NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE:NRG) shares traded higher Monday after the electricity, natural gas and smart home solutions provider reported third-quarter 2026 results.
Adjusted EPS of $4.68 beat the $3.33 analyst estimate, while sales of $9.47 billion topped the $9.24 billion estimate and rose 24% from $7.64 billion a year earlier.
GAAP net income was $561 million, or $2.59 per basic and diluted share, compared with $152 million a year earlier.
Earnings Growth Driven By LS Power Portfolio, Texas Margins
Adjusted net income rose to $983 million from $537 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased to $2.01 billion from $1.21 billion.
Free cash flow before growth investments rose to $1.24 billion from $828 million, and operating cash flow increased to $1.10 billion from $484 million.
NRG said the $409 million year-over-year increase in GAAP net income primarily reflected contributions from the LS Power portfolio, higher realized capacity prices in the East and higher Texas margins, including favorable weather.
Higher depreciation, amortization and interest expense partially offset the gains. Results also included unrealized non-cash losses on economic hedges, primarily from lower natural gas prices.
Texas, East And Vivint Post Higher Adjusted EBITDA
Texas adjusted EBITDA increased to $1.02 billion from $807 million, while East rose to $614 million from $107 million.
West/Other increased to $64 million from $13 million. Vivint Smart Home adjusted EBITDA rose to $317 million from $278 million, driven by higher new customer additions and monthly recurring service margin per customer.
NRG ended September with $148 million in cash and cash equivalents and $6.03 billion in total liquidity.
Current and long-term debt and finance leases totaled about $22.92 billion.
NRG Reaffirms 2026 Outlook, Initiates 2027 Guidance
NRG reaffirmed 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $7.90 to $9.90 versus the $8.61 estimate.
It forecast 2027 adjusted EPS of $8.05 to $10.05 versus the $10.07 estimate and adjusted EBITDA of $5.5 billion to $6 billion.
$4 Billion Asset Sale Supports Buybacks And Debt Reduction
NRG agreed to sell six natural gas generation assets totaling 4.9 GW to LS Power for $4 billion in cash.
The assets include Ravenswood in NYISO, Ocean State Power and Wallingford in ISO-NE, and Jack County, Johnson County and R.W. Miller in ERCOT.
The transaction carries an implied 2027 valuation of 8.0 times enterprise value to adjusted EBITDA and is targeted to close in the second quarter of 2027.
Proceeds are expected to support $3 billion of share repurchases across 2026 and 2027 and bring planned 2027 debt reduction to $3 billion.
Its previously disclosed 1.2-GW Bring Your Own Power data center project also remains on track.
NRG Price Action: NRG Energy shares were up 6.48% at $94.01 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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