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GE Vernova vs. American Electric Power: Which Power Stock Has the Edge?
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Key Takeaways
GE Vernova posted 88% organic order growth and raised its 2026 revenue and free cash flow outlook.
AEP's commercial sales jumped with 69 GW of contracted load expected by 2030.
GE Vernova has stronger projected earnings growth, ROE and six-month price performance than AEP.
GE Vernova (GEV - Free Report) and American Electric Power (AEP - Free Report) are closely aligned with the long-term expansion and modernization of the U.S. power grid, although they participate in different parts of the electricity value chain. As electricity consumption accelerates — particularly from AI, data centers and other energy-intensive industries — the need for greater transmission capacity and a more resilient grid is becoming increasingly important. This creates a favorable structural backdrop for both companies.
GE Vernova benefits primarily as a technology and equipment provider. Its portfolio includes high-voltage transmission equipment, grid automation, electrification technologies and other solutions that help utilities modernize aging infrastructure and connect new generation resources to the grid. American Electric Power, meanwhile, benefits as a major grid operator and utility, with one of the largest transmission networks in the United States. The company is investing in expanding and upgrading this network to support rising electricity demand, improve reliability and accommodate the changing generation mix.
Let us compare the stocks' fundamentals to determine which one is a better investment option at present.
Factors Acting in Favor of GEV Stock
GE Vernova’s latest CIGRE 2026 announcement highlights its positioning to benefit from rising electricity demand driven by AI, data centers and industrial electrification. The company is offering integrated solutions across transmission, grid automation, energy storage and electrification to help utilities expand capacity and improve reliability. This creates a strong growth opportunity for GEV as utilities and large power users increase spending on grid modernization and infrastructure, supporting long-term demand for its equipment, software and services.
GEV delivered a strong second-quarter 2026 performance, with orders rising 88% organically to $24.2 billion and backlog reaching $176 billion, driven by strong demand across Power and Electrification. Revenues increased 22% to $11.1 billion. Gas turbine backlog and reservations also increased to 116 GW, with GEV now expecting at least 125 GW under contract by year-end. Data-center-related Electrification orders have surpassed $5 billion year to date, more than double the 2025 total. Given this momentum, GEV raised its 2026 revenue and free cash flow outlook, highlighting strong demand from power generation, grid infrastructure and AI/data centers.
Factors Acting in Favor of AEP Stock
American Electric Power has a stable earnings base of more than 5.6 million customers across 11 states, with approximately 33 GW of diverse owned and contracted generating capacity as of June 30, 2026. This provides stability for the company’s revenue stream and insulates it from lower sales in any particular service area. The company has lately witnessed increases in commercial load, driven by new data processing facilities.
AEP is seeing strong commercial load growth, driven by energy-intensive sectors such as AI data centers. In the second quarter of 2026, commercial sales increased 14.9% at vertically integrated utilities and 17.4% at transmission and distribution utilities, supporting higher electricity volumes and revenues. The company expects this trend to continue, with incremental contracted load projected to reach 69 GW by 2030, up from 63 GW in the first quarter of 2026. Data centers account for 90% of this load, while Texas represents about 45 GW.
How Do Zacks Estimates Compare for GEV & AEP?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GE Vernova’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) indicates a year-over-year increase of 74.11%. GEV’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 18%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Electric Power’s 2026 EPS indicates a year-over-year improvement of 6.7%. AEP’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8.76%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation for GEV & AEP
GEV shares trade at a forward 12-month price/sales (P/S F12M) of 4.97X compared with AEP’s P/S F12M of 2.74X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
GEV & AEP’s Return on Equity (ROE)
ROE measures how efficiently a company is utilizing its shareholders’ funds to generate profits. GE Vernova’s current ROE is 42.42% compared with American Electric Power’s 9.95%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
GEV & AEP’s Price Performance
In the past six months, shares of GE Vernova have risen 7.5% while those of American Electric Power have lost 7.7%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
GEV or AEP: Which Is a Better Choice Now?
GE Vernova is well positioned to benefit from rising electricity demand, AI and data-center growth, with strong momentum across power generation and grid infrastructure supporting its long-term growth outlook. American Electric Power benefits from a stable customer base and growing electricity demand, particularly from AI and data centers, with strong commercial load growth and a substantial pipeline of contracted demand supporting long-term revenue growth.
