4 Income Utility Stocks To Buy For The 2026 AI Boom

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By Austin Smith Published

Key Points

  • Utility stocks tied to AI growth: Traditional utilities located near major AI data center developments (like Constellation, Duke Energy, Southern Company, and Entergy) are positioned to benefit from soaring electricity demand.

  • Focus on large utilities: Bigger utilities are best suited to handle the massive capacity AI server farms require, and many are still undervalued compared to early movers like Constellation.

  • Stable, dividend-paying investments: Utilities provide investors with steady dividends, making them a lower-risk, indirect way to play the AI and data center boom, even during broader market corrections.

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Key Points

Video

Summary

With an ever-growing need for more energy as it relates to companies in the AI space, 24/7 Wall St. contributors Douglas A. McIntyre and Lee Jackson share a few stock options that might be worth a look.

Transcript

[00:00:02] So, Lee, with the huge explosion in energy need by AI, particularly server farms, there are some traditional utilities that are gonna see huge benefits from this. Who’s on your list?

[00:14:05] Lee Jackson: Well, you know, we’ve talked about this, you know, a lot, a lot of the companies we’d like to focus on are the companies that are situated in areas where there is big AI firms. A lot of that is around the DC area. So we’d like Constellation as a play because I mean, the stock has gone up big. I think it’s trading over 300 now, but Constellation’s a good idea to look at Duke Energy, which the symbol is DUK, that’s a solid, solid company to look at. Other companies in the south that are in that level that makes sense. Southern company, which is symbol SO. So again, all located in your southeastern region, which is super helpful. But I mean, there’s almost every utility stock that’s based in areas where they’re doing this building and, you know, some of the building of these AI super data centers are out west and, and, and where they’re gonna literally have to build things to be adjacent to it. So yeah, I think those are three you can clearly look at. Entergy is one. There’s just a slew of ’em. But if you go to a Grok or if you go to any sort of chat AI bot, just plug in, “Who is the most exposed to the data AI center need.” And you’ll get a list of good names.

[01:45:18] Doug McIntyre: If I were anybody looking at this sector, I would do some research and ask yourself. I would start with very big utilities because right. Medium sized utilities are not gonna be able to handle the capacity. No, they don’t. This is my opinion for investors. Every large utility in the United States that provides electricity is a target you should have as a purchase. Now the speculation is, is that some of these guys don’t have AI server farms in their region yet. I can virtually promise everybody within hearing distance of my voice that they are gonna try to put server centers every place they possibly can. So if you have a big utility stock, and at this point it hasn’t run up the way Constellation has, I’d say “Ho ho. I’ve got an opportunity.” And they usually have good dividends. So while you’re waiting, you can collect some money.

[02:47:14] Lee Jackson: Absolutely. You’ll get paid to wait. And if we do have, and, and we’re bound for a correction here sooner or later, because I mean, the stock market is up, the S&P’s up almost 35% off those April lows, and that wasn’t that long ago. So, yeah. But they, they don’t get clipped as hard as other stocks do. Because people don’t run to take all of their capital gains in Constellation, although they could because they’ve been huge. But yeah, they’re, they’re a good, and again, it’s not super exciting, but it’s, it’s a really indirect way to play huge AI and data center.

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About the Author Austin Smith →

Austin Smith is a financial publisher with over two decades of experience in the markets. He spent over a decade at The Motley Fool as a senior editor for Fool.com, portfolio advisor for Millionacres, and launched new brands in the personal finance and real estate investing space.

His work has been featured on Fool.com, NPR, CNBC, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, AOL, Marketwatch, and many other publications. Today he writes for 24/7 Wall St and covers equities, REITs, and ETFs for readers. He is as an advisor to private companies, and co-hosts The AI Investor Podcast.

When not looking for investment opportunities, he can be found skiing, running, or playing soccer with his children. Learn more about me here.

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