NextEra maintains 2026 outlook, targets earnings per share of $4.02
Key Facts
NextEra Energy maintained its 2026 adjusted earnings per share forecast at a range of $3.92 to $4.02 as it reported third-quarter results. The company reiterated that it continues to target the top end of that range, a position it had announced in September before the quarterly results. In its outlook statement, the company said it was "targeting the high end" of the annual range, retaining its previously announced adjusted earnings per share target. Third-quarter results showed adjusted earnings per share rose to $1.24 from $1.13 in the corresponding period of 2025. The measure grew 9.7% year on year, according to the company's earnings disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
NextEra reported adjusted earnings of $2,592 million for the third quarter of 2026, according to its quarterly investor presentation. The company had posted adjusted earnings of $2,348 million in the third quarter of the previous year. Net income attributable to the company under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles was $4.775 billion, according to its regulatory disclosure for the same period. Earnings per share on that basis were $2.28 for the quarter, compared with $1.18 in the corresponding period. Net income in the third quarter of 2025 was about $2.438 billion, compared with the level reported for the current quarter.
In the utility business, net income at Florida Power & Light rose to $1,620 million in the third quarter from $1,463 million a year earlier. The unit's regulatory capital employed grew about 9.2% year on year, according to the company's earnings presentation. Retail electricity sales, measured in kilowatt-hours, increased 2.8% over the same period compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The unit's capital expenditure was about $2.4 billion in the third quarter, according to the company's disclosure to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Florida Power & Light expects capital investment of about $12 billion for the full year of 2026.
NextEra Energy Resources reported adjusted earnings of $1,247 million for the third quarter of 2026, according to the earnings presentation. The unit's adjusted earnings in the corresponding period of 2025 were about $1,102 million, according to the comparison provided by the company. During the quarter, the unit added renewable energy and storage projects with total capacity of 3.7 gigawatts to its backlog, according to the regulatory disclosure. Those additions included 2.4 gigawatts of battery storage among the projects added to the backlog during the third quarter. The unit's total project backlog stood at about 36.7 gigawatts when results were announced, according to NextEra.
Over the longer term, NextEra expects compound annual growth in adjusted earnings per share of 8% or more through 2032. That outlook is based on 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $3.71, according to the company's comments accompanying its second-quarter results. The company also aims to maintain the same compound annual growth rate in adjusted earnings per share from 2032 to 2035. In the Energy Resources business, the federal projects model involves developing, building and operating projects in exchange for fees, according to comments accompanying the third-quarter results. The company said the model allows it to collect "fees without investing capital," in its description of how these projects are executed and operated.
On nuclear energy, the U.S. Department of Energy closed a loan of up to $1.9 billion for NextEra in September 2026 to help finance the restart of the Duane Arnold plant in Iowa. The department said the restart would restore 615 megawatts of reliable baseload generating capacity to the grid when the plant returns to service. NextEra reiterated its target of returning the plant to service no later than the first quarter of 2029, according to comments accompanying the third-quarter results. On the Dominion merger, review hearings in Virginia and South Carolina were scheduled for November and December, respectively, according to the company. NextEra expects final decisions on those reviews in January 2027.