AES

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for NiSource (NI). Shares have lost about 4% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is NiSource due for a breakout? Well, first let's take a quick look at its latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for NiSource, Inc before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. NiSource Q2 Earnings Top Estimates on NIPSCO Gains, Data Center DemandNiSource Inc. reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 16 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 15 cents by 6.67%. However, the bottom line declined 27.3% from 22 cents in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenues of $1.36 billion topped the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion by 1.98% and increased 5.9% year over year. NIPSCO’s stronger operating performance and higher electric sales partly offset weaker Columbia results and elevated operating costs. Columbia operations generated revenues of $610.3 million, up 0.8% from $605.6 million a year ago. The segment’s adjusted operating income declined 6.1% to $115.6 million.NIPSCO operations recorded revenues of $750.4 million, up 10.4% year over year. Adjusted operating income increased 13.6% to $150.9 million, making the segment the primary source of consolidated operating growth. Adjusted operating expenses totaled $1.09 billion, up 6.6% from the prior-year quarter. Operation and maintenance expenses increased 13% to $411.6 million, while depreciation and amortization rose 26.4% to $362 million. The cost of energy declined 26.1% to $193.6 million. NIPSCO Electric sales volumes, excluding weather, increased 5% to 4,195.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Industrial sales rose 10.4% to 2,246.2 GWh, while residential sales declined 5.8% to 757.7 GWh.Columbia sales and transportation volumes, excluding weather, fell 1.7% to 112.4 million dekatherms. NIPSCO Gas volumes on the same basis decreased 3.5% to 77.5 million dekatherms. The company recorded a $16 million revenue adjustment for weather compared with normal conditions.Adjusted operating income improved 3.2% to $270.9 million, but net interest expense climbed 43.2% to $199.2 million, pressuring adjusted net income available to common shareholders. NiSource advanced its data center strategy with regulatory approvals for special contracts involving Amazon and Alphabet. The agreements are expected to provide $1.4 billion in savings for existing customers.The company has around 4 GW of signed GenCo capacity, with 3 GW under strategic negotiations and up to 2 GW of developing opportunities. Its data center pipeline could reach up to 9 GW of capacity by 2035. NiSource is also developing a diversified portfolio of generation, battery storage and contracted resources to support the additional load. Total debt was about $17.4 billion as of June 30, 2026, including roughly $16.7 billion of long-term debt. The weighted average maturity was about 11.5 years, with a weighted average interest rate of approximately 4.87%.Net available liquidity was about $2.1 billion at quarter-end. NiSource also had roughly $2.7 billion of committed facilities, including a $2.5 billion revolving credit facility and about $200 million of accounts receivable securitization facilities. NiSource reaffirmed its 2026 consolidated adjusted earnings guidance of $2.02-$2.07 per share. The company also maintained its 2026-2033 consolidated adjusted earnings compound annual growth rate target of 9-10%.NiSource continues to execute a $28.6 billion capital investment plan for 2026-2030. This includes $21 billion of base plan investments and $7.6 billion of data center-related spending, supporting expected consolidated rate base growth of 9-11% through 2033. In the past month, investors have witnessed a downward trend in fresh estimates. Currently, NiSource has a average Growth Score of C, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a score of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of this revision indicates a downward shift. Interestingly, NiSource has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. NiSource is part of the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry. Over the past month, AES (AES), a stock from the same industry, has gained 0.5%. The company reported its results for the quarter ended June 2026 more than a month ago. AES reported revenues of $3.42 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +19.9%. EPS of $0.44 for the same period compares with $0.51 a year ago. AES is expected to post earnings of $0.60 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of -20%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged. The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for AES. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of B. 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 NiSource, Inc (NI) : Free Stock Analysis Report The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for AES (AES). Shares have added about 0.7% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is AES due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for The AES Corporation before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. AES’ Q2 Earnings Decline Y/Y, Revenues Outpace ExpectationsAES reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of 44 cents per share. The bottom line declined 13.7% from 51 cents in the year-ago quarter.On a GAAP basis, earnings were 60 cents per share versus a loss of 15 cents a year ago. Revenues climbed 19.9% year over year to $3.42 billion and beat the consensus mark of $3.1 billion by 10.4%, aided by stronger Renewables and Energy Infrastructure sales. Total cost of sales increased 13.7% year over year to $2.73 billion. Operating margin jumped 52.8% to $692 million.General and administrative expenses rose 26.5% to $62 million, while interest expense increased 4.5% to $368 million. Other expense dropped to $27 million from $295 million. AES ended the quarter with a 10.9-GW PPA backlog, including 3.8 GW under construction.AES' PPA backlog consisted of 10.9 GW of projects with signed contracts that were not yet operational. Of this amount, 3,788 MW was under construction, with wind representing 45%, energy storage 29% and solar 26% of that portfolio.Another 7,137 MW of contracted renewable capacity had not yet entered construction, comprising 64% solar, 22% wind and 14% energy storage. During the first half of 2026, AES completed 2 GW of renewables and 0.5 GW of natural gas capacity and signed or was awarded 901 MW of new long-term PPAs. Cash and cash equivalents were $1.8 billion as of June 30, 2026 compared with $1.38 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. Net cash provided by operating activities for the first six months of 2026 increased 47.7% year over year to $2.25 billion.Capital expenditures rose 31.8% to $3.41 billion over the same six-month period. Total non-recourse debt was $26.02 billion at quarter-end, up from $23.91 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025, while recourse debt totaled $6.10 billion compared with $5.98 billion. AES entered into a merger agreement on March 1, 2026, under which shareholders would receive $15.00 in cash per share. Stockholders approved the transaction on June 26, 2026, and the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act expired on June 22, 2026. The transaction remains subject to specified regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Analysts were quiet during the last two month period as none of them issued any earnings estimate revisions. At this time, AES has a average Growth Score of C, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side, putting it in the top 20% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. AES has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. 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 The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

ARLINGTON, Va., July 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.17595 per share payable on August 14, 2026 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 31, 2026. Additional information regarding dividends paid by AES, including tax treatment, can be found on www.aes.com by selecting "Investors" then "Stock Information" and then "Dividend History." About AES The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) is a Fortune 500 global energy company accelerating the future of energy. Together with our many stakeholders, we're improving lives by delivering the greener, smarter energy solutions the world needs. Our diverse workforce is committed to continuous innovation and operational excellence, while partnering with our customers on their strategic energy transitions and continuing to meet their energy needs today. For more information, visit www.aes.com. Safe Harbor Disclosure This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those related to future earnings, growth and financial and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are not intended to be a guarantee of future results but instead constitute AES' current expectations based on reasonable assumptions. Estimates and projections regarding, among other things, the expected date of closing of the transaction and the potential benefits thereof, its business and industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by AES, all of which are subject to change. Forecasted financial information is based on certain material assumptions. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, our expectations regarding accurate projections of future interest rates, commodity price and foreign currency pricing, continued normal levels of operating performance and electricity volume at our distribution companies and operational performance at our generation businesses consistent with historical levels, as well as the execution of PPAs, conversion of our backlog and growth investments at normalized investment levels, and rates of return consistent with prior experience. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in our forward-looking statements due to risks, uncertainties and other factors. Important factors that could affect actual results are discussed in AES' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including, but not limited to, the risks discussed under Item 1A: "Risk Factors" and Item 7: "Management's Discussion & Analysis" in AES' 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequent reports filed with the SEC. Readers are encouraged to read AES' filings to learn more about the risk factors associated with AES' business. AES undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except where required by law. Any Stockholder who desires a copy of the Company's 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed March 2, 2026 with the SEC may obtain a copy (excluding the exhibits thereto) without charge by addressing a request to the Office of the Corporate Secretary, The AES Corporation, 4300 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22203. Exhibits also may be requested, but a charge equal to the reproduction cost thereof will be made. A copy of the Annual Report on Form 10-K may be obtained by visiting the Company's website at www.aes.com. Website Disclosure AES uses its website, including its quarterly updates, as channels of distribution of Company information. The information AES posts through these channels may be deemed material. Accordingly, investors should monitor our website, in addition to following AES' press releases, quarterly SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. In addition, you may automatically receive e-mail alerts and other information about AES when you enroll your e-mail address by visiting the "Subscribe to Alerts" page of AES' Investors website. The contents of AES' website, including its quarterly updates, are not, however, incorporated by reference into this release. Investor Contact: Max Trask 571-217-3249, [email protected] Contact: Amy Ackerman 703-682-6399, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aes-announces-quarterly-dividend-302826706.html

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for NiSource (NI). Shares have lost about 2.5% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is NiSource due for a breakout? Well, first let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for NiSource, Inc before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. NiSource Q1 Earnings Match Estimates, Revenues Lag, EPS Growth Rate UpNiSource Inc. reported first-quarter 2025 operating earnings per share (EPS) of $1.06, which matches the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The bottom line increased 8.2% from the year-ago quarter’s recorded figure.On a GAAP basis, the company reported an EPS of $1.06 compared with $1 in the prior-year quarter. Operating revenues of $2.37 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.42 billion by 2.5%. However, the top line increased 9.3% from the prior-year quarter’s figure of $2.17 billion. Total operating expenses amounted to $1.54 billion, up 8.4% from the year-ago quarter’s $1.17 billion. The year-over-year increase in expenses was due to the higher cost of energy and an increase in operation and maintenance expenses.Operating income totaled $822.9 million, up 10.8% from the year-ago figure of $742.6 million.Net interest expenses amounted to $191.6 million, up 44.3% from the prior-year quarter’s $132.8 million.Total gas distribution in Sales and Transportation (excluding weather) was recorded at 124 Million British Thermal Units per day (MMDth), down 1.4% from the prior-year quarter’s 125.8 MMDth.Total electric sales (excluding weather) were recorded at 3,991.7 gigawatt-hours (GWh), down 0.5% from the prior-year quarter’s 4,011.7 GWh. NiSource's cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2026, were $71.9 million compared with $110.1 million as of Dec. 31, 2025.Long-term debts (excluding those due within a year) as of March 31, 2026, were $15.46 billion compared with $15.46 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. Net cash flows from operating activities in first-quarter 2026 were $442.3 million compared with $686.4 million in first-quarter 2025.NI’s total liquidity as of March 31, 2026, was nearly $4.5 billion, which is sufficient to meet near-term obligations. The company reaffirmed its 2026 non-GAAP earnings in the range of $2.02-$2.07. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share is pegged at $2.05, which is within the company’s guided range.NI now expects earnings to witness a CAGR of 9-10% through 2033, up from the previous prediction of 8-9%.NiSource anticipates a capital expenditure of $28.6 billion for 2026-2030. The consolidated capital expenditure plan includes utility system modernization initiatives and roughly $7.6 billion in strategic data center infrastructure investments. Investors have witnessed a upward trend in estimates review over the past two months. At this time, NiSource has a subpar Growth Score of D, however its Momentum Score is doing a bit better with a C. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock has a score of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for value investors. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. NiSource has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. NiSource belongs to the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry. Another stock from the same industry, AES (AES), has gained 3.1% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended March 2026. AES reported revenues of $3.18 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +8.7%. EPS of $0.67 for the same period compares with $0.27 a year ago. AES is expected to post earnings of $0.74 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +45.1%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged. AES has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) based on the overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions. Additionally, the stock has a VGM Score of A. 