About a quarter of the 172 Utility Report Card members have reported calendar Q4 results and updated guidance. The top takeaway: There’s still absolutely no sign of the utility earnings Armageddon that’s now reflected in sector stocks’ bear market-like prices.
One reason for utility business strength is simply rising demand. Rapid adoption of artificial intelligence has massively and relatively suddenly begun ramping up electricity usage at data centers. And as my feature article highlights, utilities are increasing investment plans in response, which are the primary drivers of their long-term growth.
Another plus is last year’s worrisome increases in interest expense are moderating—and being largely offset by cuts elsewhere. And utilities have returned to the bond market, taking advantage of longer-term debt cost that remains below year ago levels.
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