NEW YORK, March 3, 2026, 15:54 EST — Regular session
- Constellation Energy shares pared a sharp early slide and were little changed late in Tuesday’s session.
- Oil jumped on the widening Middle East conflict, reviving inflation fears and pushing stocks lower.
- Investors are looking ahead to Constellation’s March 31 outlook call for its 2026 guidance.
Constellation Energy (CEG) shares recovered from an early selloff and were down about 0.1% at $326.74 in late afternoon trading on Tuesday, after falling as much as 5.4% shortly after the open. The stock has traded between $309.38 and $328.37 in a session marked by wide swings.
The reversal came as U.S. stocks stayed lower, hit by a fresh jump in energy prices and worries the Middle East conflict will drag on and feed inflation. The Dow was down about 0.6%, the S&P 500 fell 0.8% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.8% in afternoon trading, Reuters reported. 1
Power producers have also been back in the conversation as Big Tech’s AI buildout pushes utilities and developers to chase new supply. NextEra Energy said it expects to build 15 to 30 gigawatts of new generation capacity for U.S. data centers over the next nine years, with much of it expected to come from natural gas. A BlackRock and EQT-led consortium’s $33.4 billion deal for AES underscored the appetite for scale power platforms tied to that demand. 2
Oil added to the pressure. Brent rose about 6% to $82.44 a barrel and U.S. crude climbed roughly 6% to $75.66, Reuters said, as attacks and shipping disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz raised supply fears. Analysts at Standard Chartered said Iran’s retaliation had been “broader” than earlier episodes, while consultant Andrew Lipow warned strikes on infrastructure could push Brent toward $90. 3
That energy shock is colliding with a separate constraint for the power industry: equipment. Reuters reported that capital costs for U.S. combined-cycle gas plants — plants that pair gas and steam turbines to squeeze more electricity out of the same fuel — have more than doubled in the past 12 to 24 months to at least $2,400 per kilowatt, citing Tyler Fitch at RMI. Longer lead times for turbines are forcing developers to lock up hardware early or rethink project financing. 4
For Constellation, investors are still circling the next company-specific marker. The company said last week it will discuss its 2026 guidance on a business and earnings outlook call scheduled for March 31, after reporting fourth-quarter results and closing its Calpine acquisition. Constellation also raised its annual dividend by 10% and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4265 per share, payable March 20 to shareholders of record on March 9. 5
Melius Research analyst James West said after the earnings report that he sees Constellation “well-positioned” to supply rapidly growing data center demand in 2026, pointing to the company’s expanded natural gas portfolio and exposure to ERCOT, the Texas power grid. 6
But Tuesday’s tape was a reminder that even defensive-leaning power names can get yanked around when markets are dumping risk. “Investors might be underestimating the geopolitical risk,” Andrew Slimmon, senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said in comments carried by Reuters, as traders weighed the inflation hit from higher energy prices. 7
The next few sessions may hinge less on company headlines and more on crude’s next move. Citi said Brent could trade between $80 and $90 a barrel over the coming week, with prices expected to retreat if tensions ease, Reuters reported — and Constellation’s March 31 outlook call remains the next date circled on the stock’s calendar. 8
