Xcel Energy Inc (NASDAQ:XEL)<\/a> had its price target raised to $91 from $89 by UBS analysts who say the stock continues to offer upside driven by earnings growth visibility and what it views as an overly discounted assessment of wildfire-related risk.<\/p>\nThe revised target implies about 12% upside from recent trading levels near $81 and reflects higher valuation assumptions for the US utility sector.<\/p>\n
UBS wrote that it now applies a premium multiple to \u2018Buy\u2019-rated Xcel relative to the broader utilities group, based on expectations for continued execution on its long-term capital investment programme and improving regulatory clarity.<\/p>\n
The analysts continue to see Xcel as one of the stronger growth profiles in the regulated utilities space, forecasting earnings per share growth above 9% annually. That outlook is supported by a substantial capital expenditure plan spanning renewable generation, transmission buildouts, and grid modernization, along with incremental demand from large-load customers such as data centres.<\/p>\n
A key focus of the report is wildfire risk, particularly in Colorado and Texas, where dry conditions have heightened investor concerns. UBS acknowledged the company has experienced two fire-related incidents over the past 4.5 years, resulting in settlements of about US$356 million in net liability.<\/p>\n
However, it argued that investor sentiment is assigning an overly punitive valuation impact, estimating the market may be pricing in wildfire exposure equivalent to roughly 1% to 2% of market capitalization.<\/p>\n
The company has deployed mitigation measures, including pre-emptive public safety power shut-offs and enhanced powerline safety settings intended to reduce ignition risk during extreme weather conditions. UBS said these tools, combined with regulatory mechanisms, help limit downside exposure.<\/p>\n
Beyond risk factors, UBS highlighted additional upside from Xcel\u2019s roughly US$60 billion capital investment programme. This includes renewable energy expansion in Colorado, major transmission projects in regional markets, and potential incremental load growth tied to a large data centre agreement in its Northern States Power service territory. The analysts noted that some of these opportunities could enhance earnings depending on regulatory approvals and financing structures.<\/p>\n
Upcoming regulatory decisions in Colorado and Minnesota could also serve as catalysts, with rate case rulings expected later in April involving multi-hundred-million-dollar requested increases and returns on equity above current allowed levels. UBS also noted Xcel\u2019s recent track record of regulatory settlements as a factor supporting earnings stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xcel Energy seen as undervalued as UBS lifts price target Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock Xcel Energy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[2125,5255,223,29964,22226],"class_list":{"0":"post-53071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ubs","8":"tag-earnings-growth","9":"tag-target","10":"tag-ubs","11":"tag-wildfire-risk","12":"tag-xcel-energy"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116444143637626392","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Xcel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/626f624af31fb977d1f03afb396ff05c.jpeg\")
Xcel Energy seen as undervalued as UBS lifts price target Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock <\/p>\n