FirstEnergy (FE) Q3 2026 earnings review
FirstEnergy profit jumps 18%, and data centers lift spending plans
FirstEnergy, an electric utility serving six million customers in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, rebounded from a slow first half while expanding its power-line plans. Revenue grew 12% from a year ago, and third-quarter profit per share excluding one-offs rose 18% to $0.98. Chief executive Brian X. Tierney kept the full-year profit plan unchanged and pointed to the upper half, which by our math leaves fourth-quarter profit slightly below last year.
| Revenue | $4.6B +12% from a year ago |
|---|---|
| Profit per share, excluding one-offs | $0.98 +18% from a year ago |
| Contracted large-load demand | 7.9 GW up from 6.4 GW last quarter |
| Full-year profit outlook | Unchanged at or slightly above $2.72 middle |
⚖️ Verdict: 🟢 Bullish
The story got better because the third-quarter profit jump removed the risk to this year's target while data center contracts turned into a bigger spending plan. Contracted demand from large power users reached 7.9 gigawatts, prompting FirstEnergy to project at least a 25% increase in its $19 billion power-line budget for 2027 through 2031, and it reserved Siemens turbines for a West Virginia gas plant. One caution: the brief release omitted cash flow, debt, and segment figures, leaving the funding bill for that extra spending unanswered.
The question now is how much of the bigger capital budget turns into per-share profit growth after the utility issues stock and debt to pay for it. Either the upcoming five-year plan lifts the 6% to 8% annual profit growth target, or higher financing costs and regulatory delays absorb the extra spending. The 2027–2031 financial plan update later this year or early next year will settle it.
🐂 Bull Case
Third-Quarter Profit Jump Puts Full-Year Target Within Reach
After first-half profit per share excluding one-offs grew 2.5%, FirstEnergy needed a big second half to meet its full-year plan. In the third quarter, that measure rose 18.1% from a year ago to $0.98, while reported profit per share rose 26.3% to $0.96. The electric utility said it now "expects results at or slightly above the midpoint" of its $2.62 to $2.82 full-year range.
First-nine-month profit per share excluding one-offs reached $2.20, up 8.9% from $2.02 a year ago. Because the middle of the full-year range is $2.72, the company needs $0.52 in the fourth quarter by our math, compared with $0.53 in the fourth quarter of 2025. That removes the pressure for a late-year surge while rate filings move through four states.
What to watch: fourth-quarter profit per share excluding one-offs when full-year results arrive. A reading above $0.52 would put the utility above its $2.72 midpoint before new base rates take effect in 2027.
Data Center Contracts Lift Planned Power-Line Spending
FirstEnergy operates over 24,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. The utility signed 1.5 gigawatts of new large-load contracts this quarter, lifting its contracted total to 7.9 gigawatts, up from 6.4 gigawatts in the second quarter. Management is also "in active negotiations for approximately 4 gigawatts of additional load" from large customers.
Those contracts are now turning into a larger spending budget. The Ohio-based group expects "at least a 25% increase in the company's current $19 billion 2026–2030 transmission investment plan when it rolls forward to 2027–2031". By our math, that adds at least $4.75 billion of power-line spending, which earns regulated returns once built.
What to watch: the formal 2027–2031 capital budget update, usually released in the fourth quarter or early in the new year. It will show how much of the $4.75 billion power-line increase adds to the total $36 billion spending plan.
Siemens Agreement Secures Turbines for West Virginia Plant
FirstEnergy wants to build the Maidsville Energy Center, a natural gas power plant in West Virginia, to serve rising electricity demand. This quarter, the utility "secured turbines through a reservation agreement with Siemens for the proposed Maidsville Energy Center, with delivery expected in 2030". Chief executive Brian X. Tierney said, "Maidsville is an important investment on its own, but we see it as the first of a broader set of opportunities in West Virginia."
Reserving the turbines removes a key equipment bottleneck, but state regulators still must approve the plant. What to watch: the West Virginia Public Service Commission final order on Maidsville, projected in the fourth quarter of 2026. Approval would let the company add the plant's cost to its five-year spending plan.
🐻 Bear Case
Bigger Spending Plans Will Require More Funding
FirstEnergy says new power plants and transmission lines could "meaningfully increase the company's investment and earnings growth profile". Its current five-year plan already calls for $36 billion of spending, which required up to $2 billion of share issuances and new debt when it was set. Meanwhile, data center demand takes years to connect, and the Siemens turbines do not arrive until 2030.
