10 Best Infrastructure Stocks To Buy Now

7. Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q2 2024: 37

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) is an electricity and gas company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. As of H1 2024, more than 91% of its revenue is from electricity, which means that it remains vulnerable to seasonal trends. Electricity demand is typically high during the summer season, and Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) has to consider alternative avenues to bolster earnings during the rest of the year. On this front, the firm has several initiatives in play. Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)’s South Carolina division having secured regulatory approval for a rate increase from August. The firm is also planning to take similar steps in Florida, through a new rate plan that aims to save consumers up to 5%. This plan is anticipated to come into effect in January 2025, right when Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) might face some seasonal headwinds to electricity demand.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) is quite optimistic about its ability to capture the growth in data center demand as well. Here is what management shared during the Q2 2024 earnings call:

“So as we think about this economic development pipeline over the period that we’ve shared with you through ’28, data centers represent about 25% of that pipeline. But as we get out to 2030 and beyond, that 25% grows. And so we already see a lot of growth in the economic development pipeline for data centers moving into 2030 and beyond. So I would think about this MoU as not only further catalyzing how we might serve customers that are in the pipeline, but our hope also is that those customers will have an interest in expanding in our service territories as we find a way to continue to meet their needs on sustainability, but also bringing resources on.

So the discussions are early. I think there’s a clear understanding that we are trying to do a couple of things here. We’re trying to meet the load. We’re trying to meet their sustainability goals, we’re trying to do so in a way that protects retail customers, we’re trying to meet their time lines. And I would say the discussion is very constructive. And the notion of risk sharing is something that we’re very clear on and have lots of experience in talking with customers about. And so I think those — that element of the discussion is going well as well. So we’ll keep you informed as we start to mature some of these agreements into something that’s more definitive, there will be disclosure, and we’ll continue to update you on the economic development pipeline as we go.”