Constellation Energy $CEG ( ▲ 0.56% ) delivered a solid Q4 beat, reinforcing its status as one of the market’s premier “AI energy” plays. The company reported adjusted EPS of $2.30 versus expectations of $2.25, while revenue surged to $6.07 billion — dramatically above the $4.90 billion forecast — reflecting strong power pricing and demand.
Despite the strong quarter, management declined to issue full-year 2026 guidance, saying it will provide a detailed outlook at a March 31 investor call.
AI electricity boom meets political pushback
Constellation owns the largest fleet of nuclear plants in the United States, making it a critical supplier of reliable baseload power for energy-hungry AI data centers. That positioning helped drive massive stock gains in prior years — up 91% in 2024 and 58% in 2025.
But 2026 has started rough. Shares were down about 17% for the year before this report, pressured by rising political scrutiny over electricity prices. Policymakers have increasingly blamed AI data center demand for higher consumer bills.
A key turning point came when the Trump administration proposed forcing hyperscalers to shoulder more of the power costs tied to their facilities — a move that could compress margins for utilities benefiting from AI demand.
Still a core “AI picks-and-shovels” trade
Even with regulatory uncertainty, Constellation remains one of the most direct ways to invest in the AI power bottleneck. Nuclear energy offers always-on electricity without carbon emissions, a combination hyperscalers want as they scale massive training clusters.
The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4265 per share, underscoring its hybrid profile: part high-growth AI infrastructure play, part traditional income-generating utility.
In short, the story hasn’t broken, it’s just getting political.