- Chief Executive Officer Larry Coben highlights the early stages of the demand supercycle
- On Monday, Morgan Stanley raised NRG’s price target to $157 from $153 as utilities outperformed the S&P’s return
- Retail sentiment on NRG slipped to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ three months ago
Shares of NRG Energy, Inc (NRG) are headed for their best week in a month after its chief executive officer, Larry Coben, remarked that the industry is in the “early stages of a demand supercycle,” driven by the growth in data centers, trends in electrification, and the onshoring of manufacturing.
In a Wednesday post on X, Coben said: “I have been doing this for 40 years, and we have never seen this kind of capital investment or demand.” The Chief Executive made the remark while attending CERAWeek, a gathering offering insights on energy in Texas, which began Monday and runs through Friday.
Coben noted that the industry is usually supply-driven, but the surge in electricity demand has shifted it from 0% to 1% growth to mid- to high-single-digit expansion, with no clear indication of how high it could go.
Analysts' Optimism Adds To Bull Case
On Monday, Morgan Stanley maintained its ‘equal weight’ rating and raised the price target to $157 from $153. Morgan Stanley said the upgrade comes as utilities have outperformed the S&P 500, signaling a shift in investor positioning. The firm sees “significant upside potential” from NRG’s January acquisition of LS Power’s assets.
Last week, Wolfe Research upgraded NRG to ‘outperform’ from ‘peer perform’ with a $190 price target, citing that NRG is well-positioned as an “additionality play” with more than six gigawatts of gas build potential for data centers.
Wolfe Research added that NRG is now more diversified and longer in power generation, while still trading at an attractive double-digit free cash flow yield.
Earlier in the month, Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of NRG with a ‘buy’ rating and a $197 price target. It said NRG had doubled its generation capacity and shifted its gross margin to a more balanced mix.
LS Power Deal Expands Capacity
In its fourth-quarter results, NRG said that, with the acquisition of 18 natural-gas and dual-fuel facilities totaling 13 gigawatts of power generation assets from LS Power, it doubled its generation capacity. The CEO said in the results that the acquisition also enhances NRG’s ability to serve its customers during the power-demand supercycle.
What Did Stocktwits Users Say?
Stocktwits sentiment on NRG has slipped to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ three months ago. The stock has shed about 6% as the first quarter of 2026 draws to a close.
Earlier this month, one bullish user said, "$NRG, Great PERFORMANCE over 10 years. A keeper down some past month,"
Another added, “$NRG hit 1D RSI and CCI oversold levels. While 1W momentum pauses, 4H and 30M STOCH suggest a near-term reversal as utility data center contracts provide a solid fundamental floor for the next leg,"
On Wall Street, 11 of 17 analysts rate NRG a 'Buy', with an average price target of $202.1, according to Koyfin data.
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