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 NiSource, Inc (NI) : Free Stock Analysis Report The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for AES (AES). Shares have added about 2.6% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is AES due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at its latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent drivers for The AES Corporation before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. AES’ Q1 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y The AES Corporation’s first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 67 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 50 cents by 34%. The bottom line also improved 148.1% from 27 cents in the year-ago quarter. The company’s total revenues amounted to $3.18 billion, up 8.7% year over year. The figure also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.1 billion by 2.6%. The total cost of sales in the first quarter was $2.54 billion, up 2.2% year over year.The operating margin totaled $640 million, up 45.1% from $441 million in the year-ago period.Interest expenses amounted to $353 million, up 3.2% from $342 million in the prior-year quarter. AES had cash and cash equivalents of $1.6 billion as of March 31, 2026, compared with $1.38 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.Non-recourse debt totaled $22.55 billion as of the same date, up from $21.68 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.The net cash flow from operating activities amounted to $1.2 billion during the first three months of 2026 compared with $0.55 billion in the first three months of 2025.Total capital expenditure was $1.77 billion during the first three months of 2026, up from $1.25 billion recorded a year ago. Analysts were quiet during the last two month period as none of them issued any earnings estimate revisions. Currently, AES has a strong Growth Score of A, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a score of A on the value side, putting it in the top quintile for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. AES has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). We expect a below average return from the stock in the next few months. 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 The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Find winning stocks in any market cycle. Join 7 million investors using Simply Wall St's investing ideas for FREE. AES Ohio has proposed an update to its electricity rates, affecting residential and business customers within its service territory. AES Corporation has completed several large renewable projects, including what it describes as the largest U.S. solar plus storage facility. The company has also secured new long term power agreements with data center clients, tying renewable capacity to digital infrastructure demand. NYSE:AES is trading at $14.47, with the stock up 24.6% over the past year but down 19.8% over three years and down 30.6% over five years. These mixed returns provide context for the newest developments around regulated rates in Ohio and the build out of large scale renewable assets. For readers, the combination of a proposed rate update, additional renewable capacity and long dated data center power agreements highlights how AES is reshaping parts of its business. The next sections examine what these moves could mean for earnings stability, capital needs and risk exposure, without assuming any particular outcome for the stock. Stay updated on the most important news stories for AES by adding it to your watchlist or portfolio. Alternatively, explore our Community to discover new perspectives on AES. We've flagged 3 risks for AES. See which could impact your investment. AES is trying to tighten the link between its long-term investment plans and how it gets paid. On one side, AES Ohio is asking regulators to adjust customer rates to match transmission costs that were already part of a prior settlement. On the other, AES Corporation is bringing large solar plus storage projects online and signing long dated power agreements with data center operators. For you as an investor, those elements sit in the middle of the company’s push toward contracted renewables tied to digital infrastructure demand. The fresh data center power agreements support the existing narrative that long term power purchase agreements can increase visibility on cash flows and support the transition from coal to renewables. The Ohio rate proposal highlights the flip side of that narrative, where regulated utilities still rely on regulatory decisions and consumer pushback could complicate the timing of returns on new grid investments. The current discussion around rate alignment and data center demand does not fully address how future changes to tax credits or supply chain conditions could affect returns on these newly completed projects. Knowing what a company is worth starts with understanding its story. Check out one of the top narratives in the Simply Wall St Community for AES to help decide what it's worth to you. ⚠️ Regulators in Ohio may take a tougher stance on rate updates if consumer advocates push back, which could affect how quickly AES recovers transmission and grid costs. ⚠️ Large, capital intensive renewables and storage projects increase reliance on external financing at a time when interest costs and supply chain constraints remain key watchpoints. 🎁 Long duration contracts with data center customers can support more predictable revenue, similar to what peers like NextEra Energy and Duke Energy seek through contracted renewable capacity. 🎁 The completion of what AES describes as the largest U.S. solar plus storage facility positions the company alongside large utilities and independent power producers that are building out grid scale clean energy assets. From here, keep an eye on the outcome of the Ohio rate case, including whether the Public Utilities Commission modifies the proposal or attaches conditions that affect future filings. Monitor how quickly the new solar plus storage projects and data center contracts ramp into reported results and whether terms look competitive against other utilities signing similar deals. It is also worth tracking how AES balances new-build spending with its existing debt profile, especially while interest coverage has been flagged as a key risk by analysts. Execution across both the regulated utility side and the contracted renewables portfolio will shape how stable AES’s earnings and cash flows look next to peers such as NextEra, Duke, and Dominion. To ensure you're always in the loop on how the latest news impacts the investment narrative for AES, head to the community page for AES to never miss an update on the top community narratives. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include AES. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Image source: The Motley Fool. Friday, November 1, 2024 at 10 a.m. ET President & Chief Executive Officer — Andres Gluski Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer — Stephen Coughlin Vice President, Investor Relations — Susan Harcourt Andres Gluski: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our third quarter 2024 financial review call. We are pleased with our performance this year. And today, I will discuss our third quarter results, a robust growth we are seeing at our renewables and U.S. utility businesses and our progress towards our asset sales target. Beginning on Slide 3 with our third quarter results, which were generally in line with our expectations. Adjusted EBITDA with tax attributes was about 1.2 billion, adjusted EBITDA was 692 million and adjusted EPS was $0.71. We're on track to meet our 2024 financial objectives, including our expectation to be in the top half of our ranges for adjusted EBITDA with tax attributes and adjusted EPS. At the same time, we now expect adjusted EBITDA to be towards the low end of the guidance range for the year, primarily due to the one-time impact of extreme weather in Colombia and the lower margins in the Energy Infrastructure SBU. We are reaffirming our expected growth rate through 2027. Steve Coughlin, our CFO, will provide more detail on our financial performance and outlook. I'm also very pleased to report that since our last call in August, we have signed or been awarded 2.2 gigawatts of new contracts. This includes both long-term renewable PPAs and new data center load growth at our U.S. utilities. Moving to our Renewables business on Slide 4. Since our Q2 financial review call, we have added 1.3 gigawatts of new PPAs to our backlog, bringing our year-to-date total to 3.5 gigawatts, more than 70% of which is with corporate customers. As a reminder, last year, we set a target of signing 14 to 17 gigawatts of new PPAs from 2023 to 2025. And with 9.1 gigawatts signed or awarded since the beginning of last year, we're currently well on track to meet this objective. Since setting that goal, we also materially increased our project return targets and we are focused on prioritizing the most profitable PPAs. Moving to Slide 5 and our construction progress. Since our second quarter call in August, we have completed construction of an additional 1.2 gigawatts of new projects, bringing our year-to-date total to 2.8 gigawatts, which represents nearly 80% of the 3.6 gigawatts we expect to complete this year. On-time execution is one of our competitive advantages, and we believe we have the best supply chain management in the industry. In the U.S., we have 100% of our solar panels on site for those projects coming online this year and 84% in country for next year. For 2026, we have 100% of our solar panels either in country or contracted to be domestically manufactured, providing protection against potential changes in tariff policy. We have also been a first mover in securing domestically manufactured battery modules and cells. We expect our first battery energy storage project with domestic content to come online in the first half of 2026. Additionally, we have established a robust supply chain for wind through our strategic suppliers with domestic manufacturing. Regarding long lead time equipment, such as transformers, and high-voltage breakers, we have secured all of the supply for our backlog through 2027. Turning to Slide 6. We are very well positioned as a leading provider of renewable energy to data center companies, particularly in the U.S. and to large mining companies outside the U.S. These customers want to work with AES due to our track record of providing customized solutions that best serve their specific needs and delivering our projects on time and on budget. With the U.S. elections only a few days away, I have great confidence in the resilience of our business plan, regardless of the outcomes of the presidential and congressional elections. While we do not believe the elimination of the investment tax credit or production tax credit is likely, even in an extreme scenario, we're uniquely well positioned due to the following. First, regardless of federal policies, our corporate customers had a massive need for new power that can only be met by renewables over the next decade. McKinsey estimates that in the U.S. data centers alone could require an additional 450 terawatt hours through the end of the decade, which is equivalent to more than the annual electricity consumption of France. With these market dynamics, we will continue to sign high-return renewables PPAs with our core customers. Second, should there be any changes to U.S. tariff policy, we have a resilient supply chain, with a large majority of our project components manufactured domestically by 2026. Finally, our strategy of procuring our equipment at the time of the PPA signing provides clear Safe Harboring protection from potential changes in policy. Now turning to Slide 7. Over the last 12 months, we have embarked on the most ambitious investment program in the history of our U.S. utilities, which will improve reliability and quality of service for our customers, while maintaining some of the lowest rates in both states. AES Indiana and AES Ohio are now 2 of the fastest-growing U.S. utilities, with projected double-digit rate base growth through 2027 based on necessary investments for our customers. As you may recall, in the third quarter of last year, we received commission approval for a new regulatory structure for AES Ohio, providing for timely recovery of the majority of these investments. Similarly, earlier last year, we received commission approval for new rates at AES Indiana, our first rate case in seven years. We are starting to see the benefits from the $1.2 billion we have invested in both utilities so far this year, representing a year-over-year increase of investment of 60%. Excluding the onetime settlement benefit recognized in 2023, year-to-date EBITDA is up 25%. Turning to Slide 8. We're also seeing additional investment opportunities from data center growth in our service areas above and beyond our existing rate base projections. Our utilities have many natural advantages that are attractive to large technology companies, such as proximity to fiber networks and the presence of ample land and water. We have worked to proactively identify sites that are well positioned to support new data centers, capitalizing on our deep relationships with technology companies. At AES Indiana, we expect to have specific data center deals to announce in the coming months, as we've been in active negotiations with several parties. We recently launched an RFP for 3 gigawatts of new generation to support accelerating demand growth. From a regulatory perspective, we will use the results of this RFP to help inform our IRP submission next year. At AES Ohio, we have now signed agreements for new data center load growth of 2.1 gigawatts, including an incremental 900 megawatts, on top of the 1.2 gigawatts we already announced on our last call. On our fourth quarter call in February, we will provide a comprehensive update on how these agreements impact our long-term investment plan and rate based growth. Today, we can indicate that just what we've signed to date provides a nearly 30% increase in investment through the end of the decade over our current plan. Turning to Slide 9. In September, we announced the plan to sell down 30% of AES Ohio to CDPQ, our longtime partner in AES Indiana. This transaction builds upon our strong relationship with CDPQ and allow us for common ownership across our U.S. utilities. This partnership will support growth at AES Ohio, with CDPQ as a funding partner for increasing investments to support reliability and economic development. Finally, as you may have seen in our release, we are pleased to report that we have now closed the sale of our equity interest in AES Brazil. We are proud of the work our people have done in Brazil to expand beyond the 2.7 gigawatt hydro portfolio by adding 2.5 gigawatts of operating wind and solar, creating one of the largest renewable businesses in the country. With these two transactions, we have now signed or closed agreements for more than three quarter of our 3.5 billion asset sale proceeds target through 2027. We have also further simplified our portfolio and eliminated Brazilian weather, interest rate and currency risks. