Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF, GE Vernova, Talen, Amazon and Rolls-Royce
Chicago, IL – July 24, 2025 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF NUKZ, GE Vernova GEV, Talen TLN, Amazon AMZN and Rolls-Royce RYCEY.
Should We Be Buying GE Vernova After Stocks Soars on AI-Boosted Nuclear Energy?
GE Vernova stock skyrocketed 14% to all-time highs following its beat-and-raise Q2 report on Wednesday morning. The post-earnings surge extended GEV's YTD run to 90%, making it the second best-performing S&P 500 stock behind only Palantir.
GEV's second quarter performance and outlook cemented its standing as one of the biggest long-term winners in the AI-boosted energy boom across nuclear, natural gas, electrification, and grid expansion.
AI Demand and the Nuclear Energy Bull Case
Wall Street has fallen head over heels for nuclear and next-generation energy stocks as power demand from artificial intelligence hyperscalers goes into hyperdrive. U.S. electricity demand remained flat at roughly 4,000 to 4,200 terawatt-hours since around 2010.
The AI boom marks a paradigm shift for energy needs after technology companies drove economic and stock market expansion in the post-financial crisis world without straining the grid.
Data centers could jump from 4% of total U.S. power demand in 2023 to 12% in 2030. This backdrop is why prices from the biggest U.S. power auction, held by grid operator PJM Interconnection, surged 22% to another new all-time high earlier this week.
The U.S. government aims to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050, helping spur innovation by cutting red tape, increasing tax incentives, and more.
AI hyperscalers Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft have all raced to secure more nuclear power and made deals to speed up the next-gen nuclear tech, supported by their collective trillion-dollar balance sheet.
Nuclear energy stocks represent a direct investment in artificial intelligence, the expansion of energy infrastructure, and long-term economic growth.
Along with GEV, nuclear standouts Constellation Energy, Talen, Rolls-Royce, NuScale, and others have crushed the market in the last year. The Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF, which holds these stocks, along with many others, has climbed 130% since its debut in January 2024 to blow past the Nasdaq's 36%.
Despite the strong performances of nuclear energy stocks in 2025 and over the last few years, investors can still get in near the ground floor of the AI-boosted nuclear energy renaissance, since it will be measured in decades.
Buy GEV Stock at All-Time Highs and Hold?
GE Vernova is one of the most surefire investments in next-gen, AI-driven energy. The dividend-paying and share-repurchasing GE spinoff provides exposure to nuclear energy, electrification, natural gas, and the broader artificial intelligence infrastructure spending boom.
GEV boasts that its customers generate roughly 25% of global electricity via its installed base of technologies.
The company has provided nuclear turbine technologies and services for all reactor types for decades. Its GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy division is a leading provider of advanced nuclear reactors, fuel, and nuclear services.
Its BWRX-300 SMRs have a chance to be one of only a handful of potential big winners in small modular nuclear reactors. GE Vernova is working directly with power companies in the U.S. and Canada to deploy its next-gen nuclear tech by the early 2030s.
GEV is also a natural gas giant. The company signed nine gigawatts of new gas equipment contracts during the second quarter, boosting its backlog to 29 GW. On top of that, its power conversion, energy storage, and grid solutions are growing.
AI-boosted electrification software helps secure its bull case. GE Vernova announced earlier this week its plans to acquire AI company Alteia, helping lift the appeal of GEV's grid software it sells to utilities.
GEV boosted its outlook across most of its key financial metrics on Wednesday, including free cash flow, margins, and revenue. Its CEO stressed that the U.S. and the world are still at the 'beginning of an investment supercycle into more reliable baseload power, grid infrastructure and decarbonization solutions.'
The stock has soared roughly 280% in the past year and 345% since its April 2024 IPO, outpacing Nvidia and many other pure-play AI stocks. GEV might face near-term selling pressure, meaning some traders could wait for a pullback to its 21-day or 50-day.
That said, the market-timing game is difficult, meaning long-term traders might want to buy the next-gen energy superstar now, and add more the next time it fades. Plus, GEV's improving financial position helped GE Vernova commit to buybacks and dividends.
Other Nuclear Energy Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Upside
Talen is a leading independent power producer and infrastructure firm, with a portfolio that includes nuclear, natural gas, and more. Talen is one of the largest competitive power infrastructure companies in North America, and it's secured deals with Amazon to supply nuclear power to its AI data centers.
TLN soared on Wednesday to new highs as part of a 180% run in the past 12 months. The recent climb came after it announced a big deal to buy natural gas plants late last week.
Talen's $3.8 billion deal is expected to boost free cash flow per share by over 40% in 2026 and 50% through 2029. The acquisition also critically expands its annual generation capacity by 50% from 40 TWh to 60 TWh.
Talen's deal highlights the soaring demand for power from Amazon and other AI companies. Despite its charge, the stock still trades 11% below its average Zacks price target and 11 of the 12 brokerage recommendations Zacks has are 'Strong Buys.'
Rolls-Royce cemented itself as a leader in cutting-edge nuclear energy technologies. The historic engine maker landed a potentially pivotal contract with the British government in June to build next-gen small modular reactors.
RYCEY stock skyrocketed over the last few years as Wall Street dives into the once-beaten-down industrial titan because its new CEO is focused on profits and streamlined growth.
The engine manufacturer and potential nuclear energy standout reached some of its lofty financial goals faster than it projected. Rolls-Royce also reinstated its dividend this year and announced stock buybacks.
RYCEY is projected to grow its adjusted earnings by 35% in 2025 and 20% next year, on 24% and 8% respective sales growth. Its upward earnings revisions earn Rolls-Royce a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Despite skyrocketing 1,000% over the past three years, including a 91% run in 2025, Rolls-Royce trades 32% below its average Zacks price target and 35% below its all-time highs at around $13.60 a share.
RYCEY is on the cusp of breaking above a key technical trading range, and its valuation is impressive because of its strong earnings growth outlook.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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