In May, NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) made an aggressive move to establish dominance in the utilities space by announcing its $67 billion all-stock deal to acquire Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D). At a time when major players across the energy and utilities spaces are vying to meet seemingly endless demand for AI applications, NextEra's move could position it as the go-to provider of infrastructure and energy for major technology platforms across the country.
The question for investors may be whether now is a good time to load up on shares of NEE. The stock has made year-to-date (YTD) gains of nearly 10.4% but remains shy of its all-time highs achieved in April 2026. Still, Wall Street is less than fully enthusiastic: analysts have issued 15 Buy ratings, two Strong Buy ratings, as well as five Holds, for an overall Moderate Buy rating on NEE shares. A comparison of NextEra's likely post-acquisition strengths against two of its major competitors that are also involved in the AI space—Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) and Constellation Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CEG)—may be revealing for investors.
Duke's Expansion Prospects Compared to NextEra's Infrastructure Base
Duke serves millions of residential and other customers across the Midwest and the Southeast, giving it key advantages in places like the Carolinas, Florida, and Indiana. The company has already made a massive transmission investment and is expanding its gas generation capabilities, in addition to new generation, grid operations, and more resources to support AI. The company can support this expansion with its strong Q1 2026 financials, including an 11% year-over-year (YOY) improvement in revenue and a healthy 5-7% long-term earnings per share (EPS) growth target over the next three years.
NextEra may have an advantage, particularly after the Dominion acquisition, in that its infrastructure base is already primed for AI and hyperscaler needs. Virginia's key data center region is a hotbed across the country, and Dominion already supports this area. NextEra's acquisition will give it access to the likely tremendous AI electricity demand in this region, a key benefit. At the same time, Duke's opportunity may rely more on the company's ability to attract AI campuses to its regions in the future, which is less of a guarantee.
Constellation's Nuclear Energy Advantage
Constellation's important appeal to investors when compared to NextEra is its dominance in the nuclear energy space. Though NextEra is no slouch when it comes to nuclear generation, Constellation has a leg up: the firm recently reiterated a 20%+ base earnings growth rate through 2029 and forecasts for rapidly accelerating free cash flow growth over that period as well.
The benefits of nuclear power for AI companies are many, including round-the-clock carbon-free electricity without intermittency, long-term contracts, and large, continuous output. Constellation could be in a position to win big with long-duration contracts to supply hyperscalers with nuclear power.
On the other hand, NextEra could still have the advantage overall thanks to its massive infrastructure, made all the more impressive with the upcoming Dominion acquisition, including transmission, distribution, generation, and many other avenues for diversification.
NextEra Energy Still Looks Compelling for Renewable Investors
A closer look at Wall Street analysis of these three major players may complicate the picture for investors looking to load up on an AI-linked utilities stock in the short term. Of these three names, CEG has the strongest upside potential at nearly 48%—this is after declining by about 28% YTD. By comparison, analysts see NEE shares growing by only about 13%. Duke is behind both with upside predictions of about 8%.
Ultimately, investors particularly bullish on renewables may find NextEra to be the dominant choice, and now may be a good time to stock up on the company for that reason. In its latest quarterly report, NextEra noted an incredible 4 GW of new long-term contracted renewables and storage, with a backlog totaling about 33 GW. At the same time, its Florida utilities operation made solid gains of about 100,000 customers while still achieving growth and reliability targets. The company has successfully balanced its electric utility business with its renewables (the latter in particular with regard to solar and wind). NextEra has also done a good job managing its debt load and has a debt-to-equity ratio of only 1.41. Add to this a price-to-book ratio of 2.76 and a dividend yield of 2.81% with a three-decade history of dividend increases—highly competitive even if somewhat behind Duke's dividend yield—and there are plenty of good reasons to look at this company even before it completes the next major acquisition.
The article "NextEra’s Dominion Deal Could Put It at the Center of the AI Power Race" first appeared on MarketBeat.
