London, March 26, 2026, 13:29 GMT
National Grid dropped nearly 2% on Thursday, erasing some of Wednesday’s 2.44% gain despite rolling out a fresh artificial-intelligence grid agreement in New York just the day before. Shares traded near 1,237 pence in London, down from their previous close at 1,262 pence, with the FTSE 100 slipping about 1.3%.
National Grid’s future is riding on a surge in electricity demand and stepped-up grid investment, with the company—operator of power and gas networks across Britain and the U.S. Northeast—laying out a ramped-up spending plan earlier this month. On March 2, management unveiled an increased investment target of at least £70 billion by fiscal 2031. Alongside that, National Grid accepted the RIIO-T3 framework, a price-control regime that determines UK transmission spending and returns for the five years from April 2026 to March 2031. Looking ahead to 2027, the company expects adjusted EPS to climb 13% to 15%. “We are expanding our record levels of investment to at least £70 billion by FY31,” Chief Executive Zoë Yujnovich said at the time. SEC
National Grid announced Wednesday it’s teaming up with GridCARE to pinpoint unused grid capacity in New York, aiming to speed up connections for big energy users. The companies pointed out that the usual process drags on for three to seven years, but they expect their AI-driven approach could slash that wait to just six to 12 months.
“The fastest and least-expensive way to add capacity to the grid is to leverage megawatts already hidden there,” said Steve Smith, National Grid’s chief strategy officer, in the release. The message comes as utilities and policymakers grapple with data-centre electricity demand—an issue Reuters flagged as a core obstacle for broader AI infrastructure growth. Business Wire
Before Thursday’s drop, the stock had staged a rebound—National Grid gained 1.73% Tuesday and another 2.44% Wednesday, outperforming the FTSE 100 on both sessions. Still, by Wednesday’s close, shares remained roughly 12% under their early-March high, with trading volume running above the 50-day average.
Broker sentiment is fracturing. On March 24, Goldman Sachs downgraded National Grid from buy to neutral and trimmed its price target to 1,389 pence, down from 1,450. SSE was also moved to neutral by the bank. The next day, Bernstein analyst Deepa Venkateswaran stuck with her buy rating, bumping up her target to 1,450 pence—a sign of just how split opinions are on the stock’s potential.
The downside risk is still hanging around. Oil jumped over 4% on Thursday, as traders grew uneasy about a drawn-out Middle East conflict. A Reuters poll found that economists have shifted, now forecasting the Bank of England will keep the Bank Rate at 3.75% through the end of the year—scrapping earlier predictions for rate cuts. Utilities don’t get much relief either: rising bond yields chip away at the draw of their regular dividends. “We do think the risk of hikes has increased and will continue to rise the longer the Middle East conflict persists,” said Gabriella Willis, UK economist at Santander CIB, in the poll. Reuters
National Grid is due to report its 2025/26 full-year results on May 14, marking its next scheduled checkpoint.
