Key Stats for Xcel Energy Stock
- This Week Performance: 3%
- 52-Week Range: $65.2 to $84.0
- Current Price: $83.9
What Happened?
Xcel Energy stock (XEL) is trading just $0.09 below its 52-week high of $84.00, with shares at $83.91 after gaining 0.7% on February 24, signaling that Wall Street now views this regulated utility as a legitimate AI infrastructure play rather than a slow-growth dividend stock.
Specifically, the yesterday’s Google partnership agreement drove the latest momentum, as Xcel formally signed an electric service agreement to power Google’s new Pine Island, Minnesota data center, bringing 1,900 MW of clean energy to the grid at zero cost to existing ratepayers.
Powering this re-rating is Xcel’s explosive data center pipeline, which surged from 3 GW to 6 GW of contracted capacity by end of 2027, supported by strategic alliances with NextEra Energy and GE Vernova that give the company unmatched speed and scale in generation delivery.
Consequently, the market is actively re-rating Xcel from a defensive income stock into a high-conviction AI infrastructure vehicle, with analysts now assigning a median 12-month price target of $89.00 and a buy-dominated coverage breakdown of 17 buys against just 2 holds and zero sells.
Chairman, President, and CEO Robert Frenzel stated on the Q4 earnings call that “we now expect to have 6 gigawatts of total data center capacity contracted by the end of 2027 with electricity sales and generation investment that will ramp into the 2030s,” framing the NextEra partnership as a structural acceleration of Xcel’s large-load contracting engine.
Beyond analyst upgrades, Wall Street’s institutional conviction is reflected in the consensus price target of $89.00, representing roughly 6.1% upside from current levels, with the forward P/E sitting at 18x against a peer group average that commands a buy rating across the board.
Looking further out, Xcel’s ability to lock in 6 GW of data center contracts while deploying $60 billion in grid infrastructure through 2030 positions it as one of the few regulated utilities capable of sustaining 9% average EPS growth, fundamentally redefining what utility-sector leadership looks like in the AI era.
Wall Street’s Take on XEL Stock
The Google data center partnership and a doubling of Xcel’s contracted pipeline to 6 GW signal that the company’s AI-driven load growth story is no longer speculative, directly accelerating the revenue and EPS trajectory Wall Street will price in over the next several quarters.
Analysts forecast revenue climbing to $15.9 billion in 2026, an 8.6% increase, while normalized EPS reaches $4.1, extending a streak of consistent earnings growth that management has now sustained for 21 consecutive years.
Wall Street currently backs that fundamental momentum with 13 buys, 3 outperforms, 1 hold, and 1 underperform, while the mean price target of $88.9 sits 6.0% above the current price of $83.9, reflecting broad but measured conviction.
The target range itself tells a more interesting story, stretching from a low of $73.0 to a high of $95.0, meaning the bull camp sees nearly 13.2% upside from current levels while bears see limited downside from here.
What Does the Valuation Model Say?
Backed by a 6 GW data center pipeline and $60 billion in planned infrastructure spending, TIKR’s mid-case valuation model prices XEL at $119.5, implying a 42.4% total return over the next 4.8 years at a 7.6% annualized IRR.
The primary risk is multiple compression, with the forward P/E already contracting from 20x to 18x over the past three months, suggesting the market may cap further re-rating unless Xcel converts its pipeline commitments into energized, revenue-generating contracts ahead of schedule.
With shares trading near their 52-week high but a valuation model pointing to $119.5 and institutional coverage overwhelmingly bullish, XEL looks moderately undervalued for investors willing to hold through the data center construction cycle into the early 2030s.
Should You Invest in Xcel Energy Inc.?
The only way to really know is to look at the numbers yourself. TIKR gives you free access to the same institutional-quality financial data that professional analysts use to answer exactly that question.
Pull up XEL stock and you’ll see years of historical financials, what Wall Street analysts expect for revenue and earnings in the quarters ahead, how valuation multiples have moved over time, and whether price targets are trending up or down.
You can build a free watchlist to track Xcel Energy Inc. alongside every other stock on your radar. No credit card required. Just the data you need to decide for yourself.
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