NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Constellation Energy ( CEG )

, the largest U.S. nuclear power operator, skipped its

quarterly earnings investor call on Tuesday for the first time

since going public three years ago.

Constellation did not immediately respond to a request for

comment. The lack of a call surprised some analysts.

Maryland-based Constellation held a management call last

month, when it announced a proposed $16.4 billion acquisition of

private natural gas and geothermal provider Calpine in one of

the biggest U.S. power industry deals.

A discussion on Tuesday would have allowed for questions

about Constellation's full-year 2024 results, the Calpine

acquisition and other company matters, Bank of America analysts

said in a note. The cancellation surprised some analysts.

Constellation, which was spun off from Exelon in early

2022, released stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings

earlier on Tuesday. Its shares rose about 2.5% at mid-afternoon.

Constellation is among the biggest stock market winners in

the past year, rising roughly 150% from a surge in demand from

artificial intelligence data centers.

The independent power producer has recently landed lucrative

contracts, including one to restart a Three Mile Island nuclear

reactor for Microsoft ( MSFT ) data centers.

BofA and J.P. Morgan analysts said a meeting between

Constellation and regulators on Thursday could be a catalyst for

the stock. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may address

Constellation's complaint over rules governing co-located

commercial arrangements, in which data centers directly connect

to a power plant.

Co-location has become a possible solution for quickly

powering data centers without the wait times for connecting to

the broader grid, but critics have raised reliability and cost

concerns over the setup.