Billionaire Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management has built a $2.20 billion position in GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE: GEV), and that stake is sitting on a return of nearly three times the entry price after GEV surged 76 percent year-to-date in 2026.
GEV ranks as the fifth-largest position in Coatue’s public equity portfolio. Laffont founded the technology-focused hedge fund in 1999 after training as a Tiger Cub at Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management. Coatue’s assets under management reached approximately $70 billion in 2026, up from roughly $10 billion a decade ago.
The investment case centres on AI-driven electricity demand. GEV’s installed base already generates approximately 25 percent of the world’s electricity. The company maintains one of the largest fleets of heavy-duty gas turbines globally.
Data centres generated $2.4 billion in new orders for GEV in a recent quarter alone. That single quarter’s data centre orders exceeded the company’s entire prior year of data centre bookings. The acceleration in AI infrastructure spending is not theoretical. It is showing up in real order flow.
Mar Vista U.S. Quality Strategy described GEV in its Q1 2026 investor letter: “GEV’s combination of equipment sales and high-margin service revenue creates a robust backlog and long-term earnings visibility. We believe GEV possesses a durable competitive moat driven by its scale, technological leadership and deep relationships with governments, utilities and industrial customers.”
GEV raised 2026 revenue guidance to $41 to $42 billion. The company targets $52 billion by 2028. A $10 billion buyback programme and a doubled quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share were announced alongside recent quarterly results.
CEO Scott Strazik said during the most recent investor call: “The growth is just starting, and there is no company better positioned to serve and transform the global electricity system than GE Vernova.”
Jefferies raised its price target for GEV to $1,350. That implies approximately 20 percent upside from recent levels. BNP Paribas moved to Neutral after the strong share price performance, setting a $1,190 target.
Laffont is not alone in his conviction. Stanley Druckenmiller opened a position in GEV recently and appears to have caught the inflection point. Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global is also in the green on the position. GEV has returned 775 percent in two years since spinning out of General Electric.
The International Energy Agency projects global data centre electricity consumption will double by 2030 and triple by 2035 compared to 2024 levels. GEV makes the turbines and grid equipment that convert that demand into contracts. That is the core of why Laffont keeps holding.
Ewan is a reporter at the Foreign Policy Journal, primarily covering US current affairs and news related to NYSE-listed stocks. He has over two decades of experience in journalism and digital publishing.
