Constellation Energy Q1 2026 Earnings: Profit Jumps on Calpine Deal, Guidance Held
Constellation's Q1 2026 profit rose sharply from a year ago as the Calpine power-plant acquisition boosted results, and the company kept its full-year earnings outlook unchanged.
| Q1 2026 | Reported |
|---|---|
| EPS | $4.49 |
| Revenue | $7.54B |
Figures as reported by the company to the SEC for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Analyst estimates are not part of a filing, so no comparison to expectations is shown.
Key takeaways
- GAAP earnings per share came in at $4.49 for the quarter, a sharp jump from $0.38 in the same quarter a year earlier. The increase mainly reflects the addition of Calpine, the power-plant company Constellation acquired in early 2025, which added new generation capacity and earnings to the business.
- On an adjusted basis (the measure management uses to describe underlying performance, stripping out one-time items), operating earnings were $2.74 per share, up from $2.14 a year ago – again largely credited to Calpine’s contribution plus favorable nuclear tax credits and market conditions, partly offset by more nuclear plants being taken offline for scheduled maintenance than usual.
- Management affirmed its full-year 2026 guidance of $11.00 to $12.00 per share in adjusted operating earnings, unchanged from the range it set back in March, suggesting the quarter’s results were tracking in line with the company’s own expectations for the year.
- Constellation’s nuclear plants – its main source of steady, round-the-clock power – ran at a 92.3% capacity factor (the share of maximum possible output actually generated) during the quarter, a bit lower than typical because of extra planned maintenance outages, while still producing about 40 million megawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity.
- Trailing-twelve-month profitability metrics show a business that has grown significantly larger and more profitable: revenue is up roughly 23% and earnings per share up roughly 21% versus a year earlier, a shift driven substantially by folding Calpine’s plants and customers into the company.
- The trailing-year net profit margin of about 12.7% and return on equity of about 20% indicate the combined company is converting a meaningful share of its revenue into profit and generating solid returns on shareholders’ investment as it integrates the newly acquired assets.
- Executives said on the earnings call that the Calpine deal is expected to add roughly $2 per share to full-year earnings, underscoring how central that acquisition has become to the company’s growth story this year.
Q1 2026 in context
| Metric | Mar 2026 | Mar 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $11.1B | $6.8B | +63.8% |
| Net income | $1.6B | $118M | +1247.5% |
| Free cash flow | -$850M | -$699M | -21.6% |
| Diluted EPS | $4.49 | $0.38 | +1081.6% |
| Operating margin | 21.0% | 6.6% | +14.3 pts |
| Net margin | 14.3% | 1.7% | +12.6 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Mar 2026 and the quarter ended Mar 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
Constellation Energy Corp closed at $303.63 on May 8, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $293.60 on May 12, 2026, the first session after it — -3.3% across the report.
| Earlier report | Close before | Close after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 2025 | $351.30 | $360.93 | +2.7% |
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Sources: company report · earnings call