Adding at least $4.75 billion of transmission work by our math, plus the Maidsville gas plant, will widen the cash gap before those assets start earning money. The third-quarter release gives no cash flow statement or debt figures, after operating cash flow fell in the first half and short-term debt rose. Raising the spending budget will likely require issuing more shares and debt.
What to watch: operating cash flow and short-term debt in the third-quarter filing, along with equity issuance targets in the 2027–2031 plan. Higher share sales would dilute how much of the new asset growth reaches per-share profit.
Investigation Costs Keep Cutting Into Reported Profit
FirstEnergy excludes legal and advisory bills tied to government investigations and Ohio House Bill 6 lawsuits from its preferred profit measure. Those investigation costs took $0.03 per share off reported profit in the third quarter, compared with $0.05 a year ago. For the first nine months of 2026, they reached $0.11 per share, up from $0.09 in the first nine months of 2025.
These charges represent real cash leaving the business five years after the 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. What to watch: the litigation footnote in the third-quarter 10-Q filing for any loss estimate on the recertified securities class action. A settlement would require cash on top of the ongoing legal bills.
Risks this quarter didn't answer
FirstEnergy's earnings release consists only of a brief summary and a reconciliation table, leaving four standing concerns unread until the presentation and quarterly filing arrive.
- Return on equity and segment profit: not in the release; the presentation will show whether earned returns recovered from 9.5% last quarter and how Transmission performed against Distribution.
- State rate cases and penalties: no update on the third-quarter New Jersey and Maryland filings, the August West Virginia rate step, or the $44 million New Jersey reliability penalty recommendation.
- Transmission return challenges: no update on the Maryland complaint seeking to cut Potomac Edison's return adder or the federal local-transmission-planning complaint.
- Electricity delivery volumes: customer class sales in megawatt-hours are absent from the release, leaving weather impact versus underlying demand unread.
💲 Other KPIs
Revenue rose 12.2% from a year ago to $4.6 billion in the third quarter, up from $3.68 billion in the second quarter. That accelerated from 8.8% year-over-year growth in the second quarter and 11.6% in the first quarter. Nine-month sales reached $12.4 billion, up 9.7% from $11.3 billion a year earlier.
FirstEnergy spent $4.9 billion on grid upgrades in the first nine months of 2026 under its Energize365 programme. Subtracting the $2.9 billion spent in the first half leaves $2.0 billion deployed in the third quarter by our math, up 25.0% from $1.6 billion a year ago. That leaves $1.1 billion for the fourth quarter to meet the $6.0 billion annual budget.
Dividing reported net income of $557 million by $0.96 per share implies about 580 million average shares in the third quarter by our math. That is up 0.6% from 577 million a year ago and up from 578 million in the second quarter, reflecting minor share issuance before the larger capital raises planned through 2030.
🔮 Guidance
Unchanged. FirstEnergy kept its full-year range at $2.62 to $2.82 per share and now expects to finish at or slightly above the $2.72 middle of the range, up 6.7% from $2.55 in 2025. By our math, hitting $2.72 leaves $0.52 for the fourth quarter, down 1.9% from $0.53 a year ago after an 18.1% jump in the third quarter.
Unchanged. Management still plans for annual profit per share excluding one-offs to grow "near the top end of the 6% to 8% range through 2030". The utility noted that new West Virginia power generation and the 25% power-line spending increase could lift this growth rate when it updates the five-year plan.
❓ Key Questions
How will FirstEnergy fund the extra $4.75 billion of lines?
Rolling the transmission plan forward to 2027–2031 adds at least $4.75 billion of spending by our math, before counting the Maidsville gas plant. Investors need to know how much new common stock and debt the utility will issue on top of its current $2 billion equity plan.
What drove the 18% third-quarter profit per share jump?
The earnings release gives no segment breakdown, expense lines, or weather figures. On the call, management needs to separate how much of the $0.98 result came from hot summer weather versus transmission rate growth and lower operating expenses.
Did earned return on equity recover from 9.5%?
Consolidated trailing 12-month earned return on equity slipped from 10.1% in the third quarter of 2025 to 9.5% in the second quarter of 2026. The company has not disclosed this quarter's figure or the state-by-state earned returns in the release.
What is the status of the New Jersey rate filing?
FirstEnergy planned to file base rate cases in New Jersey and Maryland during the third quarter while facing a recommended $44 million New Jersey reliability penalty. The release did not mention whether those filings occurred or if settlement talks progressed.