FirstEnergy Q3 2026 earnings: profit tops estimates on rising power demand
FirstEnergy's adjusted profit beat Wall Street forecasts, helped by surging electricity demand tied to data centers, and the company kept its full-year outlook unchanged.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $0.98 | $0.93 | +5.4% |
| Revenue | $4.56B | $4.38B | +4.0% |
Key takeaways
- FirstEnergy’s adjusted (“Core”) profit came in above the average analyst estimate, continuing a pattern of outperformance for this regulated electric utility that serves parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and other mid-Atlantic states.
- Adjusted earnings per share rose from 83 cents a year earlier to this quarter’s level, which management attributed to steady execution of its grid-investment strategy rather than a one-time gain.
- Management reaffirmed its full-year 2026 adjusted-profit target of $2.62 to $2.82 per share and now expects results at or slightly above the midpoint, signaling confidence that the rest of the year will track close to plan.
- The company also stuck with its longer-term goal of growing adjusted profit near the top of a 6%-8% annual range through 2030, a target backed by a $36 billion, five-year plan to upgrade and expand its power grid.
- A key growth driver is demand from data centers: the company’s pipeline of contracted data-center electricity demand has nearly doubled since the start of the year, which supports the case for more grid infrastructure that FirstEnergy expects to build and earn a regulated return on.
- CEO Brian Tierney said the company is “delivering on our commitments while positioning FirstEnergy for the next phase of growth,” adding that strong execution supports confidence in the long-term outlook.
- The company’s operating margin (about 17% over the past year) is much wider than its bottom-line net profit margin (about 7%), a gap mainly explained by interest costs on the debt FirstEnergy uses to fund its large, multi-year grid-upgrade program.
- Return on equity of about 8.5% over the past year is a modest but fairly typical level for a regulated utility, whose allowed profitability is largely set by state and federal regulators rather than open market competition.
- Revenue grew roughly 10% over the past year, broadly in line with the company’s rising capital spending, as new grid investment is recovered from customers through regulated rates over time.
How the stock took it
FirstEnergy Corp closed at $46.18 on Oct 26, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $46.40 on Oct 28, 2026, the first session after it — +0.5% across the report.
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.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 60.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 17.0% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 7.2% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 11.0% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $1.87 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 9.9% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -17.2% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 8.5% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report