Shares of Bloom Energy (BE) rallied 8% during Friday's trading session, closing near $288.70 and finishing the day as the top performer in the S&P 500 index, as concerns over a key data center contract quickly subsided.

The rebound came as investor anxiety from the previous day faded. Oracle (ORCL) had issued a force majeure notification to Stack Infrastructure, the development firm building its Project Jupiter data center complex in New Mexico. The legal instrument functions as a safeguard, shielding Oracle from potential payment responsibilities should construction delays at the site extend beyond 2028. Force majeure is a common contract provision that allows parties to suspend or adjust obligations when events outside their control—regulatory holds, supply disruptions, natural disasters—impede performance. The announcement triggered a decline of nearly 2% in Oracle shares on Thursday.

Bloom shareholders initially reacted with caution on the news, weighing the company's contract to deliver up to 2.45 gigawatts of solid-oxide fuel cells for the facility—an agreement at the heart of its role in the Project Jupiter build-out. The concern proved short-lived, however, as sentiment reversed quickly following analyst commentary on the filing.

Morgan Stanley Sees a Precautionary Filing, Not a Threat

Morgan Stanley's David Arcaro informed investors that the force majeure filing appears to be a precautionary legal measure rather than a cause for alarm. His assessment indicated zero anticipated negative impact on Bloom from the notice.

Arcaro maintained his Overweight recommendation on Bloom shares along with a $310 price objective. He emphasized that Project Jupiter revenues are not factored into Bloom's fiscal 2026 financial guidance, a detail that eliminates any near-term earnings concerns tied to the New Mexico project.

The Source of the Project Delays

The complications have nothing to do with Bloom's fuel cell technology itself. Arcaro identified the primary issues as permitting requirements for a 17-mile natural gas pipeline and pending air quality certifications from New Mexico authorities—regulatory hurdles rather than equipment performance problems. The pipeline would supply natural gas to Bloom's solid-oxide units, which generate electricity on-site—a model data center operators have increasingly explored as AI workloads drive power demand higher. With the obstacles regulatory rather than technical, the pipeline permit and the pending air quality certifications effectively set the milestones to watch as Project Jupiter's schedule develops.

Even under the most pessimistic scenario, Bloom maintains a protected position, according to Arcaro's analysis. Should the New Mexico location be abandoned or indefinitely postponed, existing contract provisions allow Oracle to reallocate those fuel cell orders to alternative data center developments.

Bloom Energy issued a clarification of its own, directly addressing the concerns that had unsettled shareholders. In a Thursday post on X, the company stated that Oracle "remains committed to Project Jupiter and its contract with Bloom to deliver 2.4 GW of fuel cell capacity."

Oracle corroborated this position in comments to Barron's. A company representative explained that force majeure notifications are standard practice in large-scale construction projects and typically function to maintain contractual flexibility among the parties involved. The spokesperson further clarified that issuing such a notice does not automatically indicate delays or alterations to delivery schedules.

Broader Context for Bloom Energy

Project Jupiter represents one component of the expansive Stargate initiative, a large-scale collaborative effort between Oracle and OpenAI to expand artificial intelligence data center capacity. The New Mexico development could attract an initial $50 billion in capital, with cumulative investment potentially hitting $165 billion across three decades.

Friday's gains continued a broadly positive trend for Bloom shares. The stock is positioned for its strongest monthly performance since April, when shares skyrocketed 109%. Year-to-date gains have now reached 232%. Market activity reflected heightened investor interest, with approximately 17.3 million shares traded during the session—a 34% increase over typical daily volume.

Analyst sentiment on the company remains generally optimistic despite some divergence on outlook. Mizuho recently elevated its price target to $351 from $242, while other financial institutions, including BTIG and Jefferies, have similarly increased their projections in recent weeks.

Stack Infrastructure, the development firm referenced in Oracle's notice, operates under the ownership of Blue Owl Capital. Shares of that company advanced 0.7% on Friday.