Constellation Energy

Artificial intelligence runs on electricity, and the grid is straining to keep up. Constellation has locked in decades-long deals with the biggest buyers, including 835 megawatts from the restarted Crane plant and the full 1,121 megawatts of the Clinton nuclear plant starting in 2027. Reliable, always-on power is getting scarce, and Constellation owns more of it than almost anyone.

The Calpine deal turned a nuclear operator into the largest private power producer in the world, adding 23 gigawatts of natural gas and geothermal capacity in Texas and California. That scale is already showing up in the numbers, with revenue up 8.3% and net profit margins near 13%. More plants in more states means more places to sell power when prices spike.

The stock carries a market value near 95 billion dollars, and a lot of the AI-power excitement is already baked into that price. Power projects move at the speed of permits and grid upgrades, so a data center announced today may not draw serious electricity for two or three years. If the buildout slows, the shares could deflate quickly.

Buying Calpine meant taking on billions in assumed debt, pushing total long-term borrowings to roughly 17.5 billion dollars. Interest payments eat cash that would otherwise fund buybacks and dividends. If integration runs behind schedule or borrowing costs stay high, the growth story gets a lot harder to deliver.