Our choice at the moment is GE Vernova, given its better earnings growth projection, stronger ROE and better price performance than American Electric Power. Both GEV and AEP carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
GE Vernova vs. American Electric Power: Which Power Stock Has the Edge?
Key Takeaways
GE Vernova (GEV - Free Report) and American Electric Power (AEP - Free Report) are closely aligned with the long-term expansion and modernization of the U.S. power grid, although they participate in different parts of the electricity value chain. As electricity consumption accelerates — particularly from AI, data centers and other energy-intensive industries — the need for greater transmission capacity and a more resilient grid is becoming increasingly important. This creates a favorable structural backdrop for both companies.
GE Vernova benefits primarily as a technology and equipment provider. Its portfolio includes high-voltage transmission equipment, grid automation, electrification technologies and other solutions that help utilities modernize aging infrastructure and connect new generation resources to the grid. American Electric Power, meanwhile, benefits as a major grid operator and utility, with one of the largest transmission networks in the United States. The company is investing in expanding and upgrading this network to support rising electricity demand, improve reliability and accommodate the changing generation mix.
Let us compare the stocks' fundamentals to determine which one is a better investment option at present.
Factors Acting in Favor of GEV Stock
GE Vernova’s latest CIGRE 2026 announcement highlights its positioning to benefit from rising electricity demand driven by AI, data centers and industrial electrification. The company is offering integrated solutions across transmission, grid automation, energy storage and electrification to help utilities expand capacity and improve reliability. This creates a strong growth opportunity for GEV as utilities and large power users increase spending on grid modernization and infrastructure, supporting long-term demand for its equipment, software and services.
GEV delivered a strong second-quarter 2026 performance, with orders rising 88% organically to $24.2 billion and backlog reaching $176 billion, driven by strong demand across Power and Electrification. Revenues increased 22% to $11.1 billion. Gas turbine backlog and reservations also increased to 116 GW, with GEV now expecting at least 125 GW under contract by year-end. Data-center-related Electrification orders have surpassed $5 billion year to date, more than double the 2025 total. Given this momentum, GEV raised its 2026 revenue and free cash flow outlook, highlighting strong demand from power generation, grid infrastructure and AI/data centers.
Factors Acting in Favor of AEP Stock
American Electric Power has a stable earnings base of more than 5.6 million customers across 11 states, with approximately 33 GW of diverse owned and contracted generating capacity as of June 30, 2026. This provides stability for the company’s revenue stream and insulates it from lower sales in any particular service area. The company has lately witnessed increases in commercial load, driven by new data processing facilities.
AEP is seeing strong commercial load growth, driven by energy-intensive sectors such as AI data centers. In the second quarter of 2026, commercial sales increased 14.9% at vertically integrated utilities and 17.4% at transmission and distribution utilities, supporting higher electricity volumes and revenues. The company expects this trend to continue, with incremental contracted load projected to reach 69 GW by 2030, up from 63 GW in the first quarter of 2026. Data centers account for 90% of this load, while Texas represents about 45 GW.
How Do Zacks Estimates Compare for GEV & AEP?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GE Vernova’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) indicates a year-over-year increase of 74.11%. GEV’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 18%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Electric Power’s 2026 EPS indicates a year-over-year improvement of 6.7%. AEP’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8.76%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation for GEV & AEP
GEV shares trade at a forward 12-month price/sales (P/S F12M) of 4.97X compared with AEP’s P/S F12M of 2.74X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
GEV & AEP’s Return on Equity (ROE)
ROE measures how efficiently a company is utilizing its shareholders’ funds to generate profits. GE Vernova’s current ROE is 42.42% compared with American Electric Power’s 9.95%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
GEV & AEP’s Price Performance
In the past six months, shares of GE Vernova have risen 7.5% while those of American Electric Power have lost 7.7%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
GEV or AEP: Which Is a Better Choice Now?
GE Vernova is well positioned to benefit from rising electricity demand, AI and data-center growth, with strong momentum across power generation and grid infrastructure supporting its long-term growth outlook. American Electric Power benefits from a stable customer base and growing electricity demand, particularly from AI and data centers, with strong commercial load growth and a substantial pipeline of contracted demand supporting long-term revenue growth.
Our choice at the moment is GE Vernova, given its better earnings growth projection, stronger ROE and better price performance than American Electric Power. Both GEV and AEP carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.