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Utilities have become an exciting sector as both market prices and fundamentals are changing rapidly. We monitor the relative opportunity of the major electric utilities as factors change and have come to believe that WEC Energy Group (WEC) has become more opportunistic than Dominion (D).
This article will discuss why we are trimming D in favor of WEC. We shall begin with a discussion of Dominion as it has played out and follow with a renewed thesis on WEC.
Dominion—Still Strong but Valuation is Less Appealing Due to Appreciation
We have liked Dominion since our initial thesis that it would have powerful demand drivers through its access to northern Virginia, which is the epicenter of data center development. Aside from some minor delays and cost overruns on CVOW, fundamentals have played out beautifully.
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Dominion has successfully grown earnings and still has an impressively large growth pipeline. Dominion has had 2 main challenges, which previously caused it to trade at a discount to most electric utilities:
Higher leverage at 60% debt to capital
High capital needs to fund the load growth
In May of 2026, it was announced that NextEra Energy (NEE) was going to buy Dominion and form the largest electric utility ever.
We liked the merger right away as it directly solves both of Dominion‘s challenges. NEE has access to vast amounts of low-cost capital, which means the combined company will be able to very accretively fund Dominion‘s growth pipeline. As the merger was announced, the market was hesitant to believe it would go through, which left a large arbitrage gap that we discussed in the above-linked article.
Specifically, Dominion was trading at $68.32 (at the time of writing the above-linked article), while the value of NEE shares, into which it would convert upon merger completion, was $73.36. Furthermore, D was due just over $4.00 in dividends while waiting for closing, such that the overall upside was 13.25%.
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Over time, the arbitrage gap began to close as the market got more comfortable with the deal. On July 16th, D and NEE filed with regulators to approve the merger, which solidified that both parties are interested and pursuing a path to closing.
That largely closed the arbitrage gap. As of 7/21/26, D is trading at $70.15 with the converted value in NEE shares worth $71.49.
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With about 5 dividend periods until expected close date, D shareholders would get total proceeds of $74.83 for total remaining merger upside of 6.67%. Given the roughly 1.25 years until expected close, this seems about right, and I would consider the arbitrage to be essentially played out.
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There remains some chance the merger will get shot down by regulators, so it is not risk-free, but I consider it fairly low risk for 2 reasons:
Both companies are stable and successful as stand-alone
There is a hefty breakup fee that NEE would have to pay Dominion that would substantially pad any downside from a failed merger.
Given the rise in Dominion‘s price, it is no longer trading at a material discount to peer electric utilities.
2nd Market Capital
Dominion is trading at 12.14X 2027 EBITDA compared to 11.96X for the sector. Its PE multiple is fractionally lower than peers, making its overall valuation essentially right in the middle.
We still prefer the Dominion leg over the NEE leg. The combined company looks to be an entirely reasonable investment with good growth in both Virginia and Florida. However, the less attractive valuation after the run-up encourages us to look elsewhere in the sector.
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The WEC Buy Thesis
I think the market has misinterpreted the strict VLC Tariff (very large customer) tariff passed by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin as a negative. In a more balanced demand environment, the terms could be demand destructive for data center development, but presently time-to-market is the key desideratum of where to develop, and the structure of the tariff actually improves time-to-market.
The result is that WEC gets development terms that are highly favorable to the utility while experiencing a quantity of demand that will materially expand their earnings power over time.
Let us begin with a discussion of the VLC Tariff and move on to show how it is facilitating a massive load expansion for WEC.
The VLC Tariff
WEC proposed a VLC Tariff along with a Bespoke Resources Tariff for large customers in March, which was meant to do 2 things:
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Protect ordinary customers from having to foot the bill for data center development
Create a framework of guaranteed payment such that WEC would not be left without a revenue source if the large customer were to back out.
In their proposal, WEC called for it to apply to customers over 500MW and wanted to establish a minimum 10-year term so as to make sure they got paid back for development expenses.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin reviewed the proposal and made it substantially more aggressive before passing it on April 24th, 2026.
Financial guarantees for VLCs below A- credit rating
100 MW or bigger rather than 500MW or bigger
Generation and transmission costs are 100% of VLC customer-funded.
15-year minimum term
Early exit fee for full reimbursement of costs
One may note that each of these terms is “against” the data center in the sense that it locks them in and forces them to pay a larger share of the bill aimed to ensure they pay at least 100% of the costs.
This makes the terms of any data center development quite favorable to WEC because they will get a very high ROE on data center development, and that return is backed by a long contract with a high credit tenant or a capital reserve set aside.
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While these terms are favorable for WEC, they could be viewed as demand destructive. If the terms are too aggressive against data centers, they may choose to locate elsewhere, potentially causing WEC to lose some of what would have been load growth.
