Xcel Energy: Accelerating Data Center-Driven Growth Underpins Long-Term EPS Expansion and Buy Rating

Analyst Alex Kania of BTIG maintained a Buy rating on Xcel Energy, retaining the price target of $94.00.

Alex Kania has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors related to Xcel Energy’s improving long-term growth profile and execution. He highlights that management reaffirmed their 2026 earnings guidance and at least 9% EPS growth through 2030, alongside a sustained 6%–8%+ growth outlook thereafter, suggesting durable earnings expansion. The company’s recent quarter came in essentially in line with expectations, reinforcing confidence in the current earnings base. Kania also points to Xcel’s increasingly visible growth trajectory from large-load customers, particularly data centers, as a key driver supporting high single-digit growth over the next decade.

In addition, Kania underscores that Xcel’s data center pipeline is accelerating, with new energy service agreements already meeting its near-term contract targets and a significantly higher goal of 6 GW of data center capacity by 2027. He views newly announced partnerships with GE Vernova and NextEra Energy as strategically important, enhancing Xcel’s ability to build and finance the generation, transmission, and distribution assets required to serve these large loads at scale. These collaborations expand Xcel’s capacity to execute its growth pipeline and increase confidence in delivery of its long-term plan. Finally, based on a sum-of-the-parts valuation using a 19x P/E on projected 2028 earnings, Kania’s $94 price target offers sufficient upside to justify a Buy rating on the shares.

In another report released on January 23, RBC Capital also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $95.00 price target.