Vestas, Orsted and Equinor Post Strong Q1 Profits Amid Rising Energy Prices from Middle East Conflict

Vestas reported an unexpectedly large first-quarter profit rise on Wednesday, recording its best first-quarter earnings since 2018. Orsted posted stronger-than-expected profit through the first three months of the year while Norway's Equinor posted its strongest quarterly profit in three years on the same day.

U.S. And Israeli-led war against Iran began in February 2026, sending fossil fuel prices higher and prompting a reassessment of energy security across Europe. CNBC reported that the conflict has supercharged the clean energy transition as countries weigh renewables' role in reducing reliance on imported fuels.

Torgrim Reitan, chief financial officer at Equinor, told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition" that the drivers behind the energy transition have clearly shifted amid the Iran war, moving from a focus on decarbonization to issues such as energy security, self-sufficiency and independence.

"In Europe, we see that there is clearly big momentum behind that," Reitan said. K. K. offshore wind development is slated to become the world's largest offshore wind farm when it enters production.

Reitan added that the company's priority is to deliver the projects under development and that it will require significant returns from that business to invest further. "But we do believe that what is going on now will actually help the returns in sort of the transition industries," Reitan said.

Equinor expects the Iran war to deliver a boost to its transition industries, according to the company.

Rasmus Errboe, CEO of Orsted, said events in the Middle East had reaffirmed the need to accelerate Europe's energy transition. "When we look at what's happening in the world, there's no reason not to switch gears in the energy transition towards renewables in Europe," Errboe said in a statement.

U.S. Wind power from the White House. S. over the weekend and that meetings with data center builders were part of the journey as the industry eyes electrification to support artificial intelligence infrastructure.

In comments that appeared to reference President Donald Trump, Andersen said "just because one person in the world has a maybe wrong perception of what reality … is, that doesn't take the rest of the community off the scale. " President Donald Trump has a long history of mocking wind power and claimed at the World Economic Forum earlier this year that wind turbines destroy land and lose money.

EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra dismissed Trump's criticism as "nothing new" and said the region takes "a different view" on the transition away from fossil fuels.

Analysts expect the fallout from the Iran war energy shock to prompt countries to direct even more investment toward clean energy resources. Tancrede Fulop, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNBC by email that while energy security concerns can reinforce the long-term case for renewables, there is limited evidence that the Iran conflict is driving a near-term step change in fundamentals.

Fulop added that among the two, Vestas appears better positioned to benefit from any acceleration in renewable deployment, whereas Orsted remains focused on executing its existing project pipeline.