The tech world’s obsession with artificial intelligence is continuing to spur a huge demand for power — supercharging returns in the utilities sector and shaking up the S&P 500 index. Wall Street sees more to come.
While utilities have been market leaders all year thanks to AI, shares in independent power producers Vistra Corp. and Constellation Energy Corp. have really taken off in the past month, helped by a landmark deal for Constellation to supply nuclear power to Microsoft Corp. Vistra — a top pick of Third Point LLC’s Daniel Loeb because of its AI-related potential — is the top S&P 500 performer year-to-date, with a more than 230% gain eclipsing Nvidia Corp.’s 168% rally.