What REALLY drives clean energy stocks - Fear or Fundamentals?

Yuqi Zheng and Brian Lucey

Energy Economics, 2025, vol. 148, issue C

Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between the S&P Global Clean Energy Index and novel factors based on the GDELT Database, such as global news confidence levels, environmental sentiment, media coverage preferences in the US and China, and the ratio of environmental to overall reporting. We identify variables sourced from recent literature. Using the Isolation Forest method to select potential explanatory variables, Extreme Bounds Analysis reveals that “Fear” factors such as media sentiment and confidence show consistent and significant correlations with the S&P Global Clean Energy Index. These findings highlight the influential role of media sentiment in driving market confidence and industry growth. In contrast, some traditionally popular “Fundamental” factors, such as the Global Financial Stress Indicator, Green Bond Index, and US Dollar Index, lack robustness. While they appear reliable under normal distribution models, they exhibit substantial uncertainty under alternative models, limiting their explanatory power.

Keywords: Sustainability; Sentiment values; Media coverage; Energy; Extreme Bounds Analysis (EBA); Cloud computing; Isolation forest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:148:y:2025:i:c:s0140988325003822

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108558

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