2025 is a 'big year for nuclear': Why Vistra and Talen are top picks
Constellation Energy (CEG) is in focus after the company secured a $1 billion government contract to supply power to numerous governement agencies. The record-setting deal comes as Big Tech companies turn to nuclear energy to power artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. Jefferies managing director of US power, utilities, and clean energy research Paul Zimbardo joins Catalysts with Seana Smith and Madison Mills to discuss his outlook for the nuclear energy space in 2025. "I think 2025 is going to be a big year for nuclear, both [for] existing nuclear as well as new nuclear," Zimbardo says, explaining, "And it comes back to a topic that we've been following closely. It's just the power demand from data centers, and AI is accelerating." The analyst says related stocks still have room to run, with Vistra (VST) and Talen Energy (TLN) as his top picks. While there may be some concerns among investors that President-elect Donald Trump's policies could be negative for nuclear energy, Zimbardo notes the nuclear shift comes from the necessity for more power for AI data centers. "There's no real options besides the existing nuclear plant. If you want to add your data centers in the next five to seven years." Zimbardo expects hyperscalers like Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META) to continue to acquire nuclear power as well as "all of the players in large size as well." Catch Yahoo Finance's full interview with Goldman Sachs' Carly Davenport on the role regulated utilities will have in building out the energy infrastructure for AI data centers. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.
