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Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Can VST Stock Rely on Its Nuclear Assets for Long-Term Stability?
Vistra Corp. VST is a diversified power producer with a strong presence in competitive electricity markets across the United States. Its balanced portfolio of natural gas, coal, solar and battery storage assets is complemented by a growing clean energy segment, positioning the company to navigate energy transitions while maintaining profitability. Vistra completed the acquisition of Energy Harbor, which added a fleet of nuclear assets to its portfolio that are now central to the long-term growth owns and operates six nuclear generation units, having a combined generation capacity of 6,448 megawatts, which accounts for 16% of its total production capacity. High capacity factor across the nuclear fleet offers a significant competitive advantage. These zero-carbon power plants provide reliable output with low variable costs. The company's well-managed nuclear fleet generates consistent cash flow, helping to hedge against commodity price volatility that often affects fossil fuel-based excellence has made Vistra's nuclear unit a cornerstone of its performance. By maintaining high capacity factors and rigorous safety standards, the nuclear fleet enhances the company's earnings stability and supports steady capital returns. Vistra's track record in managing complex assets suggests the nuclear business will continue to deliver durable ahead, Vistra is poised to benefit from rising power demand, decarbonization tailwinds and policy incentives for clean energy. Its reliable nuclear unit will allow the company to meet the rising demand in service areas. Utilities benefit from operating nuclear power plants by securing stable, low-cost and carbon-free baseload power. These plants run at high capacity factors, generate consistent cash flow and support grid reliability, making them valuable assets in an increasingly decarbonized energy Energy D and Constellation Energy CEG have both leveraged their nuclear fleets to strengthen earnings and support clean energy goals. Dominion's North Anna and Surry plants provide steady baseload power, enhancing grid reliability. Constellation Energy, the largest U.S. nuclear operator, generates more than 85% of the output from nuclear, giving it a major cost and emissions advantage in competitive wholesale markets. Vistra's trailing 12-month return on equity ('ROE') is 87.33%, way ahead of its industry average of 10.41%. ROE, a profitability measure, reflects how effectively a company is utilizing its shareholders' funds in operations to generate income. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vistra's 2025 and 2026 sales indicates year-over-year increases of 28.91% and 4.53%, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Shares of Vistra have surged 68.7% in the past three months against the Zacks Utility- Electric Power industry's decline of 0.6%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Vistra currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Constellation Energy Corporation (CEG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Dominion Energy Inc. (D) : Free Stock Analysis Report Vistra Corp. (VST) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Vistra Corporation Rallied 40.6% in the First Half of 2025
Vistra is a utility that nevertheless moves along with the AI trade. Although Vistra's stock was hammered after China's DeepSeek release and Trump's trade war, the stock managed to rally over the course of six months on top of a blockbuster 2024. Vistra continued to project strong profit growth, acquiring even more power generation assets in the first half to supply growing AI demand. 10 stocks we like better than Vistra › Shares of Vistra Corporation (NYSE: VST) rallied 40.6% in the first half of the year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Vistra had already rallied 258% in 2024, making its first half performance all the more remarkable. As one of only a few publicly traded power producers with existing nuclear capacity, which was augmented by last year's acquisition of Energy Harbor, Vistra has emerged as a presumptive artificial intelligence winner. Like many AI-related stocks, Vistra rallied almost to first-half highs in January, before the release of China's DeepSeek R1 and Trump's tariff war caused a major AI sell-off. Yet also like other AI winners, Vistra recovered as it delivered strong results and a strong outlook, with artificial intelligence and its associated electricity demand growth seemingly intact. While one doesn't think of utilities as high-growth stocks, electricity demand is reaccelerating because of AI data center growth. U.S. electricity demand has actually been relatively flat since 2009, because of energy efficiency initiatives. However, the International Energy Agency sees demand accelerating to 2% annualized growth. For its part, Vistra sees its load growth accelerating to a 4% growth rate through 2030. With the need to serve that increased demand in a low-carbon manner, that means nuclear energy is now in high demand. Vistra is one of just a few U.S. power producers that owns an existing nuclear capacity, especially after acquiring Energy Harbor in March 2024. With the acquisition, Vistra expanded its nuclear facilities from one to four, becoming the second-largest provider of nuclear power in the country. Last quarter, nuclear power accounted for 26% of the company's energy production. Thanks to more favorable weather dynamic, Vistra reported strong earnings in its first quarter of the year, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.15 beating expectations by a large $0.37 margin. Management also reiterated its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) guidance for the year of $5.5 billion to $6.1 billion, with 2026 guidance of greater than $6 billion. About a week after Q1 earnings, Vistra also announced another acquisition, this time in the form of natural gas, when it acquired 2.6 GW of natural gas capacity from Lotus Infrastructure Partners, for $1.9 billion. Natural gas is Vistra's largest source of power generation, at 54% last quarter, and this acquisition will add to that. With natural gas and nuclear seemingly the big winners from renewed electricity demand because of AI, Vistra seems very well-positioned. Vistra's management has projected free cash flow of $3.0 to $3.6 billion this year before growth investments against a current market cap of $66 billion, making Vistra trade around 20 times free cash flow. That actually appears a reasonable valuation if Vistra can continue growing steadily and landing more deals with artificial intelligence data centers in the years ahead. However, if regulatory hurdles pop up or AI scaling stalls for any reason, the company could quickly lose its AI premium. Before you buy stock in Vistra, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Vistra wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,010,880!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 14, 2025 Billy Duberstein and/or his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Vistra Corporation Rallied 40.6% in the First Half of 2025 was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Raymond James Initiates Coverage of Vistra (VST)
Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is included among the Best Nuclear Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now. It was recently reported that Raymond James has initiated coverage of VST with a 'Strong Buy' rating and a $216 price target, indicating an upside potential of almost 25%. Solar panel workers installing a new farm for clean energy generation. The analyst highlighted that Vistra has historically benefited from elevated power prices, positioning it well for an up-cycle. Moreover, after the recent passage of Senate Bill 6, the regulatory environment in Texas is becoming more favorable and could unlock a data center PPA at Comanche Peak soon. The analyst has also commended Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) for its shareholder returns, as the company has repurchased nearly one-third of its shares since 2021. Vistra expects to return at least $2 billion in total through share repurchases and dividends through the remainder of 2025 and 2026. Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is the largest competitive power generator in the US with a capacity of approximately 41,000 MW, powered by a diverse portfolio that includes natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. The company made headlines in March when it acquired Energy Harbor, adding 4 GW of nuclear generation capacity to its portfolio and making it the owner of the second-largest competitive nuclear fleet in the United States. While we acknowledge the potential of VST as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 Cheap Energy Stocks to Buy Now and Disclosure: None. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Reuters
07-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Utility Vistra posts quarterly loss on derivative challenges, higher costs
May 7 (Reuters) - Vistra Corp (VST.N), opens new tab swung to a loss in the first quarter on Wednesday, as the independent power producer was hurt by setbacks in its hedging activities and higher costs, sending its shares down nearly 6% in early trading. The company said the quarterly deficit was driven primarily by unrealized mark-to-market losses on derivative positions as energy prices increased in the forward periods. The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here. Continued higher-for-longer interest rates weighed on the utility as it made investing in the construction and maintenance of critical infrastructure such as electrical grids more expensive. Vistra's interest costs rose nearly 88% to $319 million in the quarter, while total operating expenses increased about 39% to $693 million. However, the company said the performance was boosted by "two additional months" of results from the newly acquired nuclear utility Energy Harbor. Its adjusted core profit from ongoing operations rose to $1.24 billion compared to $810 million a year earlier, helped by higher prices and strong retail performance. Adjusted core profit in the retail segment stood at $184 million compared with a loss of $28 million a year earlier. The utility expects load growth to increase at an annual rate of nearly 4% through 2030 with data centers accounting for about 40% of new demand. Vistra reaffirmed current-year adjusted core profit from continuing operations of $5.5 billion to $6.1 billion, compared with the analysts' estimate of $5.9 billion. The Irving, Texas-based company posted a net loss of $268 million for the three months ended March 31, compared with a net income of $18 million a year ago.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
4 Ways Daylight Saving Time Could Lower Your Energy Bill — Save up to $775
Daylight saving time is scheduled to kick in early Sunday morning, March 9 — which means the usual debates about its merits are likely to kick in, as well. One of those debates involves how the time change impacts your energy bill. Consider These: Discover More: A 2008 report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) found that daylight saving time can produce considerable energy savings because you get more natural sunlight during peak energy consumption hours, according to a blog from retail energy supplier Energy Harbor. This lessens your dependence on electricity to power lights. However, later research challenged the DOE's findings. As Energy Harbor noted, newer studies suggested energy savings from DST are 'offset by energy consumption from other areas, including increased use of air conditioning.' In addition, increased use of LED lighting technology has lessened the impact of more natural sunlight because LED bulbs use up a lot less energy than incandescent bulbs. No matter where you stand on the energy consumption debate, the start of DST is a good time to change your energy habits, according to Brandon Young, CEO and energy expert at Payless Power, a Texas-based provider of prepaid and traditional electricity plans. 'Daylight saving time is more than a clock-changing affair — it's a time to reset energy behavior and shave electric bills,' Young said in email comments sent to GOBankingRates. 'With more daylight hours, your home is using energy in a different way, and making a few small changes now can equate to massive savings between $210 to $775 per year.' Here are four ways to lower your energy bill after DST kicks in, according to Young. 'Most thermostats automatically adjust when it's sunny or dark, yet never get it just right when daylight savings kicks in,' Young said. 'If your system is still set to work during winter hours, you may be cooling or heating unnecessarily. Simply making a quick adjustment to sync it to actual patterns of daylight can shave cooling and heating costs by up to 10%, or $100 to $200 per year.' Read Next: 'Most electronics — televisions, game systems, even Wi-Fi routers — are programmed to adjust settings when clocks strike 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., switching to high-power standby modes or default display settings that quietly use power,' Young said. 'An instant energy audit — reducing display brightness, unplugging unnecessary devices and turning standby mode off — saves $20 to $150 per year.' Young recommended using natural heat and cooling to avoid overloading your heating and cooling system when daylight savings time starts. 'Open blinds in the morning to let in warmth, close them in the afternoon before heat strikes and use ceiling fans in a counterclockwise rotation to circulate cool air,' he said. 'This simple strategy can decrease AC use and shave $50 to $250 per year from your utility bill.' 'With sunsets happening later, human nature is to leave lights and electronics on longer than necessary,' Young said. 'Smart plugs can automate shut-offs, reducing unnecessary electricity use by up to 15% and saving an additional $20 to $100 per year.' More From GOBankingRatesHow Paychecks Would Look in Each State If Trump Dropped Federal Income Tax10 Genius Things Warren Buffett Says To Do With Your Money This article originally appeared on 4 Ways Daylight Saving Time Could Lower Your Energy Bill — Save up to $775