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to our CFO, Steve Coughlin. Steve Coughlin: Thank you, Andres, and good morning, everyone. Today, I will discuss our third quarter results and our 2024 guidance and parent capital allocation. Turning to Slide 11. Adjusted EBITDA with tax attributes was approximately 1.2 billion in the third quarter versus 1 billion a year ago. Although we realized 458 million of additional tax value year-over-year, renewables EBITDA was down 68 million, driven mostly by breaking drought conditions in South America. In addition, our energy infrastructure SBU was down 221 million largely due to expected items, which I'll cover in more detail on a later slide. Turning to Slide 12. Adjusted EPS for the quarter was $0.71 versus $0.60 last year. Drivers were similar to those of adjusted EBITDA with tax attributes, but partially offset by higher parent interest due to growth investments as well as a higher adjusted tax rate. I'll cover the performance of our SBUs, or strategic business units, on the next four slides. Beginning with our Renewables SBU on Slide 13. Higher EBITDA with tax attributes was driven primarily by significant growth from new projects in the U.S., where we've added 3.3 gigawatts since Q3 2023, but was partially offset by significant declines at our Colombia and Brazil businesses. This year, we've experienced unprecedented weather volatility and a record-breaking drought in South America, driven by El Nino conditions. In June, a historic flooding event took out our 1 gigawatt Chivor facility in Colombia for nearly 2 months, followed by an extreme drought across the entire country. Also, you may recall that the third quarter of 2023 was extremely positive as we had better hydrology at our Chivor facility than the rest of the country, while spot prices were very high, yielding significant margins. As a result, Colombia is down 92 million versus the third quarter of last year and over 130 million year-to-date versus last year. In Brazil, the record drought and extremely low wind resource this year have also negatively impacted renewables in Q3 and year-to- date. While 2024 has been a difficult year due to the events in South America, we expect our renewables segment will grow significantly in 2025. Emerging La Nina conditions in the Pacific are expected to return the region to much better hydrology. While in the U.S., by the end of this year, we will have brought online a total of nearly 2 gigawatts of new capacity, which will drive a large increase in our Renewable segment EBITDA in 2025. Now turning to Slide 14. Lower adjusted PTC at our Utilities SBU was mostly driven by the prior year recovery of 39 million of purchase power costs at AES Ohio, included as part of the ESP IV settlement, as well as higher interest expense from new borrowings. This was offset by returns on new rate base investment in the U.S. as well as new rates implemented in Indiana in May. Adjusting for the onetime settlement last year, utilities adjusted PTC grew by 18% in the third quarter over prior year. Lower year-over-year Q3 EBITDA at our energy infrastructure SBU was primarily driven by nearly 200 million of expected declines at our Warrior Run Southland legacy businesses and the impact of several sell-downs, all of which were baked into our guidance. At Warrior Run, we recognized revenues from the accelerated monetization of the PPA beginning last year and ending in the second quarter of this year. Our legacy Southland assets benefited from energy margins earned in the prior year, which are no longer an opportunity in 2024 under the new extension monetization structure. In addition to these known drivers, we experienced lower margins at our new Southland combined-cycle asset U.S. due to much milder weather as well as extended outages at our TEG and TEP thermal plants in Mexico. Finally, higher EBITDA at our New Energy Technologies SBU reflects continued high growth and margin increases at Fluence. Now turning to our expectations on Slide 17. We are reaffirming our 2024 adjusted EBITDA with tax attributes guidance of 3.6 billion to 4 billion and adjusted EPS guidance of 1.87 to 1.97 and continue to expect to be in the top half of both ranges, driven in part by the success we've had securing higher tax value on our new projects. Our renewables team expects to capture over 200 million in tax value upside this year, which reduces our growth capital needs. EBITDA from renewables will be favorable in the fourth quarter from revenues earned on our PPAs, although we expect lower tax attributes in the fourth quarter as a result of the more balanced timing of renewable commissionings throughout the year. We also expect further growth in our U.S. utilities in Q4 as we continue to realize returns from our investment program. This will be offset by the negative impact from the prior year monetization of the Warrior Run PPA as well as incremental impact from asset sales, including AES Brazil. Drivers of adjusted EPS will be similar along with higher interest expense from growth capital, but benefiting from a lower adjusted tax rate. As a result of our efforts to spread renewables construction more evenly throughout the year, we've achieved more than 80% of our adjusted EPS guidance year-to-date, providing greater certainty around our 2024 financial objectives. Turning to Slide 18. We are also reaffirming our adjusted EBITDA guidance range of 2.6 billion to 2.9 billion. While I'm pleased with our execution this year on our growth objectives, several large drivers have impacted results, primarily at our legacy businesses, and we now expect to end the year towards the lower end of our guidance range. Milder weather compressed spark spreads in California resulting in lower margins at our South and combined cycle gas plants. The PPA for these assets contains an option that allows us to choose to sell the energy to the market in a given year. We previously chose to execute this option for 2024 and were therefore impacted by declining spark spreads that occurred later in the year. In Mexico, the unplanned outages, which have now been resolved, further impacted our results in the second and third quarter. In Colombia, the combination of the Q2 flood-related outage at Chivor and year-long record drought have negatively impacted us versus our guidance. Finally, inverter failures at several of our solar sites impacted availability versus our plan. These inverters were under warranty and are being remediated by the manufacturers. Despite the confluence of these onetime negative impacts, growth in U.S. renewables remains very strong, and our U.S. utilities have outperformed. We expect to continue this momentum and substantially increase EBITDA at both our renewables and utilities businesses in 2025. Now to our 2024 parent capital allocation plan on Slide 19. Sources reflect approximately $2.7 billion of total discretionary cash, including $1.1 billion of parent free cash flow, $950 million of hybrid debt that we issued in May and $650 million of proceeds from asset sales. Sale proceeds will be slightly lower than expected in 2024 due to timing, but we are well ahead of our $3.5 billion long- term target through 2027. On the right-hand side, you can see our planned use of capital. We will return approximately $500 million to shareholders this year, reflecting the previously announced 4% dividend increase. We also plan to invest $2.2 billion to $2.3 billion in new growth. In summary, we've continued to execute in the year-to-date and are well positioned for a strong finish to 2024. Our substantial renewables commissioning thus far give us greater line of sight toward achieving our earnings and cash targets, and our funding plan is largely complete. With $1.60 of adjusted EPS year-to-date, we have overachieved on our EPS growth with a clear path to landing at least in the upper half of our guidance range. As we look ahead to 2025, we see strong growth in our Renewables and Utility segments and continued execution of our decarbonization strategy in energy infrastructure. I look forward to providing additional detail around 2025 and beyond on our fourth quarter call. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Andres. Andres Gluski: Thank you, Steve. Before opening up the call for Q&A, I would like to summarize the highlights from today's call. We continue to execute well on our strategic priorities, including robust growth at our renewables and U.S. utility businesses. With 9.1 gigawatts of new PPAs signed or awarded in 2023 and year-to-date 2024, we are well on our way towards achieving our goal of 14 gigawatts to 17 gigawatts in 2023 through 2025. Regarding our construction program, we have added 2.8 gigawatts of new projects to our operating portfolio so far this year, and we're seeing the direct financial benefits in our adjusted EPS and adjusted EBITDA with tax attributes results. At our U.S. utilities, we have embarked on the most ambition investment program in their history, while signing agreements for 2.1 gigawatts of data center load growth, and we expect more in the coming months. We're also executing well on our asset sale and transformation program and we feel good about the remainder of 2024 and our long-term outlook, despite specific onetime weather-related events this year. Finally, I can confidently say that I believe no one is better positioned with large technology customers than AES. Energy market fundamentals and the strong demand we're seeing from our corporate customers give us great confidence in the resilience of our business plan, regardless of the outcomes of the upcoming U.S. elections. Operator, please open up the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions]. Our first question will go to the line of Nick Campanella with Barclays. Nicholas Campanella: Good morning, thank you for taking my question. So, I wanted to just ask the comments about supply chain, you seem well positioned through 2026 with panels, etcetera. But you continue to construct 3.5 gigs for this year. You kind of outlined this previous target at the Analyst Day of 14 gig into 2025. So, we're getting closer up to '25 now. I just kind of check in and see how you feel progressing towards that target because it seems like it will be a pretty good step up into '25 here? And is that still attainable? Andres Gluski: Yes. Thanks for the question, Nick. I mean we feel very strong about our supply chain management and construction program. We are the only large renewables developer, which really hasn't had to abandon any large PPAs over the last 3, 4 years. So, what we've said, we have all the equipment we need this year. We have 84% of what we need for next year already in country. In the next month or so, we should have 100%. So, we feel very good about supply chain. We intend to concentrate on the big items like wind turbines, batteries, solar panels. But you also have inverters and you have transformers, which are long lead time and we feel very solid there. In addition, we've really had no problems with the workforce either because we have strategic relationships with EPC contractors so that they can move the crews from one project to the next. So, in answering your question, we feel very good about our construction program. And as you know, in 2023, we geared up 100%. So now we've been able to really smooth out our commissioning throughout the year, and we expect that in 2025 and 2026. Nicholas Campanella: All right. When I think about '25 again, obviously, you had, on a tax attribute basis, some one-timers that's kind of putting you a little lower here. And I sense the notable confidence on the growth into 2025. Can you just kind of quantify for us how much has really just returned to normal versus new EBITDA from renewables contributions? And then when you consider things like Brazil rolling off, do you still expect that renewable segment to grow year-over-year? Andres Gluski: Yes. Look, that's a very good question. We aren't giving guidance for 2025 at this time. But you're right, what you really have is mean reversion. You were really coming back to sort of more normal year. 2024 is a year that we've never had before, the sort of combination of extreme floods and extreme droughts in some of our service territories, largely driven by El Nino, coming into La Nina, we expect a return to normal. But you also correctly point out that we're maintaining all of our guidance and our long-term growth rates without Brazil. And so that means that the other sectors are picking up. So, to the extent that I can say we expect next year to be a more normal year and we've absorbed the sale of Brazil by increasing the growth rates, especially in U.S. renewables and U.S. utilities. Stephen Coughlin: Hi, Nick. It's Steve. I would just add. We've added and will add a total of 3 gigawatts of new renewables this year across the portfolio. So in addition to some more normalization, like La Nina coming in South America, the installed base is going to be significantly higher. So that's part of it. Renewables segment will grow significantly. And we also have outside the renewables, we have the utilities growth. So, with a full year of new rates in Indiana and continued rate base growth in Ohio. Nicholas Campanella: That makes sense. Thanks for answering my question and see you soon. Operator: Thank you, Nick. Our next question comes from the line of David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley. David your line is now open. David Arcaro: Hi. Thanks so much. Good morning. I was wondering if you could elaborate on the outperformance you had in tax credits that you received. You referenced the $200 million higher-than-expected tax credits. Wondering what that stemmed from? And is there an opportunity for any more outperformance from here? Steve Coughlin: Dave, it's Steve. Definitely been a very good year. Look this is I would say, a very core competency for us and a key differentiator. We have I think the strongest tax team and renewables finance team there is. We're always looking to ensure that we maximize the tax value opportunity because what does that do? It reduces our capital requirements and also increases returns. So we've had a good year. We've done a number of things to ensure we qualify for bonuses, including places where there's a brownfield at or -- that allows us to qualify for the energy community. These are sites that were formerly, say, agricultural sites that had, had different materials, chemicals applied that allowed them to qualify. So we've done a lot of research and digging to justify adders where we can. So the other thing we're doing is all tax credits are not created equal. So because of our track record, people tend to come to us, expect -- and we get less of a discount and we get people very focused on working with us. So I would say monetizing through transfers, we've had a lot of success and transfers do tend to get recognized a little earlier than through the tax equity partnerships the credit value. So that's part of it as well. So I do see this as potential upside in the future. But of course, there's other things going on in the portfolio. We have to take a holistic look. And when we give guidance in '25, we'll update you guys on the entire portfolio. David Arcaro: Okay. Got it. That's helpful. Good to see just chipping away at the financing need with that. And then wondering if you could just touch on what renewable returns have been on the incremental projects that you've been signing, I guess, since raising your return expectations earlier in the year, how those return levels have been trending? Has there been continued momentum upwards? Andres Gluski: Well, we're seeing good returns from our projects, and we continue to see a market that values what we bring to our customers. So the answer to that is yes, that we continue to see -- our newer projects have been within that range towards the upper end of that range. So we feel very confident in the numbers that we've provided. David Arcaro: Okay got it. Appreciate it. Thanks so much. Andres Gluski: Thanks, David. Operator: Thank you, David. Our next question comes from the line of Durgesh Chopra with Evercore ISI. Durgesh your line is open. Durgesh Chopra: Hi. Thank you. Good morning team thanks for taking my question. Just wanted to start off with the actual portfolio that is going to