Shares of power equipment giant GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV) rebounded sharply on Wednesday following CEO Scott Strazik's comments at the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference, where he indicated the company's order backlog could surpass $200 billion in early 2027, earlier than Wall Street had anticipated. This statement comes as welcome news for investors unsettled by recent pullbacks in AI-related trades.

Strazik noted that GE Vernova's order backlog had already reached $176 billion at the end of the second quarter. Based on expected strong orders in the third quarter, the company is positioned to hit the $200 billion milestone "very early in 2027." "If I start with the end markets, I would tell you that we continue to see very strong and durable demand," Strazik said. He described this target as a "very humble milestone," citing the broader trend of rising electricity consumption. "The world needs much more energy, and a growing portion of that energy will come from electricity. GE Vernova is very well positioned to serve that," he added.

Adding to the bullish sentiment, Strazik extended his outlook beyond AI data centers, suggesting the 2030-2040 period could prove to be an "even better decade" than the 2020s. A portion of the backlog growth stems from the continued expansion of high-margin service revenue, while the company is also boosting capacity through factory automation and robotics.

The financial disclosure schedule also provided clarity: Strazik said GE Vernova will offer its 2027 financial outlook during the January earnings call, along with 2026 equipment margins and backlog figures. The next Capital Markets Day will establish the 2030 outlook, with substantial time dedicated to explaining the company's confidence in the 2030-2040 period.

This narrative aligns closely with bullish analysts like Bernstein, whose Sunaina Okalan reaffirmed a "Buy" rating on GE Vernova on Tuesday, with a price target of $1,298, calling the company "wired to win." Her key reminder: the GE Vernova story "isn't all data centers." In the first half of 2026, data center orders totaled $5 billion, representing roughly 38% of electrification orders, with the remaining 62% driven by utilities. Okalan believes utility spending should continue growing, supported by investments in grid reliability and resilience. She noted that any slowdown in data center demand might ease generation bottlenecks but would do little to resolve existing grid constraints. In other words, a cooling of AI construction doesn't mean the modernization and strengthening of aging grids will halt.

However, bearish perspectives remain pointed. The immediate catalyst for Monday's selloff in GE Vernova shares was GLJ Research's downgrade to "Sell" with a $470 price target, the lowest on Wall Street. Analyst Gordon Johnson asserted in the report that GE Vernova is "a cyclical gas turbine manufacturer priced as a long-term compounding growth stock," suggesting a fundamental mismatch in how the market values the company. Johnson noted the stock's forward EV/EBITDA multiple of 38.9x is nearly four times that of Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), whose earnings are similarly dependent on industry supply-demand dynamics beyond its control.