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Constellation Energy Q4 Earnings report
(Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

Top AI energy trade Constellation Energy beats earnings expectations

The company declined to give full-year 2026 guidance until a call slated for the end of March.

Nuclear power plant operator Constellation Energy reported Q4 earnings Tuesday before the start of trading in New York that edged ahead of analysts’ expectations for profitability, while revenue soared ahead.

The owner of the largest fleet of US nuclear plants reported:

  • Q4 adjusted earnings per share of $2.30 vs. the $2.25 consensus estimate from Wall Street analysts published by Bloomberg.

  • Operating revenue of $6.07 billion vs. the $4.90 billion expected by analysts.

  • The company neglected to give a full-year earnings forecast, noting that guidance would be discussed during Constellation’s “Business and Earnings Outlook” call scheduled for Tuesday, March 31, 2026.

After two smoking years in the stock market — Constellation shares were up 91% in 2024 and 58% in 2025 — driven by seemingly insatiable AI-related power demand, the utility has stumbled out of the blocks to start 2026. 

The stock was down roughly 17% for the year at the end of trading on Monday, hurt in part by the growing political backlash against rising consumer energy bills, a trend many blame on demand from AI data centers.

Indeed, Constellation’s biggest one-day drop of the year came on January 16, when the Trump administration announced plans to push hyperscalers to foot a higher part of the cost for data center power, which could translate into lower prices than shareholders had been penciling in for AI-related power.

The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4265 per share on its common stock.

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

markets

US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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