AI Demand Ignites the Green Energy Sector! These 5 Stocks Have Quietly Soared This Year, With the Highest Up Over 223%

According to Zhitong Finance APP, since 2026, due to rising oil and gas prices driven by the Middle East war, energy stocks have been steadily climbing, and artificial intelligence (AI) trading has also shown strong momentum. Meanwhile, outside the market spotlight, some green energy companies in the sustainability sector have quietly outperformed many popular peers.

Data shows that fuel cell manufacturer Bloom Energy (BE.US) has seen an increase of over 223% so far this year, ranking first among all its industry peers; its competitor FuelCell Energy (FCEL.US) also achieved triple-digit growth within the year. Both companies have benefited from the AI-driven increase in electricity demand.

It is reported that Bloom Energy has secured a series of major contracts this year. In April, the company signed a fuel cell procurement framework agreement of up to 2.8 GW with Oracle (ORCL.US), and expanded its partnership scale from $5 billion to $25 billion with alternative asset management giant Brookfield (BAM.US), which is continually expanding its AI business. The company also signed a $2.65 billion, 20-year power purchase agreement with American Electric Power Company (AEP) to build and operate a fuel cell power facility in Wyoming, providing long-term power supply for AEP. In July, the company announced a $1.7 billion project investment to provide dedicated power solutions for the AI cloud computing company Nebius (NBIS.US).

FuelCell Energy, on the other hand, reached a 380 MW data center power supply agreement with Fit Energy USA LP this year, and signed a capacity reservation agreement regarding a Texas project with a leading data center operator.

Meanwhile, high-performance power module manufacturer Vicor Corporation (VICR.US) has risen over 97% so far this year; the company is engaged in designing and manufacturing modular power components and power systems to efficiently convert and deliver electricity for high-performance electronic devices. Renewable energy company Enlight Renewable Energy (ENLT.US), which develops and operates utility-scale solar, wind, and energy storage projects in several markets, increased by about 58% year to date. Advanced materials company Aspen Aerogels (ASPN.US) has risen more than 81% so far this year; the company designs and manufactures high-performance aerogel materials used for thermal insulation layers in electric vehicle batteries, energy-saving insulation materials, and other energy sectors.

These five green stocks have all significantly outperformed popular clean energy ETFs. Data shows that the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN.US) and the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (QCLN.US) are both up about 8% so far this year. At the same time, these five stocks have also vastly outperformed the S&P 500 Index, the Dow Jones Index, and the Nasdaq Composite Index.

Compared with the AI industry, the stocks of Bloom Energy, FuelCell Energy, Vicor Corporation, and Aspen Aerogels have all outperformed the two main chip ETFs — iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX.US) and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH.US) — and also outperformed the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ.US). While Renewable Energy underperformed the iShares Semiconductor ETF, it has still outperformed VanEck Semiconductor ETF and Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF since 2026.

In addition, Wall Street analysts are generally optimistic about these five stocks. Specifically, the consensus rating for Bloom Energy is “Buy” with an average target price of $280.24, which is almost the same as the closing price on Thursday; FuelCell Energy's consensus rating is “Buy” with an average target price of $20.33, giving the stock nearly 15% upside from Thursday's close; for Vicor Corporation, the consensus rating is “Strong Buy” with an average target price of $386.25, representing nearly 79% upside from Thursday's close; for Renewable Energy, the consensus rating is “Buy” with an average target price of $87.88, about 17% higher than Thursday's closing price; and for Aspen Aerogels, the consensus rating is “Buy” with an average target price of $7.75, representing nearly 51% upside from Thursday's closing price.