A look at the utility names on Josh Brown’s Best Stocks list
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — Today we’re going to revisit a name you may have heard me talking about on TV before called NextEra Energy (NEE) . I used to own it, but I currently have no position. It looks like a fresh breakout to multiyear highs is coming. NextEra is basically two companies in one. The first half of NEE is a gigantic utility powering the state of Florida called Florida Power and Light (FPL). Given the state’s population explosion, this is a classic growth story in the regulated utility business in and of itself. The other half of NextEra is a renewable energy business that has rapidly become one of the most exciting stories in the space. About that multiyear high… In the chart above you can see something massive shaping up over the last 10 years. Those are monthly candles, and we’re making an assault on the old highs from five years ago right now. The higher low formed during the 2025 swoon looks like a “handle” coming out of the “cup” lows of late 2023. Let’s say you don’t like patterns and you think it’s voodoo. That’s fine — but can you at least accept this as a higher low indicating the buyers didn’t think it would revisit the mid-40’s again? They came in at $60 and they turned the stock. Pay attention! Sean’s got a couple more utilities to show you plus our usual rundown of Best Stocks metadata. All five of the top stocks by relative strength on our list are denizens of the physical economy — oil fields, auto parts, drilling equipment, tractors, package delivery. It’s still a HALO world where analog businesses have the best stock price action. My HALO idea I’ve talked about here was featured in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend. You can read it here (but not until you finish this column –- SWEAR TO ME!). OK, here’s Sean. Look for me at the end with some risk management strategizing. Sector leaderboard As of Feb. 23 , there are 232 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight: Electric utilities NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE): Sean — NextEra Energy is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from wind and solar, combining a regulated Florida utility with a massive unregulated clean energy business (NextEra Energy Resources), which gives this one a little higher upside than most Utes. We wrote about this one and a slew of other utilities in January before earnings season kicked off. NEE reported shortly after with earnings up 8% year-over-year, beating guidance and guided to an ambitious long-term target of 8%+ compounded annual EPS growth through 2032. NEE pays a decent 2.7% dividend yield, which is a nice benefit to the recent price growth. Josh — Here we’re back to looking at the one-year which looks awesome. I showed you the ten year chart above to stop you from saying “I missed it!” At $92 we’re pressing to new recovery highs with both moving averages sloping higher. The 50-day is at $84 and rising, the 200 day at $78 and turning up too. Price is extended above both, which tells you this is a strong phase, not a range. The January pivot near 80 marked the higher low. From there, the stock reclaimed the 200-day, consolidated above it, then accelerated once it cleared the mid 80s. That $88 to $90 breakout area is now first support. If this move is legitimate, it should not lose that level on a closing basis. RSI at 66 confirms strength without being stretched. No bearish divergence, no exhaustion. I like $80 as the pivot point for traders. Beneath that, the 200-day at 78 shifts the entire trend conversation. A weekly close below and this comes off the radar. Duke Energy Corp. (DUK): Sean — We wrote about this one in October. Duke Energy is one of the largest regulated U.S. electric utilities serving over 8 million customers across the Carolinas, Florida and the Midwest. The price has been flat since then, but the story still resonates. Management is guiding for 5%-7% EPS growth annually, and the rate base growth justifies a premium. Regulated earnings compounding at mid-single digits with a ~3.4% yield and a multiple re-rated higher gives this stock a spot on our list. Josh — We steered you wrong on this one as the breakout turned out to have been a false one and $130 couldn’t hold. This is why we engage in risk management — the stop was a good one and kept you out of trouble for a while. Duke is back on the list of Best Stocks in the Market and attempting to fight its way back through the old high. Traders should wait for the clean break on convincing volume. I wouldn’t anticipate this one given how violently it failed last time. We’re showing it to you today as an example of why certain prices become meaningful to buyers and sellers. There is memory here. Watch it play out. I do like the steadily rising RSI as confirmation. FirstEnergy Corp. (FE): Sean — FE is one we have not covered yet, but it’s trending higher with the rest of the industry. FirstEnergy is a pure-play regulated electric utility serving Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York entirely driven by rate base growth. On the earnings front, FE had a strong 2025 — full-year EPS came in at $2.55, up 7.6% and at the top end of guidance, with revenue up 12% to $15.1B and capital investments of $5.6B coming in 25% above the prior year. The company guided for 2026 EPS of $2.62–$2.82 (7% growth) backed by a $36B five-year capex plan targeting 10% annual rate base growth. Next earnings are April 23, where the key things to watch will be progress on the data center pipeline, which more than doubled to 12.9 GW. Josh — Instead of writing up Duke last fall I should have shown you this one. Pow! This one-year chart is exactly what you want to see from a utility. Steady climb, higher highs, higher lows, no drama. At $50 we’re breaking out to fresh recovery highs. The 50-day is at $46 and rising, the 200-day at $44 and sloping up as well. Price is riding above both moving averages, which tells you institutions are accumulating, not distributing. The pullback in December held above the rising 200-day and set up the higher low. From there, it reclaimed the 50-day and never looked back. The $48 area was prior resistance and should now act as first support. If this breakout is real, it should not spend much time back below that level. RSI is at 70, which is strong. That’s momentum expanding, not rolling over. I’d use $48 as the near-term pivot for traders. Beneath that, the 200-day at $44 is the real line in the sand. A weekly close below that and the uptrend needs to be reassessed. Bottom line: I’m a seller on a meaningful break below major support at $44. So long as it stays above and momentum holds up, I would keep it. Last thing on FE — the ten year chart has the same setup I pointed out with NextEras above — a big resistance level from five years ago about to be challenged… I cleared out all the moving averages and stuff so you can focus on price. You had the pre-2020 uptrend into the low-$40s, the pandemic collapse into the mid-$20s, and then basically a multiyear rebuild. From 2021 through 2024 this thing lived in a wide range, chopping between roughly $35 and $45 while it digested that entire episode. Now we’re at $50, breaking above the entire post-2019 range. That’s a structural breakout on a monthly chart. It’s not just a good quarter or a hot stretch, it’s a regime shift if it sticks. RSI on the monthly is 65, strong but not extreme. No multiyear bearish divergence, no blowoff look. If this breakout holds above the prior $45 to $47 ceiling on a monthly closing basis, you’re talking about a utility making new cycle highs for the first time in almost a decade. That’s not something to fade casually. DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. 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