---
title: "Constellation sold Google 20 years of nuclear power, and still trades 38% below its high"
description: "Constellation put up more than $4.3 billion to sell two decades of nuclear output to Google and Amazon, and the stock still trades 38% below its high. The market priced it like a leveraged AI landlord; the contracts, and a November 9 earnings print, say otherwise."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Power"
published: 2026-10-26T14:47:55.358Z
modified: 2026-10-26T14:47:55.358Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/constellation-sold-google-20-years-of-nuclear-power-and-still-trades-38-below-its-high
language: en
keywords: "Nuclear, Power Deals, Data Center Power, Stock Moves, Constellation Energy"
---

# Constellation sold Google 20 years of nuclear power, and still trades 38% below its high

> Constellation put up more than $4.3 billion to sell two decades of nuclear output to Google and Amazon, and the stock still trades 38% below its high. The market priced it like a leveraged AI landlord; the contracts, and a November 9 earnings print, say otherwise.

[Constellation](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/constellation-energy) sold 20 years of nuclear power to Google and 20 more to [Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon) in one week, then closed on October 23 at $253, down 30.5% for the year and 38% below its $406.04 high [1]. The October repricing of AI power names cut every stock in the trade, from leveraged data-center landlords to a utility holding contracts signed by [Alphabet](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/alphabet) and Amazon.

The difference between those two groups is the whole argument, and two dates will referee it: a Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection already open at the Dresden plant, and third-quarter earnings on November 9 [1] [4].

## Two contracts, one week, $7 billion of new spend

On October 6 Constellation and Google [announced a 20-year power purchase agreement](https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20261006125246/google-and-constellation-announce-landmark-agreement-to-bring-890-mw-of-new-nuclear-capacity-to-pjm-grid-as-part-of-long-term-power-deal), a PPA, meaning a fixed long-term contract to buy electricity at agreed terms [5]. Google's purchase supports 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity from uprates, upgrades to turbines, steam generators and control systems that squeeze more output from 11 reactors already running [5].

A separate 15-year deal covers another 2,700 megawatts from the existing fleet [5]. Constellation, not Google, puts up the more than $4.3 billion of investment behind the uprates, [roughly $4.8 million per megawatt](https://theinference.org/article/new-nuclear-cost-3-3x-more-per-megawatt-under-amazon-than-google-six-days-apart-at-constellation), with the first new megawatts due in 2028 and all 890 online by the end of 2032 [1] [5]. A week earlier, [Amazon signed a 20-year PPA for 690 megawatts at the Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland](https://theinference.org/article/amazon-scrapped-its-maryland-data-center-and-bought-the-nuclear-plant-s-power-anyway), including a roughly 190-megawatt uprate due between 2030 and 2032, backed by more than $3 billion of Constellation investment [1] [2].

*Chart: **Google's package runs to 3,590 MW; Amazon's Calvert Cliffs deal adds 690 MW** Horizontal bar chart ranking contracted capacity by customer: Google's 890 MW of uprates plus its separate 2,700 MW PJM supply deal, Amazon's full 690 MW Calvert Cliffs package, Amazon's 190 MW uprate within it, and Walmart's 30 MW Dresden uprate.*

*Contracted megawatts announced in 2026: the Google package splits into its 20-year PPA (890 MW of uprates) and separate 15-year PJM supply agreement; Amazon's Calvert Cliffs PPA totals 690 MW including a roughly 190 MW uprate; Walmart's Dresden PPA includes 30 MW of uprate capacity. Sources: 1, 2, 3, 5. [1][2][3][5]*

## Uprates skip the queue

Uprates are the fastest path to new nuclear megawatts: they reuse existing sites, licenses and grid connections, so they avoid the multi-year timelines and interconnection bottlenecks of building from scratch [1] [5]. Google and Amazon together now back about 1,080 megawatts of planned Constellation uprates under long-term contracts, converting capital spending into two-decade contracted revenue from two of the strongest balance sheets in technology [1].

[Walmart](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/walmart) holds a smaller slice, a 176-megawatt PPA at Dresden signed in June that includes 30 megawatts of uprate capacity [3]. The market pays for this predictability elsewhere: [Vistra](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/vistra), Constellation's closest peer, runs the same playbook with 433 megawatts of [Meta](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/meta)-backed uprates and a conditional federal loan offer of up to $4.2 billion [1].

## The inspection, and the number the contracts assume

On October 14 the NRC, the federal nuclear regulator, [opened a special inspection](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/the-nuclear-regulatory-commission-begins-special-inspection-at-dresden-nuclear-power-plant-of-conste-ce785cdad981f321) at the two-unit Dresden station in Morris, Illinois, after staff found a corroded battery connection that broke during maintenance; the battery backs equipment used to shut down the reactor [4]. The regulator said the issue did not affect public health and safety.

