Chicago, IL – December 23, 2024 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Amazon AMZN, Alphabet GOOGL, Microsoft MSFT and Meta Platforms META.
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing industries and driving technological advancements at an unprecedented pace. However, its explosive growth comes with a huge requirement for energy. Data centers, which are the backbone of AI innovation, consume massive amounts of electricity to process complex computations and also to keep the high-performance systems cool.
The surging demand for these energy-intensive data centers is pushing traditional power solutions to their limits. A recent Gartner report has highlighted that power shortages will operationally constrain 40% of existing AI and GenAI data centers by 2027, threatening their growth and disrupting energy availability.
Amid this energy crisis, nuclear energy has turned out to be a game-changer in the quest for a sustainable and reliable source of power. Unlike other conventional sources, nuclear energy provides round-the-clock electricity with minimal carbon emissions, making it ideal for AI’s growing demands.
So, why are tech giants turning to nuclear power now? The answer lies in the fact that advanced nuclear solutions offer faster deployment, lower costs, and a greener future. By tapping into nuclear power, companies are not only fueling the evolution of AI but also paving the way for a cleaner energy grid.
Let us dive into this alliance between AI and nuclear power and explore the tech leaders that are poised to gain from this paradigm shift in 2025.
We have picked four stocks — Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta Platforms— that are at the forefront of this transition to nuclear energy in 2025.
Amazon– This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock uses machine learning, natural language processing and data analytics to enhance its services across e-commerce, cloud computing and logistics. Through its AWS (Amazon Web Services) division, it offers advanced AI solutions to businesses and individuals globally. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Amazon has been proactive in addressing the increasing energy demands of its AI infrastructure. In 2025, Amazon is set to support nuclear energy development by entering into agreements for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), which promise faster build times and can be deployed closer to the grid.
In its collaboration with Energy Northwest in Washington, Amazon will aid in developing four advanced SMRs to generate up to 960 MW of clean energy, sufficient to power over 770,000 homes. Amazon is also investing in X-energy, a leader in next-generation SMR reactors, whose technology will be used in this project.
Furthermore, Amazon has partnered with Dominion Energy in Virginia and Talen Energy in Pennsylvania to power its data centers with nuclear energy, promoting its commitment to a reliable energy future.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2024 earnings has moved north by 2 cents to $5.19 per share over the past 30 days. AMZN shares have gained 46.9% year to date.
Alphabet– This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock and the parent company of Google is a global leader in AI innovation, developing cutting-edge technologies that span from AI-driven search engines to advanced machine-learning models. As the demand for AI grows, Alphabet is now focusing on ensuring that its data centers have access to reliable energy sources.
GOOGL has recently announced a deal with nuclear startup Kairos Power to purchase 500 megawatts of electricity from seven SMRs by 2025. The move marks a major step in Alphabet’s strategy to integrate nuclear energy — a clean and scalable solution — to power its AI infrastructure.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2024 earnings has been steady at $8.02 per share over the past 30 days. GOOGL shares have risen 35% year to date.
Microsoft– This Zacks Rank #3 stock has been at the frontline of AI development, pioneering advancements in conversational speech recognition, machine translation and natural language understanding. Their AI models, like Turing and Azure, have set new standards in the industry.
To support the rising energy demands of AI, MSFT is also embracing nuclear energy solutions. In late 2024, Microsoft entered into a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy to revive the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The $1.6 billion investment aims to restart the reactor, which has been dormant since 2019, to provide carbon-free electricity for Microsoft’s expanding data centers.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s fiscal 2025 earnings has been steady at $12.93 per share over the past 30 days. MSFT shares have risen 16.3% year to date.
Meta Platforms– This Zacks Rank #3 stock, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, uses AI-driven technologies to improve its platforms, upgrade user experience and build new services. With its data centers powering these services, META is adopting nuclear energy to meet its growing energy needs and further its AI goals.
Meta Platforms has recently announced its plan to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify nuclear energy developers that are capable of adding 1-4 gigawatts of new nuclear generation capacity in the United States, starting in the early 2030s. By partnering with developers to build nuclear power plants, META aims to have a diversified electric grid to support its data centers and continue its AI-driven innovations while also contributing to a sustainable energy future.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2024 earnings has moved north by 0.4% to $22.68 per share over the past 30 days. META shares have gained 68.2% year to date.
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