Constellation, Talen, and NRG surge as BNP analysts see “golden (AI)ge” ahead for them
Power producers Talen Energy, Constellation Energy, and NRG jumped Wednesday, benefiting in part from a rosy write-up by analysts at BNP Paribas, who launched coverage of all three at “outperform” and argued that the AI energy trade — a big AI-related winner in recent years that has lagged a bit recently — is due for a second wind.
That view was in a broad note on the independent power producer segment of the utilities industry that the analysts published Wednesday, titled “The Golden (AI)ge of IPPs.”
Here’s the gist of it:
“US independent power producers (IPPs) have lagged the AI basket for 6+ months, after garnering much attention in 2023-1H25. Investors are caught up in the minutia of perceived headwinds: underwhelming pace of power purchase agreement deals, distributed behind-the-meter solutions stealing the ‘time-to-power’ edge, pressure for data centers to bring generation and not tighten the grid, etc.
And yet, as we demonstrate, despite all this noise, the wave of rising load is at the cusp of an acceleration that will nonetheless overwhelm new supply — well into the 2030s, in our view. Hop on or risk missing the resurgent AI trade this decade.”
BNP’s price targets for the stocks — Constellation ($407), NRG ($232), and Talen ($549) — implied gains of 32%, 50%, and 68%, respectively, from Tuesday’s close. (Though today’s gains would reduce those potential upside targets somewhat for new buyers.)
“US independent power producers (IPPs) have lagged the AI basket for 6+ months, after garnering much attention in 2023-1H25. Investors are caught up in the minutia of perceived headwinds: underwhelming pace of power purchase agreement deals, distributed behind-the-meter solutions stealing the ‘time-to-power’ edge, pressure for data centers to bring generation and not tighten the grid, etc.
And yet, as we demonstrate, despite all this noise, the wave of rising load is at the cusp of an acceleration that will nonetheless overwhelm new supply — well into the 2030s, in our view. Hop on or risk missing the resurgent AI trade this decade.”
BNP’s price targets for the stocks — Constellation ($407), NRG ($232), and Talen ($549) — implied gains of 32%, 50%, and 68%, respectively, from Tuesday’s close. (Though today’s gains would reduce those potential upside targets somewhat for new buyers.)
