Advanced Micro Devices has signed a credit support agreement for the lease of phase one at Project Matador, the data center and power campus Fermi Inc. is developing in Carson County, Texas. Dallas-based Fermi (Nasdaq/LSE: FRMI) announced the agreement on Oct. 13, 2026. The company said phase one covers 222 MW of gross power capacity. It also said it signed an agreement with AMD setting out a partnership and framework for future expansion of up to 650 MW of gross power capacity. A day later, on Oct. 14, Fermi furnished a TensorWave fact sheet with the SEC in a Form 8-K. The fact sheet names TensorWave as the tenant and sets out the lease's financial terms.

Fermi called the AMD agreement a key step toward project financing for the campus. According to the release, phase one corresponds to the first customer lease Fermi announced on Aug. 10, 2026.

What the credit support covers

The fact sheet, furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to the 8-K, says the credit support is signed and backs project financing. It also limits when AMD's obligation applies. AMD's obligations begin only after construction is complete and rent starts on the final delivery phase. The support ends early if TensorWave or its guarantor holds an investment-grade credit rating for 12 consecutive months. The fact sheet lists AMD's credit ratings as A (stable) from S&P and A1 (stable) from Moody's.

Lease terms disclosed in the filing

The 8-K exhibit describes a turnkey lease in which Fermi develops, builds and delivers the facility. It sets out these terms:

  • Term: a binding 15-year initial term, with two 5-year renewal options.
  • Contracted revenue: $6.5 billion over the 15-year initial term.
  • Escalators: rent rises 2.5% a year.
  • Capacity: 222 MW of total power capacity and 156 MW of critical IT capacity for phase one.
  • Delivery: phased, starting in the fourth quarter of 2027 and finishing in early 2028.

The fact sheet also gives Fermi's estimated capital costs. It puts power capex at $3 million to $4 million per MW of total power capacity and turnkey data center capex at $10 million to $12 million per MW of critical IT capacity. Both figures are company estimates, and they are measured against different bases: total power for the first, critical IT load for the second. The fact sheet says natural gas and variable power charges pass through to the tenant, and it estimates phase one's project-level net operating income margin at roughly 75% to 80%.

The tenant and the campus

According to the fact sheet, TensorWave is an AI cloud built only on AMD Instinct GPUs and has more than 2 GW of secured capacity across its platform. It raised a $350 million Series B round whose investors include AMD, Magnetar, Maverick Silicon and Nexus Venture Partners.

Fermi's release says the company has invested more than $1.5 billion in building out Project Matador. Subject to binding customer agreements, it expects the campus to ramp to about 17 GW, with capital deployment tied to commercial commitments. The campus is designed to run behind the meter on a private grid. Planned power sources include a large combined-cycle natural gas plant, a nuclear complex, utility grid power, solar and battery energy storage.

"We are thrilled to partner with AMD as we advance development at Project Matador," Fermi CEO Lee McIntire said in the release. "Our strategic partnership establishes a framework for phases two and three." Mathew Hein, AMD's senior vice president and chief strategy officer of corporate development, said in the same announcement: "Our collaboration with Fermi is an important step in expanding the infrastructure capacity needed to bring next-generation AI solutions to market."

How the guaranty fits the lease timeline

The financial publication TIKR reported on Oct. 13 that closing of the TensorWave lease depended on a guaranty of some of TensorWave's obligations, and that the companies had pushed the closing date from Sept. 22 to Oct. 31, 2026. When the extension was announced in September, McIntire said, "Our remaining work is to finalize the lease guaranty with our counterparty," according to TIKR. TIKR also reported that the framework covers up to 650 MW across phases two and three, and that Fermi has not yet raised the project financing needed to finish phase one.

What Happens Next

  • Oct. 31, 2026: deadline for the TensorWave lease to close, according to TIKR. As of Oct. 20, that is 11 days away.
  • Nov. 12, 2026: Fermi is scheduled to report third-quarter results, according to TIKR.
  • Phase-one project financing: still to be raised. No date has been given.
  • Q4 2027 to early 2028: phased delivery of phase one to TensorWave, according to the fact sheet.
  • Phases two and three: binding customer leases are still required.

Sources