to field-testing the product. The higher energy density in solid-state batteries should provide EVs with a safer alternative and better vehicle range, with lower costs and enhanced performance. But QuantumScape will have a market beyond EVs too.
Solid-state batteries can be applied for renewable energy storage, consumer electronics, medical devices, and other applications. Investors see a scarcity of energy sources developing as demand ramps up from AI data centers, robotics, and self-driving car fleets. As QuantumScape gets closer to commercialization, the stock is ticking higher along with other energy names this week.
