Vistra Corp. ( VST ) and Constellation Energy Corp. ( CEG ) shares traded higher Thursday after RBC Capital raised price targets on both stocks amid growing demand for energy to power data centers and other AI infrastructure. 

The Details: Energy stocks continue to climb as demand for electricity to power data centers and other AI applications soars. Alphabet Inc. ( GOOG ) CEO Sundar Pichai told Nikkei in an interview on Thursday that Google ( GOOG ) is considering powering its data centers with nuclear power plants. 

Constellation Energy ( CEG ) already signed a 20-year nuclear power purchase agreement with Microsoft Corp. ( MSFT ) to deliver clean energy to its AI infrastructure. The comments from Google's ( GOOG ) CEO suggest other AI hyper-scalers may follow the same path. 

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RBC Capital analyst Shelby Tucker maintained Vistra ( VST ) with an Outperform and raised the price target on the stock from $105 to $141. The RBC analyst also maintained a Sector Perform rating on Constellation Energy ( CEG ) and raised its price target from $214 to $272 on Thursday.

Vistra ( VST ) was the best performer in the S&P 500 Index on Thursday and remains the best performer in the S&P 500 year-to-date. According to data from Benzinga Pro, Vistra ( VST ) has jumped 243% in 2024 and Constellation Energy ( CEG ) is up 137% year-to-date. 

VST, CEG Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Vistra ( VST ) shares ended Thursday's session up 5.65% at $132.45 and Constellation Energy ( CEG ) shares closed up 4.52% at $277.37.

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