STEM vs NEE Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
NEE is the world's largest renewable energy company — a utility-scale powerhouse with the most extensive wind, solar, and battery storage portfolio — while STEM is a much smaller AI software company optimizing how battery storage assets participate in energy markets. They occupy complementary but very different roles in the clean energy transition.
STEM vs NEE contrasts a small AI-powered energy storage software company against the world's largest renewable energy producer, both involved in the battery storage space but at dramatically different scales and business models.
NEE holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. NEE leads on both 1-year return (+13.67%) and forward P/E quality (18.65x vs -0.78x for STEM), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. NEE leads on both revenue growth (12.40%) and operating margin (31.52%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for STEM (+61.61%) than for NEE (+20.22%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to AI-powered software that optimizes energy storage asset value
- Believe Stem's Athena platform can build into a recurring revenue software business as storage scales
- Are comfortable with small-cap, pre-profitability risk in exchange for potential software multiple upside
- Want exposure to the world's largest renewable energy producer with a proven track record of growth
- Value the stable earnings base from Florida Power & Light alongside the renewable energy growth segment
- Prefer a large-cap, dividend-paying utility investment with significant clean energy exposure
| Metric | STEM | NEE |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 22.1 | 51.9 |
| AI ranki | #4384 | #432 |
| Latest closei | $4.61 | $80.47 |
| 1M returni | -19.97% | -6.33% |
| 6M returni | -52.47% | -12.92% |
| 1Y returni | -73.09% | +13.67% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | STEM | NEE |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $2.69K (-73.1%) started 2025-09-18 | $11.37K (+13.7%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $94.78 (-99.1%) started 2021-09-20 | $11.84K (+18.4%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $237.63 (-97.6%) started 2020-10-08 | $40.31K (+303.1%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | STEM | NEE |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $44.38M | $170.72B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | 18.39 |
| Forward P/Ei | -0.78 | 18.65 |
| Price/Salesi | 0.30 | 5.88 |
| EV/Revenuei | 2.51 | 10.07 |
| Analyst targeti | $7.45 | $98.39 |
| Target upsidei | +61.61% | +20.22% |
| Metric | STEM | NEE |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | -12.30% | 12.40% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | 53.10% |
| EPS growthi | N/A | +53.10% |
| FCF margini | +11.29% | -61.91% |
| Operating margini | -24.12% | 31.52% |
| Profit margini | -49.37% | 32.40% |
| ROIC proxyi | N/A | 11.68% |
| Return on equityi | N/A | 11.68% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.00% | 3.05% |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 53.47% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.52 | 0.65 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | 161.68 |
| Current ratioi | 0.83 | 0.53 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.67 | 0.35 |
Over the past year, STEM and NEE have moved barely in the same direction (correlation of 0.11), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | STEM | NEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -73.09% | +13.67% |
| CAGRi | -73.11% | +13.68% | |
| Volatilityi | 96.22% | 21.22% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.93 | 0.50 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -1.27 | 0.73 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.99% | 17.89% | |
| Current drawdowni | 84.53% | 17.79% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 56.63% | 6.01% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 60.94% | 7.80% | |
| Max daily dropi | 26.67% | 4.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 30.35% | 6.94% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -99.05% | +7.81% |
| CAGRi | -60.66% | +1.52% | |
| Volatilityi | 114.09% | 26.86% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.30 | 0.02 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.47 | 0.03 | |
| Max drawdowni | 99.16% | 44.97% | |
| Current drawdowni | 99.14% | 17.79% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 80.74% | 14.68% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 83.94% | 17.61% | |
| Max daily dropi | 40.82% | 8.97% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 51.64% | 22.71% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | -97.62% | +218.84% |
| CAGRi | -46.70% | +12.30% | |
| Volatilityi | 115.47% | 25.45% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.03 | 0.41 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.05 | 0.57 | |
| Max drawdowni | 99.55% | 44.97% | |
| Current drawdowni | 99.54% | 17.79% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 80.07% | 9.41% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 84.29% | 13.31% | |
| Max daily dropi | 40.82% | 13.42% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 51.64% | 24.36% |
| Category | STEM | NEE |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Stem, Inc. | NextEra Energy, Inc. |
| Sector | Energy - Energy Storage Software | Utilities |
| Industry | Utilities - Renewable | Utilities - Regulated Electric |
| Core business | Stem provides AI-powered energy storage software (Athena) that optimizes battery storage systems for commercial, industrial, and utility-scale customers, maximizing value from battery dispatch across energy markets. | NextEra Energy is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from wind and solar, operating through Florida Power & Light (regulated utility) and NextEra Energy Resources (unregulated renewable energy), with a large and growing battery storage portfolio. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Stem's annual recurring revenue from its Athena software platform, hardware-enabled services versus pure software revenue mix, and the company's path toward profitability. | Investors track NextEra's renewable energy project additions, FPL regulated utility earnings growth, and the long-term contracted renewable energy backlog that provides multi-year revenue visibility. |
- AI-powered Athena software platform optimizes battery storage asset performance and market value for customers
- Software-enabled services business model provides recurring revenue alongside hardware deployments
- Battery storage growth tailwind as renewable energy penetration increases demand for grid storage solutions
- World's largest renewable energy company with unmatched scale in wind and solar generation
- FPL's regulated utility provides stable, predictable earnings base complementing the renewable growth business
- Massive contracted backlog of future renewable energy projects provides exceptional multi-year revenue visibility
- Has faced significant revenue challenges and restructuring as growth targets have not been met
- Software recurring revenue is still building relative to higher-volatility hardware and project revenue
- Small scale creates vulnerability during periods of energy storage market volatility
- High interest rates in 2022-2023 pressured valuations for long-duration renewable energy assets
- Scale makes sustaining high percentage growth more challenging; growth is now measured in absolute gigawatts
- Regulated utility earnings face periodic rate case proceedings that can create uncertainty
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