The market seems to have interpreted the Public Service Commission‘s version as demand destructive, as WEC has materially underperformed its peers.
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Note on the chart above how WEC has basically flatlined since it submitted its VLC proposal in March.
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I think the market‘s interpretation is wrong and that the VLC Tariff is bullish for WEC.
Why the VLC Tariff Matters and How It Impacts WEC Earnings
There are always going to be tradeoffs in regulation, and this is among the more ironclad in terms of making sure the data centers pay for the development.
We see the VLC Tariff having 3 main effects:
Data center developers are slightly disincentivized economically to build in this jurisdiction.
Regulators will be faster and more willing to accommodate the development of data centers given the protection to residential customers.
Data center developers currently care more about speed to market rather than cost to build.
Thus, while demand remains high and speed to market is the key issue, the tariffs may actually stimulate activity.
Data center development is being aggressively fought at both a state and local level, such as the data center moratorium in New York. This red tape exacerbates what is already a slow process of building new power generation.
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We believe the clear framework set forth in the Wisconsin VLC Tariff and the safeguards for residential customers go a long way to reducing that red tape. To the extent it can guarantee the data centers pay for the power and transmission, data center development is an economic and employment boon for the state and local areas. It makes it much easier to greenlight projects and thereby reduces time-to-delivery.
Faster development is a big deal for the hyperscalers who want to win the AI race, and I believe that is why so many data centers are popping up in Wisconsin.
Microsoft is building an enormous data center at Mount Pleasant
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Vantage is building a data center for OpenAI and Oracle in Port Washington, where WEC already generates substantial power.
WEC
Beyond data centers, Wisconsin has strong manufacturing growth, as discussed by Scott Lauber, WEC‘s CEO, on the 1Q26 earnings call:
“There’s other notable growth in the state. As a recent example, Milwaukee Tool has announced plans to further expand its campus in our territory, including a new research and development facility. Waukesha Engine also announced plans to expand upon its local operation and employee base. In addition, we’re starting to see good housing development. In fact, realtor.com recognized Racine County, home of the Microsoft site, as one of the nation’s hottest housing markets. We’re committed to meeting the growing demand across our service areas as we invest in our system for increased capacity and reliability.”
These large-scale projects are fueling WEC‘s load growth and the earnings growth that comes along with it. In total, WEC plans to outlay $37.5B over the next 5 years.
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WEC
Since utilities have regulated ROE and a higher ROE attached to data centers subject to the VLC Tariff, deployed capital translates directly to earnings per share growth. As these projects come online, WEC anticipates earnings growth accelerating to 8% annually.
WEC
WEC can fund this development at a reasonably low cost of capital. In June they issued $400 million of 5-year notes at 4.65% and $400 million of 10-year notes at 5.10%. This low spread over Treasuries is a testament to their strong balance sheet and operating track record.
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High Total Return Potential Relative to Risk
With earnings growth accelerating to 8% annually and a 3.4% dividend yield, WEC is positioned to deliver an annual total return of 11.4% if one were to assume the multiple at which it trades remains flat.
That is a high return for a large-cap electric utility, which is generally considered to be below average risk for an equity. I would consider the outsized return relative to risk to represent mispricing and suggest that WEC will appreciate until such a price that it is generating a more normal forward expected return for its risk level.
Primary Risk to WEC
If demand for data centers were to drop off substantially, the aggressive terms of the VLC Tariff could indeed become demand destructive. We will be watching hyperscaler capex closely as their earnings reports roll out. High capex is good for utilities broadly and especially WEC.
Shares of bottle-maker Varun Beverages jumped nearly 3% to the day’s high of Rs 441.80 on the BSE on Wednesday, against previous closing of Rs 430.30, after the company reported a growth of 15% in profit after tax (PAT) and 20% increase in revenue in Q1 FY27 on a year-on-year basis.
According to a filing with the exchange, the company reported a 20.4% year-on-year (YoY) increase in revenue from operations (net of excise duty and GST) to Rs 8,451.23 crore in Q1 FY2027, compared with Rs 7,017.37 crore in the corresponding quarter of CY2025.
Profit after tax (PAT) rose 15.1% year-on-year to Rs 1,525.36 crore from Rs 1,325.49 crore, driven by strong volume growth across India and international markets.
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Gross margin expanded by 44 basis points to 55% in Q2 CY2026, supported by a higher contribution from the international business. In India, early procurement of key raw materials and lower sugar consumption, aided by a higher mix of low- and no-sugar products, helped offset inflationary pressure on input costs.
