Green energy stocks see 'glory days' despite Trump policies

A dramatic rebound in clean-tech stocks has investors in the green economy hoping they can finally turn the page on years of punishing underperformance.

- By NatasHa WHITE, ALASTAIR MARSH AND Coco Liv

The timing is somewhat unexpected. Even as President Trump has canceled many U.S. government programs dedicated to boosting wind, solar and electric vehicles, green stocks have become one of this year’s most lucrative bets.

Those equities have significantly outpaced most other stock indexes. The Standard & Poor’s main gauge tracking clean energy isup about 50% thisyear; the MSCI World Index has gained less than 20% in the same period.

Much of that development is pegged to a nearinsatiable demand for energy to power the data centers feeding artificial _intelligence. It also reflects China’s relentless drive to build out its low-carbon economy. For investors, those factors have outweighed Trump's attacks on what he often calls the “green scam.”

Analysts at Jefferies have seized on the moment to declare this the “glory days” for green investors, even dedicating an entire client event tothe idea.

Aniket Shah, global head of sustainability and transition strategy at Jefferies, says investors have been too distracted by Trump’s antigreen rhetoric in the U.S. Instead, they should look at the global level of capital piling into clean technologies: the $2 trillion dedicated to low-carbon spending last year is an “insane number” that indicates the green economy is enjoying a “wonderful moment,” Shah said.

He points to an array of factors, including the stunning ascent of China’s green economy and its clean-tech exports to the developing world. And then there are the so-called hyperscalers driving AI, such as Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, all of which, Shah says, is “very much a sustainability story.”