This was written prior to yesterday's pair of analyst downgrades (more on those to come)
From IBD, July 25:
Top Performing S&P 500 Stock Is Proclaimed 'Best Name In AI Power' Following Earnings
Top S&P 500 component GE Vernova (GEV) is now seen as the "best name in AI power theme" after the company on Wednesday cleared second-quarter earnings views and raised parts of its outlook. GE Vernova is now the stock market's second-best performing S&P 500 stock so far in 2025.
William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer on Friday wrote that the S&P 500 giant is the "best name" in the AI power industry and that GE Vernova is "firing on all cylinders" coming out of its second-quarter earnings release.
"Energy and power infrastructure are the key bottlenecks to AI and GE Vernova is best-positioned to benefit from the demand inflection, which supports the multiple premium in our view," Dorsheimer said.
The analyst added that the S&P 500 stock "has an industry-leading position in natural gas turbines and nuclear" with its exposure to small modular reactors, or SMRs, and that both energy sources are "favored by us to solve the near-, medium- and long-term energy demand problem."
"We encourage investors to have this name as a core holding," Dorsheimer said.
William Blair also noted Friday that GE Vernova's natural gas turbine slot reservations are filling up through 2028, and that it added nine gigawatts of new contracts in Q2 for a total backlog of 55 gigawatts.
Dorsheimer highlighted that GE Vernova is also seeing "nuclear momentum" with five gigawatts of capacity and that it is "leading in SMR technology" with its customer Ontario Power Generation receiving a license a SMR online in 2029.
GE Vernova stock advanced 3.3% to 644.72, during Friday 's stock market, hitting a new all-time high of 651.22 intraday. Overall, the S&P 500 stock ended Friday's stock market up more than 12% on the week.
GE Vernova Earnings
The analyst comments come two days after GE Vernova reported Q2 earnings of $1.73 per share, up from 8 cents a year ago, with revenue increasing 11% to $9.1 billion.GE Vernova also lifted its 2025 outlook. The S&P 500 component now expects revenue at the higher end of its $36 billion to $37 billion range. It raised its free cash flow forecast to range from $3 billion to $3.5 billion, compared to its prior estimate for $2 billion to $2.5 billion.
CEO Scott Strazik called Q2 a "productive" quarter and said that GE Vernova is positioned to accelerate growth and margin expansion.
"We are at the beginning of an investment supercycle into more reliable baseload power, grid infrastructure and decarbonization solutions," Strazik said in the release. "Our near-term results are improving, but more importantly, our long-term potential is accelerating faster."
S&P 500: GE Vernova Stock Performance
At Thursday's stock market close, GE Vernova stock had gained 96%. That places it in the stock market's top two best performing S&P 500 components for 2025. Palantir (PLTR) is the only other S&P 500 stock with a better year-to-date gain....
....MUCH MORE
