This stock is the best way to play a nuclear power ‘renaissance’ on the way, says Bank of America

Vistra has rallied nearly 57% this year and could see even more upside as demand from data centers helps drive a “renaissance” of nuclear power, according to Bank of America. Analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith doubled down on his buy rating on the independent power producer and raised his price target to $70 from $52. The new target implies upside of 16% from Tuesday’s close. The analyst’s updated forecast reflects about $8 per share of upside to earnings from Vistra’s nuclear business on potential contracts with data centers. This assumes the contracts take effect in 2027 to 2028 and are in place for a decade, Dumoulin-Smith said. VST YTD mountain VST year to date “The projected growth of data centers is positive for incumbent generators via higher realized power prices/margins leading to yet further upside,” Dumoulin-Smith wrote to clients Wednesday. Bank of America expects Vistra to continue to prioritize shareholder returns and pay down debt. Vistra is expected to buy back $2.25 billion of its stock through 2025. Bank of America sees the power producer’s free cash flow before growth coming in above guidance, which could create investment opportunities. Vistra serves approximately 2.9 million customers with a power generation fleet of 41,000 megawatts in natural gas, nuclear, coal and solar facilities. The company has a market cap of about $21 billion.