Two inspectors will examine why routine checks missed the damage and whether other plants face the same problem [4]. The timing matters because uprate economics assume the fleet keeps running near [the 93.0% capacity factor Constellation posted in the second quarter](https://www.tikr.com/blog/constellation-energy-pledges-890-mw-of-uprates-for-google-growing-energy-needs), already down from 94.8% a year earlier [1].

## The fear trade has the wrong defendant

The sector-wide selloff has a real anchor, but not in Baltimore. [Core Scientific](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/core-scientific), a bitcoin miner renting data-center capacity to AI clouds, lost 24% in a month after [Jefferies](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/jefferies) cut its target from $37 to $16; it carries about $7.7 billion of debt against $1.8 billion of cash and negative equity [6].

Constellation carries roughly 3.0 times net debt to EBITDA, its buyers are Alphabet and Amazon rather than leveraged renters, and Wall Street's average target sits at $338, about 33% above the last close [1] [4]. [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley) [raised its target to $378 on October 21](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/morgan-stanley-raises-target-for-constellation-energy-stock-to-usd-378/70413650), citing the expansion pipeline [2]. A stock falling with the sector while signing contracts the sector could not get is a separation the next print can confirm or deny.

*Chart: **Wall Street's targets sit 33% or more above the $253 close** Bar chart comparing Constellation Energy's October 23 close of $253 with Wall Street's $338 average target, Morgan Stanley's $378 target and the $406.04 high*

*Constellation Energy share price on October 23, 2026 against Wall Street's average price target, Morgan Stanley's October 21 target and the stock's 52-week high. Sources: 1, 2. [1][2]*

## What November 9 decides

[Third-quarter results land on November 9](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/vorboerse/constellation-energy-stock-q3-report-due-november-9-ahead-of-xetra-open/70412156), the first report since both deals [1] [7]. Three lines settle the argument: whether 2026 adjusted operating EPS guidance of $11.50 to $12.50 holds, whether nuclear capacity factors recover toward the mid-90s, and what management says about Dresden [1]. Until then, the market has priced a borrower's risk onto Alphabet's paper [1] [6].

## Takeaway

Constellation signed 20-year nuclear PPAs with Google and Amazon while carrying only about 3.0x net debt to EBITDA; the leveraged-miner selloff hit the wrong defendant, and the November 9 print settles it.

## Sources

1. [TIKR, Constellation Energy Pledges 890 MW of Uprates for Google: Growing Energy Needs, Oct 25, 2026](https://www.tikr.com/blog/constellation-energy-pledges-890-mw-of-uprates-for-google-growing-energy-needs)
2. [ad-hoc-news, Morgan Stanley raises target for Constellation Energy stock to USD 378, Oct 26, 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/morgan-stanley-raises-target-for-constellation-energy-stock-to-usd-378/70413650)
3. [POWER Magazine, Google Deal Backs 890 MW of Constellation Nuclear Uprates at 11 PJM Reactors, Oct 7, 2026](https://www.powermag.com/google-deal-backs-890-mw-of-constellation-nuclear-uprates-at-11-pjm-reactors/)
4. [MarketScreener (S&P Capital IQ), The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Begins Special Inspection At Dresden Nuclear Power Plant of Constellation Energy, Oct 15, 2026](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/the-nuclear-regulatory-commission-begins-special-inspection-at-dresden-nuclear-power-plant-of-conste-ce785cdad981f321)
5. [Business Wire via Morningstar, Google and Constellation Announce Landmark Agreement to Bring 890 MW of New Nuclear Capacity to PJM Grid, Oct 6, 2026](https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20261006125246/google-and-constellation-announce-landmark-agreement-to-bring-890-mw-of-new-nuclear-capacity-to-pjm-grid-as-part-of-long-term-power-deal)
6. [AInvest, Core Scientific: Not a Cheap Miner, But a Levered AI-Capex Bet That Just Broke Down, Oct 26, 2026](https://www.ainvest.com/news/core-scientific-cheap-miner-levered-ai-capex-bet-broke-2610/)
7. [ad-hoc-news, Constellation Energy stock: Q3 report due November 9 ahead of Xetra open, Oct 26, 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/vorboerse/constellation-energy-stock-q3-report-due-november-9-ahead-of-xetra-open/70412156)


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Constellation sold Google 20 years of nuclear power, and still trades 38% below its high — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/constellation-sold-google-20-years-of-nuclear-power-and-still-trades-38-below-its-high