Entergy (ETR) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Entergy is favored because it is delivering rare beat-and-raise performance among regulated utilities, with 1Q26 EPS of $0.86 versus consensus of $0.84, while management has repeatedly lifted 2028 EPS guidance by more than 20% since Meta came to town in late 2024. The latest data-center expansion boosted the 2026-2029 capex plan by $14B to $57B and supports a >13% EPS growth outlook, yet the incremental investment is structured to protect customers, with nearly $3B of Meta-related savings and about $7B of aggregate customer benefits identified. The company’s affordability profile is further strengthened by modest Arkansas rate filing and unchanged Mississippi rates, making its growth, regulatory execution, and customer-friendly strategy unusually attractive.

Entergy is facing a more cautious fundamental setup because its growth plan depends on unusually large, execution-heavy capital spending tied to hyperscale data centers and a potential new nuclear build, even as some spending spills into 2030-2031. Although management is targeting an ~8.5% retail sales CAGR for 2026-2029 and has filed for recovery of more than $13B of gas-fired capex, more than $1.5B of transmission, and over $700m of batteries, those investments raise regulatory, affordability, and timing risk in a service territory already burdened by storm exposure. The Gulf Coast footprint, especially Louisiana and Texas, faces elevated climate risk and rising bills, and the need for approval of ambitious resilience capex could slow returns while a large nuclear project increases execution complexity.