We recently published a list of 10 Hottest Large-Cap Stocks So Far in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) stands against other hottest large-cap stocks so far in 2025.
The stock market as a whole hasn’t had a great start to the year, but there have been some outliers. Focusing on these outliers might pay off in the long run and the statistics behind it — especially this month — are very important. The S&P 500’s calendar year performance has matched the direction of January returns approximately 77% of the time. This means when January shows positive returns, the market finishes higher in 84% of these years with an average annual return of 15.5% for the whole year.
Even if January is negative, the market ends higher some 63% of the time, but with a return of around 2.2%. I’m bringing this up because I believe this correlation can also extend to certain stocks. We’ve seen many mega-cap tech stocks perform well last year after a solid January. A lot of big-cap stocks between $50 billion to $100 billion also performed well.
Accordingly, the methodology for this article involves me screening the top 10 stocks traded in U.S. markets with a market capitalization between $50 billion to $100 billion and then sorted by year-to-date performance.
A close up of a wind turbine producing electricity as the sun sets.
Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG)
- YTD Performance: 19%.
Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) is an energy and natural gas company. It is up 19% year-to-date after agreeing to acquire Calpine in a cash and stock deal valued at $16.4 billion. This would make Constellation Energy the largest U.S. power generator and I believe that there’s some solid potential ahead.
CEG stock nearly doubled in 2024 and has already started 2025 on a solid note. Even the critics have to concede that their balance sheet has become pretty robust. If we do see AI start to drive up energy demand significantly in the coming years, I think Constellation Energy can maintain the momentum. That said, I am worried that if the data center demand cools down, you could easily see a 30%-plus correction here.
J.P. Morgan recently reiterated its Buy rating and bumped its price target to $348. It also stated in its 2025 outlook that “Investors looking to capitalize on the growing demand for power can focus on broad infrastructure funds, power generation and utility companies.”
Overall, CEG ranks 1st on our list of hottest large-cap stocks so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of CEG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CEG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