come online, not from the guidance. But in terms of the 2.8 gigawatts that's coming online this year, should we expect an uptick in that number as we go into 2025, the actual construction and getting projects online? Steve Coughlin: Yes. So this is Steve. So we'll give that guidance in February. So there's a number of moving pieces here. I would say the largest inflection will be beyond 2025, Durgesh. And so I expect renewables will be up somewhat. But I think based on what our COD schedules look like, the largest increases will come in '26 and '27. Durgesh Chopra: Got it. Okay. That's very helpful. That's just project timing. Okay. I have two other questions. First, on the hydrogen project with APD, there may have been some changes there, with the activist involvement with the company. Just can you update us what your plan is there? How much capital might you have invested to date? And what do we do with those gigawatts coming online? Just anything you can share there, that would be helpful. Andres Gluski: Sure. No, I appreciate the question. Look we have developed a very attractive 1.5 gigawatts of renewables which, as you know, there is a market that there's a shortage of large advanced renewable projects. So we have to see when 45 V comes out and other things, how much of this goes to hydrogen. But in any case, we have a very attractive asset there. Regarding outside of the states, I do see those projects likely going forward with Asian buyers stepping up and as partners in the early part of it. So we don't have a lot of money invested other than development money that we've done. However, I think that this is probably some of the best pipeline development that we've done because it's a particularly attractive asset. Durgesh Chopra: Got it, Andres. That's very helpful. And this is part of the backlog that you show, right? The -- I believe that number is 12 now. Is that the 1.5 gig that's included in the 12? Andres Gluski: No, no. We only include in our backlog, that's which is signed or awarded at the very final stage. We've never taken any project out of our backlog really. Nothing but -- so we wouldn't include it until we have a signed PPA. Durgesh Chopra: Understood. Okay. Very clear. And then one final question, sorry for dragging for this long. Steve, just on Moody's basis, earlier in the year, we've had conversations on the methodology -- potentially a methodology change at Moody's. Maybe just update us on where you stand on Moody's basis and the latest conversations you've had with the credit rating agency? Steve Coughlin: Sure, Durgesh. So the dialogue continues. I do expect that they will publish an update before year-end. I characterize the conversation continuing to be very constructive. I hate to see that our credit quality has indeed improved since they gave us the initial upgrade a few years back. What's the reality here is that we've been really transforming the portfolio, exiting markets, exiting carbon-intensive assets and rotating capital into long duration, U.S. dollar, high creditworthy counter-parties with no fuel exposure. So we have a very, very attractive profile. I think what they're working through since Moody's looks at AES on a consolidated basis, as opposed to S&P and Fitch, which is at the parent recourse level only, they're looking at the project finance structures and how they take account of those. Project finance is amortizing when we put debt on our projects, it amortizes over the life of the contract, so there's not an exposed levered tail there. So it's a low-risk structure. It's actually investment-grade-rated debt at the project level. So it's an attractive structure, it just hasn't fit within the well within the way they define their thresholds. So they're looking at that. They're also looking at how -- given our high growth, we carry a fairly material amount of construction debt, and that's not yet yielding. And so they're looking at that in ways to recognize that there is cash flow pending that's certain. And of course, this is nonrecourse debt as well that they're looking for adjustments along those lines as well. So I feel good about where we are. I feel really good about the conversations. And I do expect there'll be sharing their view here before the end of the year. Andres Gluski: I would add that if you think of the sort of the big picture overall, we continue to improve our credit profile. So we exited Brazil which was a substantial amount of our FX, certainly a big part of our foreign interest rate exposure and weather-related exposures we learned this year. So as we shut down coal plants or sell coal plants, you're changing 2-year PPAs with fuel risk for really long-term 20-year PPAs with no fuel risk with investment-grade off-takers in the U.S. So I feel very confident that any credit rating agency looking at overall company, where we are today versus where they gave us the ratings a year or 2 ago is a substantially better company. Durgesh Chopra: Got it. Really appreciate that color guys. Thank you. Andres Gluski: Thank you, Durgesh. Operator: Thank you, Durgesh. Our next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Jefferies. Julien, your line is open. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Hi, good morning team. Thank you guys very much for the time. I appreciate it. Can you guys hear me? Andres Gluski: Yes, Julien very well. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Thanks you, Andres. Excellent. Well, actually since we're talking on the credit here, just to kick off on the nuance, just where do you see your metrics getting here and then more specifically, do you anticipate needing to upsize the asset sales or accelerate the asset sale target to kind of true up the balance sheet for any reason here? I get the Moody's methodology is in flux, but as you think about the asset sale piece of this, any observations to make on that front since we were focused on in the second year? Steve Coughlin: No, certainly. So I mean the credit metrics remain strong at the parent level. And actually, things that we've been doing are quite credit accretive. So some of the largest things we've done here now just closing on Brazil. Brazil, while it was generating a significant amount of EBITDA in the Renewable segment was actually producing very, very little cash. The business is highly levered and so the sale is actually very credit accretive. Similarly, with the Ohio sell-down when that closes next year, we're going to be paying down a tranche debt that's due at the holdco over 400 million. So we see that as also credit accretive and that we do, in fact, expect as a result of the transaction Ohio will be able to start paying dividends at least a year sooner than it otherwise would have. So we really feel good about the trajectory. I would expect at the end of this year, the parent level metrics will be between 22% and 23% which are well above the threshold of 20% that we have. And so yes, no, Julien, I think the asset sale program, we've had a lot of success, targeted 3.5. The universe is, in fact, bigger. So we'll see what makes sense going into the future. But I see us having a lot of runway here and that the credit metric has actually, in fact, been supported by the asset sale program. Andres Gluski: I'd like to sort of also say that we've always exceeded our asset sale program targets. And I would also say, quite frankly, I think we have a very good record of selling assets at good value. And what we've always been doing is maximizing the value for our shareholders and not just doing asset sales to hit a certain, let's say, megawatt or generation composition target. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: No. Fair enough, guys and thank you for that. Let me pivot real quickly to Palco here. We saw your peers to the north with NIPSCO. NiSource gave a very robust update. You guys are talking about 3 gigawatts of procurement activity. I know you guys already had a team's trajectory articulated at the Analyst Day last year, but I suspect that number is potentially meaningfully higher or potentially extend it out for meaningfully greater duration given A the 3 gigawatts and B the baseline of the rate base at Palco here. If you can speak a little bit to what your expectations on what total portion that you can own and how it impacts your financials here? Steve Coughlin: Okay. So look, I mean the rate case this year was resolved early settled early and approved early. So we had a significant increase over $70 million annual increase. And so that is driving a significant year-over-year. We'll have a full year of the new rates next year. And then as Andres described in his comments, we're once RFP for a lot of new generation in the utility. It will go into the integrated resource plan to be filed next year. And we're talking -- I think we said in the last call, 3 gigawatts total and that's increasing of data center load across the utilities, in addition to what we've already signed. So there's a -- I would say what we guided to is double-digit rate base growth across the utilities. It's going to be much higher than that. So we'll give more guidance in '25, Julien, but -- given what we're seeing the utility investment is going to increase, the returns are going to increase, the rate base will increase. And that's also part of why we also sold down Ohio because although we're selling down 30%, in fact, our net investment in the utilities is increasing. So this sell-down is allowing us to improve credit, get to earlier distributions from the utility, it will improve the credit quality in Ohio and it helps fund a much bigger investment program than even we anticipated a year ago. And our net investment, even though we're at 70% ownership in both utilities it’s going to be even higher. So that's how I would look at it. And of course, in Indiana, it's an integrated utility. So not only do we have the load on the network, but we also have the generation piece to supply as well. So we see a lot of generation growth. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Right. So even the medium-term rate base growth CAGR, it could potentially be heading higher is what I'm hearing. But actually, you made allusion to one thing here, if I can just clarify. You'll be providing an updated outlook here on the fourth quarter. And I know that there's a lot of different things that are moving around in the plan. So as you guys have done historically, expect that kind of integrated update here on 4Q roll forward from the Analyst Day? Steve Coughlin: Yes, absolutely. Yes, we will update you on our long term for -- in February. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Wonderful. Excellent, guys. Thank you for the time. Appreciate it. Steve Coughlin: Thanks Julien. Operator: Thank you, Julien. Our next question comes from the line of Angie Storozynski with Seaport. Angie your line is open. Angie Storozynski: Thank you for taking my question. So I just wanted to focus on the renewable power EBITDA. So the one without credits for cash EBITDA, I would call it. So I'm looking at these results. I mean you will be basically flat since 2022. And now it looks like 2025 is going to be also like 620, 630 range. So I mean I understand that there are one-off items that weighed on this year's EBITDA which is going to be even lower than the number I just mentioned. So I mean there has to be some growth in that number. And I hear you, Steve, that there will be some in '26, '27, but you're making very substantial investments and we're not seeing growth in that cash renewable EBITDA. Now the reason I'm actually asking about it is because if you look at the parent free cash flow, parent distributions, I mean the vast majority of them come from energy infrastructure, but that's a segment that is shrinking. So I will have to rely on cash distributions from renewables very soon in order to hit the free cash flow expectations. So I'm just hoping that we can reconcile this. Thanks. Andres Gluski: Yes. First, we're not saying that the renewable EBITDA will grow substantially in 2025. And what you have is the fact that we're selling Brazil. That's 5 gigawatts, so -- which are having a little bit of apples and oranges here. So we're seeing the operating results from our renewable build, absolutely in where we think it should be. So it is -- there's a number of things going on here, Angie, that we can -- time will clarify. But I don't think that it's -- you can say that we're not getting the results from the investments that we're making. It's just moving. And then second, on the energy infrastructure, yes, I mean, we have a balanced portfolio. So we tend to have that event in one spot, offset by good events in the other. And this was a particular quarter where really a lot of things came together that normally don't come together. So normally, if you have conditions, you have more win. This time we had both. But what we also had was sort of all the years rain came in a very short period of time and damage of 1 gigawatt hydro, so I think we really did have sort of onetime events, and I think you're drawing sort of longer-term conclusions from that. I'll pass it to Steve. Steve Coughlin: Yes. I would just say, Angie, the only reason we're down year-over-year is because of the record drought. The only material reason is because of the record drought, primarily Colombia and to a degree, Brazil as well. So those conditions are known to be changing, moving to La Nina. Obviously, Brazil is out of the portfolio. So Colombia, we do expect returning to much more normal conditions next year. And don't forget, we also had an extremely high third quarter last year in Colombia, unusually high. So it makes the year-over-year comparison look more extreme. But what's the reality is the U.S. growth is significant. And so this year and even higher into next year, more than overcoming the loss of Brazil from the renewables segment. So the renewables growth will be very material this year. So we get that we're not on track at this point with the guidance for -- if you were to straight line the guidance, but we're picking up substantially into next year and are reaffirming through 2027 that 19% to 21% growth rate, and that's largely driven by all of this U.S. growth, which is taking off. As I said, we have added a total of 3 gigawatts of renewables across the across the year since Q3 of last year. We also will ultimately move Chile into the renewable segment where it belongs as we execute on our coal exit. So the cash from this renewable segment will grow accordingly as well, and the EBITDA will be on track with that growth rate. Angie Storozynski: Okay. So let me just push back the latter, meaning that Chile was supposed to be additive to the growth trajectory that you were showing at the Analyst Day. And now that we see the results, like year-over-year changes versus '23 results, you clearly point out that the second half of '23 had some big onetime benefits, which you could not have counted on during your '23 Analyst Day, and yet you came below your expectations, even the low end on renewables EBITDA for '23.So again, I mean I hear you that there is growth in the U.S. portfolio, which will benefit the EBITDA, but again, I mean, you had some big positives in the second half of '23, which you could not have expected when you were giving guidance on '23 on renewables and you came below expectations on renewables in '23 now. So why should I have conviction that the same is not going to true in future years? Andres Gluski: Well, we feel confident we're going to hit the long-range growth that we talked about. I mean it has to do with reaching critical mass on some of these things. And certainly, we can have onetime weather events. But I think the important thing is what returns are you actually seeing from the projects you're bringing online? What is the value of the PPAs you are signing? And as we move forward, it will be easier to make apples-and-apples comparisons as we have the same portfolio new year. Steve Coughlin: Yes. The other thing I would say, Angie, is referring to last year, we did end up having more of our commissionings very late in the year, in fact, most in December. So a little later than expected this year. We have substantially changed that trend. And so the renewable commissionings were much more really spread throughout the year. That's why we've already recognized $900 million of tax attributes already. So I think that's another reason that, that program has become more mature and spread throughout the year that we're seeing a better result, and that ‘23 was lower. Angie Storozynski: And just one other question. So I'm looking at your guidance here on the free cash flow for the parent for the year. It seems like you are expecting about $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion in distributions from subsidiary and you are at about 800, 880, I forget. So is this apples-to-apples, meaning that I am basically 50% of distributions, meaning that the fourth quarter will be the big catch-up on distributions? Steve Coughlin: Yes, but that's a normal trend. So that's -- we've been having that type of seasonality for a long time. And I would say, in most cases, the cash is already sitting there. It's based on the windows in time relative to our debt service that we're also allowed to pay dividends. So we have clear visibility into the remaining dividend. It's just a matter of timing at this point as to when they get released on the periodic twice a year, once a year in some cases. So I'm very, very confident in the distribution level. Angie Storozynski: Okay. Thank you. Steve Coughlin: Thank you, Angie. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Michael Sullivan with Wolfe Research. Michael your line is now open. Michael Sullivan: Hi. Good morning. Steve Coughlin: Good morning, Michael. Michael Sullivan: Yes, just -- I know that kind of got passed through a bunch there on the last line of questions or commentary, I guess. Just to make it simple, like you keep talking about significant growth in '25. We obviously don't know what that means exactly. But you have this 5% to 7% EBITDA CAGR off of '23. When do you get inside of that within your plan? Steve Coughlin: Yes. So again, we'll give an update in February. The early years as we have been executing on the transformation and things like the Brazil exit, we'll have the Vietnam exit next year. We had the Warrior Run shutdown, and so that goes away. So that weighs on the early years, but the trajectory, as I said, there's more of an inflection point beyond next year, overall, getting through the 2027. Period. So what's happening is that the renewables will grow significantly next year. The utilities will grow significantly, catching back up to closer to that level of return of growth that we've been expecting, but the energy infrastructure shrinking has been a little more front-end loaded. And then the Brazil sale, obviously, is a headwind in renewables in the near term, but we're more -- significantly more than offsetting it next year. So that's how I would characterize it. We feel good about the growth rate overall, but it's influenced by how we execute on the transformation as well as the growth, and the transformation shows up in the shrinking of the energy infrastructure. So that's how I would characterize it. And so we'll give more in February. But again, I feel really good about the renewables and the utilities. And then the energy infrastructure we’ll look at choices we have around how fast to continue the transformation and discuss that in February. Michael Sullivan: Okay. That's very helpful, Steve. And then I had 2 ones just on your resource additions. The first, just in terms of looking at new gas at the utility, do you see that in the RFP? Or is that not until the IRP? And do you have a good handle on how much you could look to be doing in gas? And then on the nonutility side, you all have traditionally been pretty solar heavy though I think you mentioned wind a few times just in terms of supply chain. But when I look at you and your peers, it doesn't seem like anyone's adding too much wind these days. So just curious what you're seeing on that front? Andres Gluski: Yes. On your first question, that would be really waiting for the IRP. So we certainly are looking at all options. So it will be likely a mix of renewables and some thermal, of course, batteries as well. Now regarding the second question in wind. Well, we were -- we had been building quite a lot of wind in Brazil. But a lot of the projects that we have in the pipeline have a considerable amount of wind. So if you think of the -- what's been known as sort of the green hydrogen project in Texas, 1.5 giga, that's primarily wind. So we'll have a more of a balance in the U.S. between wind and solar in future years. Michael Sullivan: Okay. Thank you very much. Operator: Thank you, Michael. Our next question comes from the line of Ryan Levine with Citi. Ryan your lines are open. Ryan Levine: Good morning, and thanks for taking my question. What is the time line for the $92 million Colombia impact to return to historic norms? And what is the risk to achieving this ramp at this stage in the year? Steve Coughlin: Yes. So conditions are already improving. The fourth quarter, in fact, I expect will be higher in Colombia than last year, Ryan. And all forecasts point to La Nina being highly probable over the next couple of months and lasting well into next year. So it's pretty much turning around now. Again, I expect the fourth quarter to be higher. And then throughout next year, I expect Colombia to be higher in this year overall. So Colombia has been -- and it was $92 million in the quarter alone. It's $130 million down year-to-date over prior year. So that is the single largest driver here, and it shows up in the Renewables segment. But the U.S. growth is doing hard work to offset that and significantly overcome overcomes it in the fourth quarter here and into next year. Andres Gluski: Yes. I would add we had a two-month outage. Yes. So the truth is that outage was at the worst possible time because if we hadn't had the outage because we had a rain, which was 25% higher than anything prior previously recorded, we could have used that water to very good results subsequently in the drought. So being out for two months is -- that's part of the recovery. Ryan Levine: Okay. So then by 2026, you should be back to a more normal performance? Steve Coughlin: No, '25, Ryan. So the conditions are already improving. We expect this quarter, fourth quarter to be higher than last year. And next year, in 2025, we expect normal to better hydrology from the La Nina. Ryan Levine: Okay. And then maybe switching gears, as you referenced in your prepared comments, impact to California spark spreads, are you looking to change your hedging strategy there? Or any color you could share around the outlook going forward for the Southland? Steve Coughlin: Yes. So just -- as a reminder, the Southland structure has a 20-year contract for capacity and energy. So we have a very known monetization stream. It is at our election annually a year in advance to decide whether we want to market the energy ourselves and hedge it or put it to the uptake or under the PPA. So for '24 we did previously decide, at the end of '22, to call the energy to us and to market it. Unfortunately, spark spreads changed significantly during the time that we made that decision, and we're executing on the hedge program. And so we had downtime this year. But still relative to the put value, still a good decision. And so we have made that decision also for 2025 that we will market the energy. We are over 95% hedged already at values well in excess of the put value. So it -- the market has changed. The market has compressed a lot due to better hydro conditions. What we've had is milder weather. There's been a lot more battery penetration in California. So the market value is not as high over the long term as it had been back in '22 when we first made that decision. But nonetheless, we see, overall, the strategy is -- has been increasing or has added over the put is just not as much as we expected when we gave the guidance, unfortunately. Ryan Levine: So, then as a follow-up, given that framework and your decisions for next year, is there any color around -- any direction of travel for that asset's performance for '25 given what your parties decided? Steve Coughlin: Yes. I would say, at this point, since we've already decided on '25, it is in excess of the put value. And we're already nearly 100% hedged, 95% hedged, as I said. So it the value is lower than it was in the original guidance, but still above had we taken a no-risk strategy. And then for 2026, we have not yet made that decision. And we'll have to here later in the fourth quarter, and we'll update you all on that later. And that will be based just upon what we see in the hedge market at the time relative to the put value. Ryan Levine: Thanks for taking my question. Operator: Thank you. Ryan. Our next question is from the line of Richard Sunderland with JPMorgan. Richard, your line is open. Richard Sunderland: Thanks for the time. I know you've covered a lot of ground. Just one quick cleanup. You've talked at various points about asset sale program and how you've thought about timing that and affecting that it sounds like more to come on year-end around that. But just curious how you're thinking about monetizing the new energy technologies investments? And if that's something that should fall within the planned period? Any thoughts there. Andres Gluski: When you think about the new energy technologies, look, what we've talked about is through 2027. And we approached these strategically. So what we've always said is that we will monetize these assets when we feel it's appropriate. And when we are out of long-term venture capitalist investors. So we'll monetize them at the right time when we don't think we're adding a lot of value. And we've already done some monetization and taking some money off the table. So it's been a very successful program. And I think there's a lot more value there than is being recognized by most of the parts. But what I would say is that so long as we add a lot of value, we'll stay in. However, we'll continue to opportunistically monetize. And certainly, we're well ahead of our plan for 2027. But as Steve mentioned, the universe is greater. So it would include some things from new energy technologies. Richard Sunderland: Great, thank you. Operator: Thank you, Richard. There are no additional questions waiting at this time. So I'll turn the call back over to Susan Harcourt for closing remarks. Susan Harcourt: We thank everybody for joining us on today's call. As always, the IR team will be available to answer any follow-up questions you may have. We look forward to seeing many of you at the EEI Financial Conference later this month. Thank you, and have a nice day. Operator: That concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. 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This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. AES (AES) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Image source: The Motley Fool. Aug. 1, 2025 at 10 a.m. ET President and CEO — Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert Executive Vice President and CFO — Stephen Coughlin Executive Vice President and COO — Ricardo Manuel Falu Vice President, Investor Relations — Susan Pasley Keppelman Harcourt Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our second quarter 2025 financial review call. Today, I'm pleased to reaffirm both our 2025 guidance and our long-term growth targets. Our business remains resilient, and we continue to execute on our strategy, which I will discuss in more detail. Following my remarks, Steve Coughlin, our CFO, will provide additional color on our financial performance and outlook. Before delving into our second quarter results, allow me to share a few thoughts regarding the state of the electricity market in the U.S. Obviously, the past couple of months have seen major policy announcements, which will have a significant impact on the sector. Not to get distracted by some of the noise surrounding these developments. It's important to keep in mind key market fundamentals. Demand for energy in the U.S. is growing rapidly by historical measures. Prices are rising, and the bulk of new additions over the next 5 years will be renewables and energy storage. These are the technologies that can be feasibly built, given their shorter time to power, advanced development pipeline existing supply chains, competitive levelized cost of energy and customer preference. Current government policies aim to increase the amount of future power coming from fossil fuels nuclear and enhanced geothermal. While measures can be taken to increase generation from existing thermal plants, new additions will take years to materially come online, some more than others. In the meantime, AES has a mature pipeline of renewables and battery storage with a substantial safe harbored backlog of signed PPAs, positioning us to meet our clients' growing energy needs. As an all-of-the-above energy company, we had the capabilities to deliver those technologies that are most cost competitive and demanded by our customers. We see our business model as supplying not a specific technology, but the electric energy and capacity in the shape, cost and reliability, the market demands. Over many years, AES has demonstrated its flexibility and innovation time and again. Now turning to our results, beginning on Slide 4. We're executing well and on track to achieve all of our financial metrics. Our performance was in line with our expectations with adjusted EBITDA of $681 million and adjusted EPS of $0.51. We are seeing significant growth in our renewables SBU with adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of $240 million, representing overall growth of 56% versus Q2 last year. This growth is directly related to the 3.2 gigawatts of new projects that we have added to our portfolio over the last 4 quarters. We are also seeing the benefits of more projects with higher returns, which we forecasted earlier last year and are now hitting our results as these projects come online. We're on track to add a total of 3.2 gigawatts of new projects in operation in 2025. Year-to-date, we have completed construction of 1.9 gigawatts, and we are approximately 80% complete on the remaining 1.3 gigawatts. I am pleased to report that our progress so far this year includes the completion of the 1-gigawatt Bellefield 1 solar plus storage project, which is the first phase and the largest project of its kind in the country. As part of our construction efforts, we utilized our AI robotic solar installation technology, Maximo, which makes construction significantly faster, less labor intensive and more cost effective. Since our last call, we have signed PPAs for an additional 1.6 gigawatts of new projects, including 650 megawatts with Meta, bringing our backlog to 12 gigawatts. The 1.6 gigawatts of new PPAs is entirely with data center customers, further solidifying our position as the leading provider of renewables to this customer segment. Now turning to Slide 5. Our business is resilient to changes in renewables policy, whether it's the new legislation signed by Congress, the prospect of additional tariffs or changes to IRS guidelines around tax credits. We have significant protections due to the actions we have taken over the last several years, including safe harboring, ensuring a U.S. supply chain and avoiding projects on federal land. Let me also emphasize that for the majority of our business, any of the recent changes in U.S. policy are largely inconsequential. This includes our entire operating portfolio, our utilities and our international business. Turning to Slide 6. We feel very confident in the strength of our backlog of renewables and energy storage projects, which have signed contracts that are not yet operational. Of this 12-gigawatt backlog, 4.1 gigawatts are international, selling primarily to mining companies and data centers with no exposure to U.S. policy. Looking at our 7.9 gigawatt U.S. backlog we plan to place in service 6 gigawatts before year-end 2027, all of which qualify for existing tax credits under recent legislation. Of the remaining 1.9 gigawatts coming online after 2027, nearly all is safe harbored under the current treasury guidance. Even looking out to 2028 and beyond, our pipeline includes an additional 4 gigawatts of projects that are expected to be added to our backlog over the coming year. I should add that 35% of our U.S. pipeline is energy storage, which will be supported by tax credits from start of construction through 2033. In short, our backlog is well protected, and we have a long runway of projects that we expect to bring online with tax incentives. Turning to Slide 7. Our supply chain strategy also provides us with strong protection from changes in U.S. policy or potential future tariffs. All of our major equipment is now either on-site are coming from U.S.