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what it is
DTE sells electricity and natural gas to Michigan homes and businesses, then tries to earn a regulated return on all that infrastructure.
how it gets paid
Last year Dte Energy made $15.8B in revenue. Electric residential was the main engine at 45% of electric revenue, or 45% of sales.
what just happened
DTE missed quarterly estimates by 15.4%, even after posting full-year 2025 revenue of $15.8 billion and EPS of $7.36.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
70/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
19.8x trailing p/e — priced about right
6.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
DTE sells electricity and natural gas to Michigan homes and businesses, then tries to earn a regulated return on all that infrastructure.
You do not shop around for whichever power line feels more artisanal. DTE serves 2.3 million electric customers and 1.4 million gas customers across a 7,600-square-mile territory, which gives it a local monopoly (regulated utility → one approved provider in a region → your bill usually goes to the same company every month). That customer base is sticky because leaving would mean moving houses, not changing apps.
How they make money
$15.8B
annual revenue
Electric residential
45% of electric revenue
Electric commercial
32% of electric revenue
Electric industrial
9% of electric revenue
Electric other
14% of electric revenue
The products that matter
electric distribution and generation
DTE Electric
2M+ customers
this is the core utility franchise: more than 2M customers across a 7,600-square-mile territory earning regulated returns instead of fighting for market share.
regulated core
natural gas distribution
DTE Gas
1.3M customers
1.3M gas customers make this the second pillar of the regulated business. It is not flashy. It is why the cash flow profile looks utility-like.
stable cash flow
merchant and trading operations
Energy Trading
$3.2B · 20% of revenue
this segment is big enough to matter and weak enough to move the story the wrong way. Revenue slipped 2%, which is your reminder that not every part of DTE earns monopoly-like returns.
volatility layer
Key numbers
$8.30
fy2027 eps est
$16B
fy2029 rev est
19.8x
trailing p/e
n/a
dividend yield
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 95 / 100
- long-term debt $23.8B (44% of capital)
- return on equity 13% — $0.13 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — risk rank looks solid but long-term debt needs watching.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in DTE 3 years ago → it's now worth $14,410.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
DTE missed quarterly estimates by 15.4%, even after posting full-year 2025 revenue of $15.8 billion and EPS of $7.36.
Last reported quarterly EPS was $1.65 versus a $1.95 consensus estimate, according to Yahoo Finance data in the prompt. Full-year 2025 still looked solid, with management citing favorable base rates, lower storm costs, colder winter weather, and renewable natural gas production tax credits.
$1.65
quarterly eps
$1.95
street estimate
15.4%
eps surprise
the number that mattered
The key number was the -15.4% EPS surprise, because utilities usually sell steadiness, and a miss that large breaks the script.
-
dte energy registered solid full-year 2025 results.
-
the top line increased 27% vs. prior year, to $15.8 billion, thanks to strong utility performance, with electric and gas revenues rising 10% and 14%, respectively.
-
on the bottom line, non-gaap per-share profit advanced nearly 9% over the year-ago period, to $7.36.
-
favorable base rates, lower storm-related costs, colder winter weather, and renewable natural gas production tax credits supported the improvement.beginning in 2025, results are presented on an adjusted basis rather than gaap, which may affect vs. prior year comparability. the utility’s involvement in building large-scale artificial intelligence (ai) infrastructure should pave the way for long-term growth.
-
dte, alongside oracle, openai, and softbank, launched the stargate joint venture last year.dte has contracted to supply roughly 1.4 gigawatts of power capacity to the stargate campus in michigan.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top risk is the $100M Clean Air Act penalty turning a one-time hit into a broader compliance overhang.
high
$100M Clean Air Act penalty
a U.S. court ordered DTE to pay $100M in February 2026 over a Clean Air Act violation. For a $30B company, the cash hit is manageable. For a regulated utility, the reputational and regulatory spillover matters more.
if this stays a one-off, the damage is mostly cash. If it expands into higher compliance costs or slower approvals, the 6–8% growth story gets harder to defend.
high
$23.8B of long-term debt
long-term debt is 44% of capital. That is normal enough for utilities and still large enough to matter every time DTE wants to fund another leg of its investment plan.
the catch is simple: utilities earn through approved spending, but they finance that spending first. If returns disappoint, you still keep the debt.
med
energy trading volatility inside a utility story
energy trading is $3.2B of revenue, or 20% of the total. That is enough to move quarterly numbers even if the electric and gas businesses stay boring in the best possible way.
you can get a quarter where the regulated business looks fine and the consolidated print still disappoints. Same company. Different earnings quality.
the combined risk picture is clear: $100M of penalty cash out the door, $23.8B of debt already on the balance sheet, and a $3.2B trading business layered on top of the regulated core.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
guidance
2026 operating EPS range
management still points to $7.59–$7.73. If the next quarter pushes that range lower, the “steady grower” case weakens fast.
regulatory
fallout from the $100M penalty
the payment matters. The real question is whether it ends there or shows up again through compliance costs, approvals, or a messier public narrative.
calendar
ex-dividend date and next report
the quarterly dividend is $1.165, and the next earnings report should tell you whether that 3.6% yield still comes with credible growth attached.
flow
institutional demand that is positive, not decisive
institutions were net buyers for 3 straight quarters, but 333 buyers versus 326 sellers is a nudge, not a stampede.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
70 / 100
in human-speak, analysts see a mostly steady utility with enough moving parts to keep the occasional surprise alive.
risk rank
2
that puts DTE in the safer bucket of the market. Safe does not mean cheap, and it does not erase the debt load.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 333 buyers vs. 326 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.2B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$113
$164
$146
current price
$139
target midpoint · 5% from current · 3-5yr high: $195 (+35% · 10% ann'l return)
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