Utilities: Increased Demand from AI and Other Drivers
Virtus’ Jim Jessup, Income Strategist, interviews John P. Bartlett, CFA, President of Reaves Asset Management about the increasing demand for utilities and what that could mean for investors.
Fundamentals are strong in the utilities sector.
Increasing demand for electricity to power artificial intelligence (AI) applications and the data centers they’re housed in presents a timely opportunity for investors.
An experienced, active manager who knows the utilities sector may be able to provide compelling returns to investors over a passive benchmark.
Recent poor relative performance has created significant opportunities in the utilities sector. Current valuations are compelling.
Macroeconomic headwinds, including higher interest rates and inflation, have impacted valuations. The sector recently posted its lowest relative forward price/equity ratio to the S&P 500® Index in over a decade, but then moved up quickly, despite rising interest rates.
We believe that the underlying fundamentals of the sector are currently strong, particularly when coupled with increasing demand due to AI and data center utilization.
The adoption of artificial intelligence has rapidly expanded over the last year and a half for many corporations, creating a dramatic increase for existing data centers. The electricity required to power the processors, as well as to physically cool the server stacks, will likely be significant.
Boston Consulting Group believes that data center electricity consumption could triple by 2030. The growth required to meet the needs of hyperscalers like Amazon and Microsoft is likely to be a tailwind for many companies within the utilities sector.
U.S. Data Center Energy Consumption, TWh
Source: McKinsey Energy Solutions Global Energy Perspective 2023; McKinsey data demand model
It takes years of experience to fully grasp the complexities impacting the utilities sector and their equity valuations. Characteristics such as high barriers to entry, limited competition, and the historical ability to consistently grow earnings and dividends are among the reasons why this asset class is unique.
The team at Reaves Asset Management includes specialists with decades of experience in actively managing utilities portfolios. They analyze utility companies that operate in 51 different regulatory jurisdictions, all with differing business fundamentals.
To view the historical benefits of active investment management in the Virtus Reaves Utilities ETF (NYSE Arca: UTES, “the Fund”) we invite you to view our performance.
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