-based suppliers with their own supply chains diversified outside of China. We have essentially eliminated any potential impact from previously announced tariffs and our projects comply with the restrictions on Foreign Entities of Concern or FEOC. Now turning to Slide 8 and our future growth. Even as tax credits expire, we expect strong demand, which will enable us to maintain or improve our existing project returns and continue to rapidly grow our EBITDA. We are uniquely positioned as the top provider of renewables to data center companies with over 11 gigawatts of agreements signed to date, and we are confident in our ability to deliver on our financial objectives for the following 3 reasons. First, we're seeing robust demand for electricity, driven primarily by the rapid growth of data centers. Meeting this demand in the U.S. will require over 600 terawatt hours of additional power generated by the end of the decade, which is roughly equivalent to the current ERCOT system. With this backdrop, as you can see on Slide 9, the corporate PPA market for renewables has a long history of adjusting to account for changes in market conditions with average contract prices moving as the underlying cost of building new projects has evolved. It is worth noting that for data centers, electricity represents less than 10% of total lifetime cost on average. Second, turning to Slide 10. Renewables offer a competitive Levelized Cost of Energy, or LCOE, for new generation, even without tax credits. Over the past year, the cost of a new gas turbine has more than doubled, and lead times have stretched to 4 years or more. Additionally, new gas pipelines have yet to be approved, permitted and built. As a result, a surge in new gas plants coming online will likely take time. And third, our strategy remains centered on meeting our customer needs. Today, customers are asking for renewables and storage because they can be deployed quickly and at scale. I should add that AES has extensive gas development capabilities, and we are focused on delivering those solutions that our large data center customers are requesting. Finally, turning to Slide 11 and the robust growth program we're undertaking at our U.S. utilities. We are executing on the largest investment program in the history of both AES Indiana and AES Ohio to improve customer reliability and support economic development. In 2025, across these utilities, we're on track to invest approximately $1.4 billion in areas such as hardening the distribution network, smart grid, new generation and transmission build-out for data centers. At AES Indiana, we are making significant progress on our generation buildout. Earlier this year, we completed the Pike County energy storage project, which includes 200 megawatts of installed capacity and 800-megawatt hours of dispatchable energy, the largest operational battery project in MISO. We're also on track to bring online the Petersburg Energy Center, a 250-megawatt solar and 180-megawatt hour energy storage facility by the end of the year. Furthermore, we're on schedule with repowering 2 of the Petersburg units from coal to natural gas. We expect this project to be completed in 2026. This quarter, we also filed petitions for a regulatory rate review with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. This rate case represents our first using a forward-looking test year, which will reduce regulatory lag and enable a more efficient investment program as we work to best serve our customers with cost-effective and reliable electricity service. In AES Ohio, our current regulatory rate review with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is on track for a timely order, and we're optimistic that we will be able to reach a settlement agreement in the third quarter. In addition, with the passage of House Bill 15 this spring, we are working towards a new regulatory framework that will incorporate 3 forward-looking test years, significantly reducing regulatory lag in Ohio. With our current ESP regulatory structure in place until early 2027, we expect to file for new rates later this year, which will include 2027 to 2029 as the test years. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to our CFO, Steve Coughlin. Stephen Coughlin: Thank you, Andres, and good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased to share that AES had a great second quarter, keeping us well on track towards our full year 2025 guidance targets. First, turning to adjusted EBITDA on Slide 13. Second quarter adjusted EBITDA was $681 million versus $658 million a year ago. This was driven by significant growth from new renewables projects and the positive impact from cost reductions we announced on our fourth quarter call. These were partially offset by several portfolio changes, including the prior year Warrior Run coal PPA monetization, the sale of AES Brazil and the 30% sell-down of AES, Ohio. Turning to Slide 14. Second quarter adjusted EPS increased 34% to $0.51 per share versus $0.38 in the prior year. In addition to the EBITDA growth drivers, also increased as a result of $185 million of higher U.S. renewable tax attributes. This strong growth was partially offset by higher parent interest expense and a higher adjusted tax rate. Next, I'll cover the performance drivers within each of our strategic business units on the next 4 slides. Beginning with our renewables SBU on Slide 15, the 56% increase in EBITDA was as expected and puts us well on our way to achieving our full year guidance of $890 million to $960 million. This was primarily driven by 3.2 gigawatts of new capacity brought online since Q2 2024 as well as the positive impacts from the cost reductions and scaling down of our development spending that we discussed on our fourth quarter call. This year, hydrology has normalized in Colombia, improving results versus the prior year. The net effect of moving Chile renewables to the renewables SBU this year was offset by the sale of our 5 gigawatt AES Brazil business. In the utilities SBU, lower adjusted pretax contribution, or PTC, in the quarter was mostly driven by planned outages and the sell-down of AES Ohio that closed in April. These results were fully anticipated in our guidance, and we expect significant growth in the Utilities SBU in the year to go, driven by new investments in the rate base. Turning to our energy infrastructure SBU on Slide 17. Lower EBITDA versus Q2 2024 primarily reflects the prior year recognition of the Warrior Run coal PPA monetization and Chile renewable assets moving to our renewables segment in 2025, partially offset by our acquisition of the remaining ownership in the Cochrane coal plant. Excluding these portfolio changes, energy infrastructure EBITDA would have increased by $23 million as a result of higher availability across the fleet. Finally, lower EBITDA at our New Energy Technologies SBU primarily reflects AES' share of the lower results reported by Fluence in their fiscal second quarter. Turning to Slide 19. We are reaffirming our 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $2.65 billion to $2.85 billion, driven by the robust 51% growth in our renewables business year-to-date and our strong position heading into the second half of this year. Growth in the year to go will be driven by the 3.7 gigawatts of projects brought online in 2024, the 1.9 gigawatts already brought online year-to-date and the additional 1.3 gigawatts we will bring online through the end of the year. Our business has reached a level of scale and maturity that allows us to operate even more effectively and efficiently, which is improving EBITDA margins. As I mentioned, hydrology conditions in Colombia have normalized, and we see our hydro plants well positioned to hit their targets through the end of the year. We expect 7% year-over-year growth at our utilities SBU, and driven by the $1.3 billion of rate base investment we've made over the last 12 months. We have already locked in the cost savings actions implemented during the first quarter, which will yield at least the $150 million savings target we discussed on our fourth quarter call. To put this year into context, when adjusted to exclude the impacts of asset sales, year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth will be approximately 11%. Looking beyond 2025, asset sales will be less of a driver due to the substantial progress we've already made. This means that adjusted EBITDA growth will significantly accelerate in 2026 as the strong growth in our renewables and utilities businesses will not be offset by significant asset sales. As a result, we still expect at least low teens EBITDA growth in 2026, putting us well on track to achieve our long-term growth rate through 2027. Now looking at our 2025 adjusted earnings per share on Slide 20. We are reaffirming our guidance of $2.10 to $2.26, which exceeds the midpoint of the 7% to 9% long-term growth rate we introduced back in 2021. In addition to the drivers of adjusted EBITDA, we expect higher interest expense as a result of new debt for our growth investments and a slightly higher adjusted tax rate. We expect to benefit from higher tax credit monetization in the year to go as we complete an additional 600 megawatts of projects in the U.S. and expect these tax attributes to be weighted approximately equally between the third and fourth quarters. Now let's turn to our 2025 parent capital allocation plan on Slide 21. Sources reflect approximately $2.7 billion of total discretionary cash, including achieving the upper half of our $1.15 billion to $1.25 billion of parent free cash flow target, reflecting double-digit year-over-year growth. Additional sources include the sell-down of our global insurance business that closed in the second quarter, and we expect to borrow an additional $500 million at the parent to support our attractive growth investment plan. On the right-hand side, you can see our planned use of capital. We will return approximately $500 million to shareholders this year with our $0.70 per share annual dividend, while investing approximately $1.8 billion toward new growth, primarily in the renewables and utilities businesses. We have also repaid approximately $400 million of subsidiary debt, in line with our balance sheet optimization objectives. Turning to Slide 22. We are reaffirming our long-term growth rate for adjusted EBITDA of 5% to 7%, driven by renewables growth of 19% to 21% and utilities growth of 13% to 15%. We are also reaffirming our long-term growth rates for adjusted EPS and parent free cash flow. I want to emphasize that the recently passed Reconciliation Bill does not impact the growth plan included in our long-term guidance. As Andres discussed, all projects coming online through year-end 2027 qualify to receive existing tax credits under the recently passed legislation. Additionally, we have either already taken delivery of key components for our backlog projects or we have secured domestic supply chains, which mitigate impacts of new tariffs. These actions give us clear line of sight to achieving our long-term guidance. As a reminder, AES' adjusted EBITDA does not include renewables tax credit. As a result, we do not expect any reduction in adjusted EBITDA from the eventual sunsetting of renewable tax credits. I would also like to share a few thoughts on our balance sheet. Our parent free cash flow to parent debt metric in the second quarter improved versus a year ago from 19% to 25%, and we remain on track to reach our 12% FFO to debt target with Moody's by the end of next year. Our plan through 2027 is fully self-funded with internally generated cash flow, tax capital, partner capital and incremental debt capacity. As we consider how the business will evolve with the step down of tax credits toward the end of the decade and beyond, we feel confident in the resilience of our business due to our industry-leading position with data centers. Data center customers have an incredible need for new power and future expirations of renewables incentives are unlikely to slow this down. Our expectation is that PPA prices will adjust to fully remunerate invested capital at attractive returns. In other words, while future projects without tax incentives would require additional debt and equity to replace tax value monetization, those projects will also earn higher cash and EBITDA to remunerate that additional capital and achieve our target returns. This also means that we could generate similar EBITDA and cash growth with less megawatts and without increasing capital needs. We will maintain this flexibility to scale our growth investments to be in line with available capital sources within AES and our partners. Looking beyond 2027, our growth will continue to be funded primarily with internally generated cash partner capital and debt capacity in line with our investment-grade credit rating. AES' future growth rates will be strong as declines we've seen in our energy infrastructure SBU, related to asset sales and coal retirements will be largely behind us, allowing the high growth rates of renewables and utilities to dominate AES' overall rate of growth. In summary, I am very pleased with the progress we've made toward our financial objectives for 2025 and beyond as our business strategy and execution continue to prove resilient and successful. With more than half of the year behind us, I am confident we will achieve our 2025 objectives and look forward to providing an update on next quarter's call. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Andres. Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Thank you, Steve. Before opening up the call to questions, I will share some closing thoughts. AES' business is resilient, and we are reaffirming all of our 2025 and longer-term financial and business objectives. We're on track to complete 3.2 gigawatts of construction in full year 2025 and have signed 2 gigawatts of new PPAs so far this year. Our backlog of 12 gigawatts of signed PPAs is either international or safe harbor and the majority will be completed by 2027. AES' Renewables adjusted EBITDA grew by 56% in the quarter as we delivered on our construction projects. At the same time, our balance sheet metrics are on track to meet all requirements to maintain our triple investment grade. Our resilience is the result of years of preparation of creating a domestic supply chain, a safe harbored backlog and pipeline and being the preferred provider of the fastest-growing market segment, namely data centers and corporate clients. AES has earned a reputation as the most reliable developer and builder of renewable projects as well as the most innovative company in our sector. We see ourselves as a provider of electric energy and capacity with the cost, shape and carbon intensity that our clients demand. AES will continue to deliver the solutions our customers need as we always have done in the past. For all of these reasons, we feel confident in our ability to deliver on our financial commitments through our guidance period and continue to show strong growth beyond. With that, I would ask the operator to open up the call for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question today comes from Nick Campanella with Barclays. Fei She: This is Fei for Nick today, First, just wanted to touch on financial execution drivers. So on new project construction time line, so seeing 80% of the projects completed for the remaining 1.3 gigawatts. Can you talk about the project online timing for the rest of the year? And how does that affect EPS and EBITDA recognition? And also looking at longer-term guidance into a post-OBBB world, what are your latest thoughts and potential timing to roll forward into 2028 or even further as part of the multiyear guidance? Ricardo Manuel Falu: This is Ricardo. So I'll take the first part of your question with respect to the timing of the commissioning. Most of it will be, I would say, third quarter and a small portion in the fourth quarter of this year, I think it's important to highlight that 80% progress completion. We have all the equipment that we need on site, so we can provide full confidence in the remaining 1.3 gigawatt being commissioned by the end of the year. Stephen Coughlin: Yes. This is Steve. Just on the second part, I would also add that most of our growth this year is coming from capacity that's already come online through last year in the first half of this year and the tax attributes related to what Ricardo mentioned, will be roughly split between the first -- between the third and fourth quarters. In terms of the longer-term guidance, we feel very good we're in our planning cycle. But based on what's come out in the new bill, and as Andres highlighted, we're very well positioned beyond 2027, given our safe harboring, given our domestic supply chain. So we see ourselves well on track in that period. And so we will give an update and expect to extend guidance in the February 25 call, as we normally do. But we feel very good about the company even beyond the 2027 time frame. Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Nick, this is Andres. I would also add that we've always hit our construction targets that we've given. And other things like we have avoided public lands for our projects, and there's a high component of energy storage on this. So overall, we feel very good about hitting our targets. Fei She: Got it. That's very helpful. And I guess maybe switching gears, I understand, we've both seen the headlines about a potential acquisition of the company. And while I know you can't really opine directly on that. Could you maybe talk about how are you seeing the value of your underlying business currently versus where you traded 2, 3 years ago obviously, the renewables backdrop has changed significantly. But do you see private markets would still value your business higher than where the public market is currently? And if you were to pursue something for the whole company, what can be the regulatory hurdles required? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Yes. Look, Nick, what I would say is we have seen over the last couple of years, we feel our company has been undervalued, consistently undervalued. Just looking at today's call, look at the strength of our backlog, look at our execution, look at the clients that we have and also look at the flexibility that the company has. We really are an all-of-above company. I mean we always had a foot in gas as well. Over the last 5 years, we've done about 2 gigawatts of new gas plants. And we're doing a conversion from coal to gas, 1 gigawatt conversion from coal to gas now. And we have the possibility of doing gas as well. We have other sites. We have other things in development. So what I would say is that if you look at all those factors, we really are a company that's oriented to serving our customers. And we're not just a single technology company. So we'll combine the technologies with the tax incentives with the customer preferences that makes sense. But our primary aim is financial to really do the very best, create the most shareholder value that we can from this portfolio. So we've been executing. And therefore, if you look at what the company consists of and our performance, we feel that, yes, we've been undervalued over the last couple of years. Operator: Our next question comes from Richard Sunderland with JPMorgan. Richard Wallace Sunderland: Can you hear me? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Yes, Richard. Richard Wallace Sunderland: Great. Looking at Slide 6 here, and I'm wondering how you think about the risk to safe harboring from the executive order and potential changes to guidelines. Is there anything specific to your safe harbor activities that gives you confidence in that outlook? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: I'll give a high-level answer, and then I'll pass it to Ricardo. But I would say that, look, overall, we've been very looking at how to have a robust position. And this is sort of a philosophy we've asked. When you think about COVID, we're the only large developer that didn't postpone. Forget even abandoned any big projects as a result of COVID. So thinking about what potential changes could come, we have been very careful avoiding any public lands, for example. We have been -- if you think of our pipeline, a high component of that is energy storage or batteries plus energy storage. So overall, we're in a pretty robust position going into this. So on the specifics, I'm going to go ahead and pass it to Ricardo. Ricardo Manuel Falu: Richard, so let me start by saying that out of the 7.9 gigawatts of U.S. backlog. And I think just to repeat what we have in the Slide 16, 6 gigawatts will be placed in service by the end of the 2027, so by December 31, 2027. So they are not these projects, the 6 gigawatts are not exposed or subject to any modification by the new treasury guidance because by the law they have access to the tax attributes, and we can provide full confidence that we can bring and where these projects are in construction, and we will bring them online or place them in service before December 31, 2027. For the remaining 1.9 gigawatts, as Andres mentioned, nearly already have safe harbor protections under the treasury -- our existing treasury guidance, and in no event, we expect the new treasury guidance to be applied retroactively. With respect to the executive order, there is another element there, which relates to FEOC, which applies for projects that start construction on or after January 1, 2026, as all our projects already started construction or nearly all we have no exposure to this FEOC potential changes as part of this treasury guidance. And I should also say that as a first mover in terms of securing and supporting domestic or U.S. manufacturing for solar, wind and storage, we can comply even with the highest requirement or restriction for field even that they will not apply for the projects in our backlog. Richard Wallace Sunderland: Got it. And then turning to the utility side, we've seen sort of across the space, a lot of load updates on the quarter seems like pockets of the country and even broadly where there is a lot of acceleration of activity. I'm curious, given you've already picked up some benefits on that side. How you're seeing overall inbounds and interest into your service territories? Anything notable either on the quarter or on the horizon here on the load front at the utilities? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Look, there's strong interest and especially in our 2 utilities, I believe they're among the fastest growing in the country. We've signed about 2 gigawatts of data center -- additional data center demand, and then we would expect more. So yes, we're having inbounds. And yes, the demand continues to be strong. So again, across the board, we have positioned ourselves with that sector that's most robust and most rapidly growing. Operator: Our next question comes from Michael Sullivan with Wolfe Research. Michael P. Sullivan: Maybe I missed this, but just any more detail you can give us on the PPAs that you signed in the quarter, whether it be location or resource type? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: The information that we've given is that $650 million was with Meta. All of the $1.6 billion that we've signed is -- and again, this is since the last call, are with data center customers. And we'll provide more information going into the future. In general, we're somewhat skewed towards solar plus batteries overall. That's technologies were strongest in. Michael P. Sullivan: Okay. Fair enough. And then, yes, I mean, we've talked about this a bit, I think, on some of the calls, but just any further evolution in your thoughts in terms of new gas plant build for data centers have conversations progressed there at all? Or is there still mostly a skew towards renewable storage, at least for the near term? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: So your question is if there is a conversation about gas bill to back up data centers. Look, as I sort of indicated, we will use all the technologies that best meet our customers' needs. So if our customers would want gas as part of the package, absolutely. And we have the capabilities. As I said, we've always been building gas plants. We have 10 gigawatts under operation today. So we feel very comfortable with that. But we're going to react to what our customers require. Michael P. Sullivan: Okay. Great. And then just a quick one on the utilities. Can you give us a sense of how much lag you're seeing in Ohio today and then what that can move to in a 3-year forward test year world? Stephen Coughlin: Yes, this is Steve. So look, we're very happy with the new regulatory framework allowing the 3-year forward rate cases. So we have an existing rate case under the prior framework pending and we're expecting that settlement in the relative near term in the coming months and new rates to be in place Q1 of next year. But we're also moving forward with our plans to file under the new 3-year forward-looking rate structure likely later this year and would expect rates in 2027 under the new rate structure. So this is a really attractive structure for a utility with 3-year forward-looking. It significantly -- largely eliminates regulatory lag on our investment. And so I think it's good for utility, good for investing to provide the best service for our customers and to support the rapid low growth that Andres mentioned that is coming and to have very regular and quick return on those investments. So that's the timing, and we're looking forward to it. Operator: Our next question comes from Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Jefferies. Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith: Excellent. So wonderful. I just wanted to follow up on these articles in recent weeks. I just -- can you elaborate a little bit about the situation. It was a bit ambiguous as to understand the strategic development here. What actions has the board taken did you all initiate this? Or has there been sort of an inbound formal bid from a third party? Just I get that it might be difficult to speak to specifically at times. But just in terms of what actions has the Board taken at this point with regards to reviewing the strategic direction of the company? And then separately, there's also been some articles out there about revisiting the stable of unicorns as you like to call it, Andres. I suppose Uplight specifically here. Can you speak a little bit more to asset sales within the plan? And within that, how that might fit against the broader strategic undertaking it in, too? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Sure. Well, Julien, as you know, regarding the first, AES never comments on rumors in public markets. So I won't. Regarding the second and Uplight specifically. We also don't comment about any potential sales that may be in progress. As you know, we've had some of the AES Next Unicorns. As part of our portfolio of potential asset sales, but we would only do them when we feel the price is right. So we monetize some affluence when we thought the price was right. And we will do so with some of the other ones. I think that some of the current developments make things like maximum potentially much more valuable because if there is a, let's say, a rush to complete projects by the 2027 end of year [ guidance ] if you can build a solar farm in half the time, that certainly becomes much more attractive. So that's, let's say, the one that we have a lot of interest in. We're very pleased by how it performed in the Bellefield 1, and now it has a bigger role in Bellefield 2. So that's about all I can say because obviously, as you well know, we can't comment on any potential asset sale until it actually occurs. Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith: But you can't confirm necessarily that the Board has elected to do anything either. Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: As I said, we don't comment on any public market transactions and we never have. Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith: Okay. If I can pivot just quickly back to the other side of this, you made allusion to it. On the EO backdrop, just what are your expectations with that -- I mean I get that -- whatever you can say on this thus far, but how would you set expectations about the EO specifically here? And then related, how are you thinking about the cadence of your development business? I know you already alluded that you provide specific targets at year end here, but how do you think about the overall trajectory of the business when you think about the back half of the decade and the implications that might come from Fed, EO or otherwise, right? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Yes. Look, what I can we don't really speculate too much on sort of what's going to come out of an executive order. But look, what we expect is there's a number of competing, let's say, desires here. One is the need to power data centers, what can be provided in the time frame needed to sort of win this competition international competition for AI dominance. So I think that's one. Second, there's a lot of jobs involved with building renewables. So obviously, they're indicating that they want a transition, but that transition has to be done in a feasible orderly fashion that meets all of the various needs for more energy, for AI dominance, for jobs, for growth, et cetera. So that's what I would expect is that all these factors are taken into consideration. Regarding the second question was... Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith: How that fits in, right, regardless of the timing and cadence, like how would you broadly set expectations about the back half of this decade given that sort of -- whatever the timing is of that phase out given that phase out? How would you frame expectations initially? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Look, as we indicated, we continue to expect strong growth because it's not a question of the technology. It's the question of the ability to put together and supply clients with what they want. So as you know, we are not going after like megawatt goals. We're going after financial goals. And so we have a constraint that we're going to remain triple investment grade, and we're going to continue to pay a dividend. So within those confines, we will grow in an orderly fashion. And I must also say that if you have a sort of continuous growth and steady growth, it's much more cost efficient than if you have sort of spurts and valleys. So that's what we're going to do. I don't expect any post when these credits burn off, they will continue to grow at strong rates. And I would also add that we're the only large company which has international experience. So 30% of our new growth is outside of the U.S. And we have no tax credits. And quite frankly, we have higher margins. So it will basically be , as we said in the past, our U.S. business should look more like our international business. And it's very likely that it will also add a component of gas as well. And that's fine with us. We're capable of doing that. And as Steve also mentioned, the profile of cash, et cetera, is actually somewhat more favorable than using the tax credit. But of course, you have to use the tax credit because that's what makes the projects competitive for your clients. But in the absence of them, we're -- we've shown over the years, we're perfectly capable of making a very good business without tax credits. Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith: Of course, absolutely, but you think you can continue to compound at higher levels than what you're doing for the time being when you said growth earlier. Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Well, we're not going to give guidance outside of the period. But as we said on the call, we feel very confident that this company is going to continue to grow at strong rates. And that as the circumstances change, we will adapt to them. And I guess our experience in developing markets gives us an advantage because those markets regulations have tended to be much more volatile than the state. So for us, again, we feel we're in a very good position, and we have all the technologies we need. And as new technologies become available, say, something like enhanced geothermal, we've been dabbling in that, and we'll be ready to provide that for our customers, even SMRs, although I think that's quite a ways off. I think that's probably a decade off. Stephen Coughlin: Yes. I would just add that, Julien, our backlog, as we showed in the slide is well protected even beyond 2027. And so we see that growth continuing to be strong. And even then, the demand is so robust will evolve technology, as Andre said, pricing will adapt in terms of what the net cost of projects becomes. And then as we described, we always maintain flexibility here. We don't necessarily need to build as many as if the investment is more concentrated without tax attributes in the renewable piece of the business. We also maintain the ability to sell down as we've done in the past. So because the EBITDA and cash yield will actually go up on a per megawatt basis, we can generate similar returns with, in fact, less megawatts. So we'll adapt, but we feel very good about how well positioned we are through the very long term. Operator: Our next question today comes from Ryan Levine with Citi. Ryan Michael Levine: Good morning. How much cash flow is associated with Maximo and AS plan? And is there any color you can share on the financial metrics or commercial interest you're seeing with that asset in your portfolio? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Yes. Look, at this point, there's nothing in the plan from Maximo. In terms of commercial induce, we've had considerable amount of inbound, but our plan is this, right, currently, we're going to have about 4 of these operating, and we are I guess you would call it beta testing. We're getting more and more efficient. We're using union crews. Its main advantages is it can go faster with the same amount of people 2x to 3x faster. But I think what's very important is that in desert settings where you have limitations on the hours worked and again, picking up 65-pound solar panels, it requires very strong people to do that. So with Maximo, anybody can do this job. So you can work not 6 stars, you can work 18 hours. So it has the advantage of being more efficient, but also getting the projects done faster. So it would have a multiple of the efficiency of getting these things done, which means less working capital, but very important with the current guidelines, where you have a deadline that the project has to be in service could be very advantageous. So we should go to forward or a couple of dozen next year, and we will use those internally. And so in terms of selling them to third parties, that's probably 2027 or beyond when we have that. So to give you sort of a time frame, which is similar to what we did with batteries. For several years, we put them on our own fleet and only after that, did we start to commercialize them. And there was a lot of learning, but we'll get a much better price once this product is perfected. Ryan Michael Levine: And then in the prepared remarks, the company's gas generation billback capability was highlighted. Just to clarify, is the effort that you were speaking to more around back of generation for data center build-out? Or was that a more broad effort that the company is pursuing? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Okay. We are converting a coal plant right now to gas, that's about 1.1 gigawatts as in Indiana. We just completed 670-megawatt combined cycle plant in Panama. And in 2020, we brought online Southland, which was 1.2 gigawatts of combined cycle gas plants. So we've always been continuing building gas plants. What I did mention is that if data centers request them, we're capable of building them, and we have the capability of expanding sites, for example, to do it very quickly. So the point is we don't count it as part of our pipeline, we don't count, for example, the 1.1 gigawatt conversion as part of our pipeline. We've basically centered that on renewals, but we have the capabilities of doing more gas for example, in other places as well, even the Dominican Republic, there's possibilities of doing more gas. So we have that in our arsenal. It's a question of what the -- what our clients demand. Ryan Michael Levine: Okay. And then just in terms of the renewables industry from a higher level, do you see consolidation given the policy uncertainty at the U.S. federal level? And does that create opportunity for your stand-alone business to acquire some assets or high-graded your portfolio? Andres Ricardo Gluski Weilert: Sure. I mean, obviously, I think it will be more difficult for the smaller, less capitalized developers in this environment. So I certainly think that there will be opportunities. We have been doing this. If you think of over the past 5 years, we've been rolling up smaller developers into AES. So I think there'll be continued opportunities like that. We'll also have the opportunity to buy advanced stage development projects. And we'll have to weigh whether it's more profitable to, say, develop a particular project we have in our pipeline or acquire it. and then finish it. So Bellefield is a good example of that. It's one of our best projects, and it was 2 gigawatts, which was a, let's say, medium stage acquisition. Operator: Our next question comes from David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley. David Keith Arcaro: I was wondering what has the bookings trajectory been in July post the OBBB. I'm just wondering if there's any evidence of a pickup in activity now that the level of clarity has improved for the industry. Ricardo Manuel Falu: So -- this is Ricardo. Thanks, David, for the question. So what we are seeing is, as Andres and also Steve mentioned, the demand is extremely strong. We see our customers, of course, trying to lock in PPAs as fast as they can possibly do it. Why is that? Because of course, there is an intent of still getting some benefits from the tax incentives. We do have 4 gigawatts of projects in our pipeline. So not yet contracted that, of course, are very attractive for our customers. But also, as Andres mentioned, we are very, very focused on the big tech customer segment, large unprofitable PPAs. So we are, of course, balancing between, of course, the desire of our customers to move these projects alone and signed PPAs fast to make sure that we are disciplined in terms of having all the permits, all the equipment and also ensuring that we can I would say, capitalized on the gray work that we have done, safe harbor in these projects and the fact that they are very unique in a market that will adjust for the removal of the tax incentives going forward. So we are seeing strong demand. They are trying to look PPA prices as soon as possible. So I think we feel very confident in our ability to sign more PPAs in the year to go. So stay tuned, and we will be sharing more as we sign those contracts. David Keith Arcaro: Great. Yes. And it was solid bookings, obviously, from data center customers. Great to see that acceleration. I was wondering if there's any inflection in those data center -- in that data center renewables demand, anything that might have kind of sparked the industry recently? Is that an inflection that you saw in the quarter, specifically with that customer set? Ricardo Manuel Falu: Not at all. I think what Andres mentioned is very, very important, renewables offer the faster time to power price certainty because even though, of course, it will adjust for the removal of the tax incentive, this is fixed price for 20 years so that our customers, of course, appreciate. They don't have the volatility of any fuel associated to that generation. And third, renewables on a megawatt hour basis is still more competitive even without tax incentives than any other source of electricity. So there is no -- we don't see any drop in demand or the interest of our customers, quite the opposite. Operator: At this time, we have no further questions. And so I'll turn the call back over to Susan Harcourt for closing comments. Susan Pasley Keppelman Harcourt: We thank everybody for joining us on today's call. As always, the IR team will be available to answer any follow-up questions you may have. Thank you, and have a nice day. Operator: Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. This concludes our call, and you may now disconnect your lines. Before you buy stock in The AES Corporation, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and The AES Corporation wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. AES (AES) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Consolidated Edison (ED) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.17 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.32 per share. This compares to earnings of $2.25 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -6.63%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this utility would post earnings of $0.84 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.89, delivering a surprise of +5.95%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Con Ed, which belongs to the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry, posted revenues of $5.1 billion for the quarter ended March 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.98%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $4.8 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Con Ed shares have added about 7.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 7.6%. While Con Ed has performed in line with the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Con Ed was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.75 on $3.73 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $6.07 on $17.34 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Utility - Electric Power is currently in the bottom 40% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Another stock from the same industry, AES (AES), has yet to report results for the quarter ended March 2026. The results are expected to be released on May 13. This power company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +85.2%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. AES's revenues are expected to be $3.1 billion, up 6% from the year-ago quarter. 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 Consolidated Edison Inc (ED) : Free Stock Analysis Report The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.13 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.11 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.14 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +21.84%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this utility operator would post earnings of $0.04 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.06, delivering a surprise of +50%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Algonquin Power & Utilities, which belongs to the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry, posted revenues of $792.4 million for the quarter ended March 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.54%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $692.4 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Algonquin Power & Utilities shares have added about 2.1% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 7.2%. While Algonquin Power & Utilities has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Algonquin Power & Utilities was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.06 on $548.5 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $0.36 on $2.53 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Utility - Electric Power is currently in the bottom 40% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, AES (AES), is yet to report results for the quarter ended March 2026. The results are expected to be released on May 13. This power company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +85.2%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. AES's revenues are expected to be $3.1 billion, up 6% from the year-ago quarter. 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 Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN) : Free Stock Analysis Report The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Exelon (EXC) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.91 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.89 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.92 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +2.63%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this energy company would post earnings of $0.53 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.59, delivering a surprise of +11.32%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. Exelon, which belongs to the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry, posted revenues of $7.24 billion for the quarter ended March 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.75%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $6.71 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Exelon shares have added about 5.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6%. While Exelon has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Exelon was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.54 on $5.55 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $2.85 on $25.29 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Utility - Electric Power is currently in the bottom 40% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, AES (AES), is yet to report results for the quarter ended March 2026. The results are expected to be released on May 13. This power company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +85.2%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. AES's revenues are expected to be $3.1 billion, up 6% from the year-ago quarter. 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 Exelon Corporation (EXC) : Free Stock Analysis Report The AES Corporation (AES) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research