S&P 500 nuclear play Constellation Energy soared more than 10% on Tuesday as it underperformed first-quarter profit expectations but kept its 2025 guidance steady, bucking the stock market trend which has seen many companies suspended or reduce annual outlooks amid economic uncertainty.
Constellation Energy saw Q1 EPS grow nearly 18% to $2.14 with sales increasing 10% to $6.79 billion. Before Tuesday's release, analyst forecast first-quarter earnings of $2.18 per share and revenue totaling $5.56 billion.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore-based company also stuck to its initial 2025 guidance from Jan. 10 of adjusted earnings between $8.90-$9.60 per share, keeping its expectations steady since announcing the acquisition of Calpine, a privately owned natural gas and geothermal power generator, for $26.6 billion.
Analysts expect 2025 earnings of $9.44 per share with revenue coming in at $23.35 billion, according to FactSet.
"With continued customer demand for clean, reliable power, and backed by our strong investment-grade balance sheet, Constellation is uniquely positioned to provide durable value in this evolving landscape," Chief Financial Officer Dan Eggers said Tuesday in the earnings release.
Chief Executive Joe Dominguez added that Constellation has "made tremendous progress on new power agreements that we expect to announce soon."
"As Presidents Trump and Biden repeatedly have emphasized, it is vital for our national security and for our economy that America lead the AI race, and I am so proud that Constellation is playing such an important role." he said.
S&P 500: Constellation Energy And Nuclear
Constellation Energy edged down 0.9% to 271.37 during Wednesday's stock market open, after adding a 10.3% gain on Tuesday.
Fellow S&P 500 nuclear play Vistra stock sank 6% early Wednesday after it reported a surprise first-quarter loss of $268 million with revenue increasing 29% to $3.93 billion. Analysts expected the company to turn a profit and to deliver sales totaling $4.54 billion.
Vistra, similar to Constellation, also kept its 2025 guidance steady, reaffirming its expectation of adjusted profit coming in between $5.5 billion and $6.1 billion. VST stock is building the right side of a deep base
The link to the stock market's AI boom meant nuclear energy stocks spent much of 2024 running at the top of the S&P 500. CEG, VST and other new nuclear-focused companies rode the wave of excitement as Big Tech scrambled to find the electricity needed to power its artificial intelligence ambitions.
Constellation Energy shares shot up 91% during last year's stock market trade while Vistra stock rocketed 258%, placing both among the top S&P 500 stocks and the best 100 stocks of 2024.
However, 2025 has been a different story, as uncertainty cuts through the market's optimism on AI. CEG is up around 11% this year, but is down 29% from its all-time high of 352 from Jan. 23. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 stock bottomed at 161.35 on April 7, but has now moved 54% higher since then, regaining its 200-day and 50-day moving averages.
Constellation started 2025 by announcing a 10-year, $840 million contract with the U.S. General Services Administration to supply power to facilities of more than 13 government agencies.
Nuclear energy stocks broadly rallied in October 2024, after Constellation Energy on Sept. 20 sealed a two-decade contract with Microsoft to provide nuclear power for the tech giant's data centers.
At the time, Morgan Stanley analysts proclaimed that the Constellation-Microsoft deal "proves out the value of nuclear power for hyperscalers, with higher prices for future deals" with the massive data centers.
S&P 500 component Constellation Energy has an 80 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. CEG also has a 90 Relative Strength Rating and a 41 EPS Rating.
Please follow Kit Norton on X @KitNorton for more coverage.
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