HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. (TSX: HIVE) (NASDAQ: HIVE) (BVC: HIVECO) has secured a significant milestone in its artificial intelligence infrastructure expansion through its wholly owned subsidiary, BUZZ High Performance Computing Inc. The company announced on August 17, 2026, that it signed a five-year GPU cloud services agreement with an investment-grade enterprise customer, marking a substantial addition to its recurring revenue base.
The agreement carries a total contract value of approximately $350 million over the five-year term. This deal adds approximately $70 million in annualized revenue to BUZZ HPC's portfolio. Upon inclusion of this contract, BUZZ HPC's total annualized revenue stands at approximately $180 million. This figure comprises approximately $35 million in active, realized annualized revenue and approximately $145 million in contracted annualized revenue expected to come online through Q4 2026.
Infrastructure Deployment and Capital Structure
Under the terms of the agreement, BUZZ HPC will deliver a dedicated AI infrastructure cluster featuring 2,016 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs. The system utilizes NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 rack-scale systems, interconnected with NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking, and supported by VAST Data's high-performance storage platform. The cluster is designed according to NVIDIA's reference architecture to support large-scale AI training, inference, and advanced enterprise workloads.
The deployment is scheduled for the Bell AI Fabric facility in Merritt, British Columbia, with operations expected to commence later this year. The facility operates on 100% renewable hydroelectric energy and employs advanced closed-loop liquid cooling technology, which eliminates ongoing water consumption for cooling purposes.
| Contract Metric |
Value |
| Total Contract Value |
$350 million |
| Annualized Revenue Addition |
$70 million |
| Capital Expenditure |
$185 million |
| Upfront Deposit |
$35 million (10% of TCV) |
| GPU Count |
2,016 units |
The company expects capital expenditures associated with the deployment, including hardware and service warranties, to total approximately $185 million. To support this capital outlay, HIVE will receive an upfront deposit of approximately $35 million, representing 10% of the total contract value. Management indicated that this deposit, combined with previously announced financing initiatives and additional equipment financing, is expected to support the deployment and optimize the company's capital structure. CEO Aydin Kilic noted that proceeds from a June 2026 0% convertible bond issuance are being utilized to accelerate this deployment.
What the Numbers Show
The financial structure of this agreement highlights a distinct leverage strategy for HIVE's AI infrastructure business. With capital expenditures estimated at $185 million against a total contract value of $350 million, the project implies a gross multiple of nearly 1.9x on invested capital over the five-year term. Furthermore, the upfront deposit of $35 million covers approximately 19% of the projected capital costs before deployment begins. This structure suggests that the company intends to minimize immediate cash strain on its balance sheet while securing long-term contracted revenue visibility from an investment-grade counterparty. The retention of ownership of the NVIDIA AI infrastructure post-contract also indicates a strategy aimed at capturing residual asset value and potential future cash flows beyond the initial five-year period.
Strategic Outlook
Management emphasized that this agreement supports HIVE's dual-engine strategy, combining long-life digital infrastructure assets with renewable energy. Executive Chairman Frank Holmes stated that the company has the potential to bring over 120,000 GPUs online over the next two years, leveraging approximately 400 MW of capacity in Canada for Tier III data center development.
BUZZ HPC aims to reach an annualized revenue target of $200 million for its GPU cloud business by year-end. Upon completion of the current deployment, HIVE's HPC/AI daily revenue is expected to reach approximately $500,000. The company continues to position itself as a leading Canadian sovereign AI cloud provider, serving global enterprises and AI organizations with sustainable, high-performance compute infrastructure.