US stock futures inch higher after Wall St rides Alphabet to record highs
Investing.com - Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) has revised its utility-scale solar installation forecasts, lowering 2025 growth expectations while raising 2026 projections due to strong corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) activity.
The bank now expects a 6% decline in solar installations for 2025, down from its previous forecast of 18% growth. For 2026, Wells Fargo raised its growth estimate to 9% from 5%, citing the positive impact of current PPA strength on future installations.
Corporate solar PPA issuance reached 1.6 gigawatts (GW) in both May and June 2025, exceeding the year-to-date monthly average of 1.3 GW. On a trailing twelve-month basis through June 2025, corporate solar PPA issuance totaled 21.6 GW, compared to 14.3 GW for the same period ending June 2024.
Hyperscale technology companies including Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta (NASDAQ:META), and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) have dominated this activity, accounting for 73% of the 7.9 GW in solar PPAs issued year-to-date through June. Wells Fargo projects corporations are on pace to issue approximately 22.5 GW of solar PPAs in 2025, representing a 20% year-over-year increase.
Despite recent tariffs and policy changes, Wells Fargo maintains that utility-scale solar remains competitive with natural gas, with solar levelized cost of energy (LCOE) at $73/MWh compared to $90/MWh for combined cycle gas turbines. The bank identified First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) and Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) as its top picks in the sector.
In other recent news, Amazon.com has been the focus of multiple analyst firms with positive updates on its financial outlook. Needham has increased its price target for Amazon to $265, maintaining a Buy rating, citing employee quality as a significant asset for the company. Similarly, Citi has raised its price target to $265, expecting Amazon’s upcoming Q2 2025 financial results to exceed consensus expectations, driven by Amazon Web Services (AWS) growth and improved retail trends. JMP Securities also maintained a $285 price target, despite slower-than-expected Prime Day growth, emphasizing the potential in AWS and advertising sectors due to their high margins.
In addition to financial updates, Amazon is under scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers concerning its involvement with submarine communications cables that might be serviced by Chinese and Russian entities, raising national security concerns. Furthermore, Amazon Braket has expanded its quantum computing offerings with the addition of IQM’s 54-qubit superconducting quantum processor, enhancing its cloud service capabilities. This development provides Amazon’s customers with more options for quantum hardware, aligning with European data residency requirements. These recent developments highlight Amazon’s strategic focus on expanding its technological infrastructure and addressing external regulatory challenges.
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