** Scotiabank raises price target on U.S. utilities as they provide a hedge against a potential downturn that other AI-focused sectors lack
** "We expect another year of solid returns in 2026, particularly for power stocks and U.S. utilities with meaningful data center exposure" - brokerage
** Brokerage adds that several companies have been guiding to accelerating earnings/share growth thanks to rapidly-rising capex forecasts, but the pace is slower than that of the S&P 500, and utilities are not seeing positive estimate revisions like the market is
Company | Old PT | New PT | % upside/downside to stock's last close |
NextEra Energy NEE.N | $99 | $102 | ~25% |
CenterPoint Energy CNP.N | $45 | $49 | 28.2% |
FirstEnergy FE.N | $51 | $55 | 23.3% |
Eversource Energy ES.N | $63 | $66 | -3.5% |
Duke Energy DUK.N | $137 | $146 | 25% |
American Electric Power AEP.O | $121 | $131 | 13.1% |
WEC Energy WEC.N | $130 | $140 | 33% |
Alliant Energy LNT.O | $67 | $72 | ~10% |
(Reporting by Dharna Bafna in Bengaluru)
((Dharna.bafna@thomsonreuters.com))