The artificial intelligence market in the U.S. has already grown into a multi‑billion‑dollar space, with estimates putting its value north of $40B and projecting strong double‑digit growth through the end of this decade. That kind of expansion needs a huge amount of reliable power in the real world, and this is where Entergy (ETR) quietly steps into focus as more than just another regulated utility.

Meta Platforms (META) has picked Entergy for a large data center project and agreed to back new natural gas capacity, structured so Meta pays its full cost of service. Alongside that growth angle, Entergy’s board recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.64 per share, working out to a yield near 2.3% at recent prices, supported by an uninterrupted dividend record since 1988. 

With AI demand surging, Meta leaning on Entergy for new capacity in Louisiana, and a steady cash payout on top, could this under‑the‑radar utility quietly be one of the more appealing ways to plug into the AI buildout while still collecting income along the way? Let's find out.

Entergy’s Financial Fundamentals

Entergy Corporation is a New Orleans-based regulated electric utility serving customers across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas with a market equity value of about $46.6 billion and a forward annual dividend of $2.56 per share, yielding roughly 2.49%. 

ETR’s stock sits at $110.91 as of March 30, with a year-to-date (YTD) gain of 20% and a 52-week advance of 31%.

This utility commands a price-to-earnings multiple of 26.28x and a price-to-cash-flow ratio of 10.80x, compared with sector medians of 20.52x and 9.54x, respectively, signaling that investors are willing to pay a premium for its earnings profile. 

Their most recent reported quarter showed a profit of $240.5 million, released in late December 2025, translating to net income of $0.51 per share. This result came alongside revenue of $2.96 billion, which surpassed the $2.9 billion that analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected and confirmed healthy underlying demand across its regulated footprint. 

It further showed that full-year 2025 profit reached $1.77 billion, or $3.91 per share, on revenue of $12.95 billion, providing a solid earnings base for future data center–related load growth. That financial strength is reinforced by the operating cash flow of about $5.15 billion for 2025, up 30.97%, and net cash flow of roughly $1.07 billion, up 62.67%, which gives Entergy room to fund Meta-linked capacity investments.

Entergy’s Long-Term Energy Growth

Entergy Louisiana recently announced a new agreement with Meta to support a hyperscale data center in Northeast Louisiana that is designed to deliver about $2 billion in customer savings over 20 years, on top of $650 million previously announced, for a total of roughly $2.65 billion in projected benefits. This arrangement has Meta covering the full cost of the new infrastructure while still allowing Entergy to strengthen grid reliability, invest in growth, and keep rates affordable across its customer base.

This same agreement underpins a massive build-out plan. The company intends to add seven new natural gas–fueled combined-cycle power plants totaling more than 5,200 megawatts, all designed with the capability for future carbon capture and hydrogen co-firing. It also includes about 240 miles of new 500 kV transmission lines, multiple battery storage sites, nuclear uprates, and support for up to 2,500 megawatts of new solar resources, plus a memorandum of understanding to explore future nuclear development.

There is a broader pattern here that extends beyond just Meta. Entergy recently outlined about $5 billion in total customer savings tied to data center agreements across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, benefiting roughly 2.3 million customers over the next two decades. These projects are expected to help drive approximately $47 billion in new regional investment. 

Complementing that, Entergy Arkansas has launched its “Next Generation Arkansas” plan, targeting at least a 30% reduction in outages and up to 2,600 megawatts of new efficient generation. It also includes 1,600 megawatts of repowered assets to meet a projected 35%+ increase in power needs over five years with rates that remain below the national average.

How Analysts See Entergy After the Meta Deal

Wall Street sees Entergy’s next key checkpoint on May 05, 2026, for the quarter ending March 2026, with an average earnings estimate of $0.97 per share, up from $0.82 a year earlier, indicating an 18.29% year-over-year (YoY) growth rate. That kind of double‑digit earnings growth helps explain why the market has been willing to rerate ETR stock, as management guidance supports this as a sustained trend, with Entergy expecting full‑year earnings in a range of $4.25 to $4.45 per share.

Analyst sentiment is broadly aligned with that constructive view. Back in January, Barclays analyst Nicholas Campanella reiterated a “Buy” rating on Entergy and set a price target of $96, which the stock has already moved past as the Meta narrative strengthened. 

The current setup is even more striking as a total of 22 analysts have collectively arrived at a “Strong Buy” consensus rating for ETR. Their average price target stands at $110.38, which is just a few cents away from its current price. That margin of difference in price might not be impressive, but layered on top of a roughly 2.3% dividend yield and the Meta deal, it suggests analysts see Entergy less as a trade and more as a compounder.

Conclusion

Entergy looks like a solid way to tap into the AI buildout while still collecting a steady 2.3% dividend. The Meta-backed projects, healthy earnings trajectory, and supportive analyst outlook all point toward a stock that is more likely to grind higher than give back recent gains, even if the upside from here looks gradual rather than explosive. Over the next few years, the combination of modest price appreciation and reliable income should keep ETR on the right side of long-term investors.

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