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Consolidated sales volumes rose 19.8% year-on-year to 466.7 million cases from 389.7 million cases, driven by 14.4% volume growth in India and a 38.4% increase across international markets. The international business included 11.8 million cases from the recently acquired Twizza operations in South Africa. Depreciation rose 33.6%, primarily due to the commissioning of new plants in India last year and the acquisition of Twizza. Finance costs increased 55.8%, largely on account of the Twizza acquisition.The realization per case for beverages improved by 1.2% at the consolidated level with improved realizations in international territories.
EBITDA increased by 17.2% to Rs 23,430.4 million in Q2 CY2026 and EBITDA margins declined by 76 bps to 27.7% in Q2 CY2026 due to consolidation of Twizza business which currently has lower margins.
In India, EBITDA margins improved by 38 bps driven by operational efficiencies from healthy volume growth which were partially offset by higher other expenses primarily transportation and distribution costs.
VBL India continued to remain net debt free with a free cash of Rs 14,941 million, however, at the consolidated level net debt stood at Rs 3,730 million as on June 30, 2026, on account of acquisition of Twizza in South Africa. The company’s long-term rating for bank loan facilities from CRISIL (an S&P Global Company) is reaffirmed as CRISIL AAA/Stable.
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“We are pleased to report a strong performance during this quarter across our markets. Consolidated sales volumes grew by 19.8% and, together with improved realizations, translated into a 20.4% increase in net revenue from operations. EBITDA increased by 17.2% to Rs. 23,430.4 million in Q2 CY2026,” said Ravi Jaipuria, Chairman, Varun Beverages.
Jaipuria also mentioned that the company entered a strategic alliance with Asahi Group Holdings to introduce the iconic CALPIS brand in India, marking their entry into the value-added fermented dairy beverage category.
In accordance to their dividend policy, the Board of Directors has approved a second interim dividend of 25% of face value, i.e., Rs 0.50 per share, resulting in a total cash outflow of approximately Rs 1,691 million.
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The company has set August 1 as the record date for determining the entitlement of Equity Shareholders for receipt of the second interim dividend.
In the last one year, the stock was down 14.32% and in the last two years, the stock was down 34.84%.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Shares of KPIT Technologies gained momentum on Wednesday, July 29, climbing 4.20% to Rs 627.70 ahead of the company’s June quarter (Q1FY27) earnings announcement scheduled later in the day.
Investor attention is focused on the company’s quarterly performance, with market participants keen to assess revenue trends, operational execution, and management’s outlook for the coming quarters.
Earlier in July, KPIT Technologies’ management had provided an initial outlook for Q1FY27, highlighting that the anticipated impact on revenue would stem from multiple client-related actions. At the same time, the company outlined potential growth opportunities ahead. Based on these factors, management indicated that Q2FY27 revenue is expected to remain in a similar range to Q1FY27 revenue.
The positive movement in KPIT Tech’s stock also came amid broader strength in the Indian IT sector. The IT index witnessed gains as investors renewed their interest in technology stocks, creating a supportive environment for companies across the sector.
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Beyond the headline financial figures, investors will closely track management commentary on demand trends, client engagements, growth drivers, and the company’s strategy to navigate near-term challenges while capitalising on future opportunities.
Share Price Performance
KPIT Technologies has shown signs of short-term momentum, with the stock gaining 8% over the past week. However, the broader performance remains weak, as the stock has declined 15% over the past month and is down nearly 50% over the past year, indicating continued pressure over the medium to long term.
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The latest shareholding data indicates a cautious approach from institutional investors during the June 2026 quarter. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) marginally reduced their stake from 13.25% to 13.22%, while Mutual Fund holdings declined from 12.09% to 11.91% during the same period. The reduction in institutional ownership suggests a measured stance by large investors.
Valuation & Technical Outlook
From a technical perspective, KPIT Technologies is currently trading below 4 out of 8 key Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), reflecting weakness in the prevailing trend. On the technical front, the 14-day RSI stands at 48.9, indicating a neutral momentum zone. Typically, an RSI below 30 signals oversold conditions, while an RSI above 70 indicates overbought territory. Despite the recent recovery, the stock continues to trade below key medium- and long-term moving averages, highlighting a bearish trend structure.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
With over a decade of institutional investment experience, I specialize in identifying growth opportunities at the intersection of technological disruption and macro-thematic energy shifts. I’ve spent the majority of that time at a hedge fund here in Rotterdam, working my way up as an analyst. My work reflects rigorous standards as I myself have a very high standard as to what I invest my money in. My primary coverage spans the technology sector—with a focus on SaaS and cloud infrastructure—and the energy and minerals markets. I tend to be very data and trend driven in my work, analyzing unit economics and supply chain gaps among a number of other often overlooked areas in business and industries.I find these offer incredible growth opportunities and are also very fun to research and follow. It’s a very active space with plenty of news coming out each week. Work is my own thoughts and research is done only by myself.
