New York, Jan 9, 2026, 07:23 EST — Premarket
- Vistra shares jumped roughly 8% in premarket trading after Meta signed 20-year nuclear power purchase agreements.
- The agreements span three Vistra plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and they also include planned output increases.
- Traders are also keeping an eye on the U.S. jobs report, which is set for 8:30 a.m. ET.
Vistra Corp shares jumped roughly 8% in premarket trading on Friday after Meta Platforms said it had signed 20-year deals to purchase electricity from three of Vistra’s nuclear facilities. Meta said the agreements include Vistra’s Perry and Davis-Besse plants in Ohio and the Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania. (Reuters)
The development puts power generators back front and center as Big Tech races to lock in reliable electricity for surging data center demand. Nuclear plants, long treated as fully mature assets, are returning to the discussion since they operate 24/7 and produce no carbon emissions while generating power.
For Vistra, the big draw is how long the contract runs. A power purchase agreement, or PPA, is a long-term deal to sell electricity, and it can make cash flows easier to predict when power prices swing.
Vistra said the PPAs are set to supply more than 2,600 megawatts of zero-carbon energy — 2,176 MW from existing generation, plus another 433 MW from “uprates,” or equipment upgrades that increase a plant’s output. Vistra said Meta’s purchases will start in late 2026, with additional capacity arriving through 2034, when the full 2,609 MW is online. The electricity will keep flowing into the PJM grid for all users. (PR Newswire)
Meta said its deals with Vistra, TerraPower and Oklo could open the door to as much as 6.6 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2035, describing nuclear as “clean, reliable electricity” for its AI buildout. Vistra CEO Jim Burke said working with Meta helps the company extend plant life and increase reactor capacity to support the grid. (Facebook)
The stock had been headed in the opposite direction going into Friday. Vistra finished Thursday down 2.6% at $150.60 and is still about 31% below its 52-week high. Trading volume also came in above its 50-day average, according to MarketWatch data. (MarketWatch)
Earlier this week, Vistra said it had struck a deal to buy Cogentrix Energy from Quantum Capital Group for about $4.7 billion. The move brings 10 natural gas-fired power plants into its portfolio as it prepares for stronger U.S. electricity demand. At the time, the company pointed to a U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast that consumption will reach record highs in 2026. (Reuters)
Still, the nuclear news isn’t a clean slam dunk. Vistra has to follow through on the uprates and then go after later license extensions, and any setbacks, cost squeeze, or a weaker power-price backdrop could put the market’s enthusiasm under strain.
On deck is the December U.S. nonfarm payrolls report at 8:30 a.m. ET — a possible rate catalyst that may jolt utility and power stocks ahead of the opening bell. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
