Background: The Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa, which closed in 2020 due to financial difficulties, is planning to reopen by the late 2020s.
Current Status: It is the third U.S. nuclear reactor still in good condition for a restart, following Palisades and Three Mile Island, pending approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Regulatory Approvals and Financial Investments
FERC Clearance: NextEra Energy, the plant's owner, has received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reconnect to the electric grid, aiming for a return to service by late 2028.
Investment Requirements: NextEra anticipates investing up to $100 million in 2025 for the plant's restart, which includes ordering new transformers and rebuilding essential facilities that were previously dismantled.
Nuclear Energy Demand from Tech Companies
Increased Demand: The push to restart Duane Arnold coincides with major tech companies' growing need for nuclear energy to power energy-intensive data centers, particularly for AI development.
Long-term Agreements: NextEra is seeking a long-term power purchase agreement to support the plant's restart, similar to the financing arrangement for Three Mile Island's reopening with Microsoft.
Future Prospects
Economic Impact: NextEra's CEO, John Ketchum, highlighted that successfully restarting Duane Arnold could stimulate significant data center activity in the surrounding area, enhancing local economic prospects.
NEE
$81.32+Infinity%1D
Analyst Views on NEE
Wall Street analysts forecast NEE stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for NEE is 92.56 USD with a low forecast of 84.00 USD and a high forecast of 98.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
16 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast NEE stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for NEE is 92.56 USD with a low forecast of 84.00 USD and a high forecast of 98.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
12 Buy
4 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 81.650
Low
84.00
Averages
92.56
High
98.00
Current: 81.650
Low
84.00
Averages
92.56
High
98.00
Morgan Stanley
Overweight
to
NULL
downgrade
$97 -> $95
2025-12-16
New
Reason
Morgan Stanley
Price Target
$97 -> $95
2025-12-16
New
downgrade
Overweight
to
NULL
Reason
Morgan Stanley lowered the firm's price target on NextEra Energy to $95 from $97 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Utility performance will be heavily driven by data centers and growth upside in 2026, the analyst tells investors in a year-ahead note.
JPMorgan
NULL -> Overweight
maintain
$94 -> $97
2025-12-11
Reason
JPMorgan
Price Target
$94 -> $97
2025-12-11
maintain
NULL -> Overweight
Reason
JPMorgan raised the firm's price target on NextEra Energy to $97 from $94 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm updated models in the North American utilities group.
UBS
Buy
maintain
$96 -> $94
2025-12-10
Reason
UBS
Price Target
$96 -> $94
2025-12-10
maintain
Buy
Reason
UBS lowered the firm's price target on NextEra Energy to $94 from $96 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares.
BMO Capital
James Thalacker
Outperform
maintain
$90 -> $89
2025-12-10
Reason
BMO Capital
James Thalacker
Price Target
$90 -> $89
2025-12-10
maintain
Outperform
Reason
BMO Capital analyst James Thalacker lowered the firm's price target on NextEra Energy to $89 from $90 but keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm rolls out its base valuation year to 2028 and adjusts its model with updated mark-to-market and sum-of-parts valuation, the analyst tells investors in a research note. BMO further cites the management's Analyst Day indicating that the company is well-positioned to grow EPS at an 8% or more CAGR through 2035.
About NEE
NextEra Energy, Inc. is an electric power and energy infrastructure company. It operates through its wholly owned subsidiaries, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and NextEra Energy Transmission, LLC (collectively, NEER) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL). Its segments include NEER and FPL. FPL segment is a rate-regulated electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electric energy in Florida. FPL has approximately 35,052 megawatts of net generating capacity, over 91,000 circuit miles of transmission and distribution lines and 921 substations. The NEER segment owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets in the United States and Canada and includes assets and investments in other businesses with a clean energy focus, such as battery storage, natural gas pipelines, and renewable fuels. It owns, develops, constructs and operates rate-regulated transmission facilities in North America.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