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BlueStone Jewellery and Lifestyle shares surged nearly 7% on Wednesday, extending their one-month rally to around 50% after the company’s strong Q1 earnings boosted investor sentiment. However, technical indicators suggest investors should keep an eye on key support and resistance levels following the sharp run-up.
Earlier this month, the jewellery retailer reported a net profit of Rs 14 crore for the April-June quarter of FY27, compared with a net loss of Rs 21 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
The company said its standalone revenue rose nearly 49% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 733 crore during the quarter. Same-store sales growth stood at 39% YoY, while standalone EBITDA jumped 134.6% YoY to Rs 55 crore. BlueStone also added 12 stores in Q1 FY27, taking its total store count to 352 across 139 cities.
What do technical charts indicate for BlueStone’s share price?
BlueStone’s sharp rally following its quarterly results was accompanied by a significant increase in trading volumes, indicating strong buying interest, said Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities. He added that after the sharp upmove, the stock has witnessed a healthy breather over the past three trading sessions.Technically, the stock continues to trade well above its key short- and long-term moving averages, reflecting a strong underlying trend, Shah said. He added that the Average Directional Index (ADX) is rising, signalling strengthening bullish momentum.
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“On the weekly timeframe, the MACD line remains above the zero line and continues to trend higher, while the expanding green histogram bars further reinforce the positive bias,” he said. According to Shah, the stock has immediate support in the Rs 740-730 zone, and the bullish outlook is expected to remain intact as long as it sustains above this range. On the upside, the immediate resistance is placed at Rs 840-850. “A decisive breakout above this resistance could pave the way for a continuation of the uptrend,” he added. Also read |Bluestone Jewellery shares rocket 36% in just three days after Q1 results. Can the momentum sustain?
BlueStone share price
BlueStone shares had a muted stock market debut in August last year, listing at Rs 510 apiece on the NSE, nearly 2% below their issue price.
The company announced its Q1 FY27 results on July 20, following which the stock surged 45% in just three trading sessions to hit a lifetime high of Rs 869.50. It was trading at Rs 807.90 on Wednesday.
Overall, the stock has gained 2% over the past week and around 50% in the last month. It is up more than 65% in 2026 so far and has delivered a 58% return since its listing.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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The first phase at the 116 acre site owned by the Welsh Government will see a major industrial unit built
Computer-generated image of the first phase of development at the Welsh Government’s Brocastle Employment Park
The first development at the Welsh Government’s Brocastle Employment Park in Bridgend has been confirmed.
Joint venture partners Hilllwood and Maple Grove Developments (Deeside Regeneration) have agreed terms with the Cardiff Bay administration to speculatively develop a 57,486 industrial unit on a 4.85 acre plot at the park.
The wider brownfield site extends to 116 acres where the Welsh Government has invested in infrastructure in the hope of attracting new investment and jobs.
The amount the developers have agreed to pay the Welsh Government for the land, known as plot five, has not been disclosed. They are also receiving grant funding for the scheme from the Welsh Government via the Development Bank of Wales. The grant amount has also not been disclosed.
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The site benefits from outline consent planning and is being marketed specifically to the manufacturing sector.
Subject to full planning work on site will commence early next year with the building ready for occupancy towards year end.
The developers are confident of securing a tenant for the building with proximity to the M4 and the current lack of grade A industrial space in Wales.
The Brocastle land had been earmarked for a 500 job factory for production of the Grenadier 4x 4 vehicle from Ineos Automotive. However, at a late stage, the company opted for a site in France. The site adjoins the former Bridgend Ford engine plant which is being turned into a data venture campus by US firm Vantage.
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Bob Tattrie, managing director of Hillwood, said “We are excited to be bringing forward a further advanced build industrial scheme in South Wales, which suffers from a lack of frade A industrial accommodation. We are also delighted to again work with Maple Grove in delivering this.”
Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy, Adam Price, said: “Developing modern employment sites and premises which provide investment ready platforms is a key part of the new Welsh Government’s mission to halve Wales’ productivity gap with the UK average.
“Such sites support businesses to plan and invest with confidence, and this development provides important opportunities for both new investment into Wales and for existing Welsh businesses to grow.”
Andrew Dewhurst, director at Maple Grove Developments, said: “We are pleased to have secured the development plot for the upcoming business unit on Brocastle Business Park. Planning works progress well with a view to being on site in early 2027. Bringing forward our third joint venture in Wales is a proud moment for Maple Grove and we’re delighted to be working with our partners at Hillwood.”
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Letting agents for the Brocastle site are property advisory firms JLL and Knight Frank through their Cardiff offices.
Experts say prolonged dry weather is now becoming a regular challenge for dairy farms, leaving grass scorched, cattle heat-stressed and farmers relying on winter feed months earlier than planned.
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