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what it is
FirstEnergy is the company sending power to 6.3 million homes and businesses across six states.
how it gets paid
Last year Firstenergy made $15.1B in revenue. residential was the main engine at $9.06B, or 60% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 12.0% last year. Annual revenue was $15.1B, up 12.0% vs. prior year.
what just happened
~$11.3B in the filing print is multi-quarter / YTD revenue in this feed—not the full $15.1B year. EPS landed on the estimate at $0.53.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
100/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
18.3x trailing p/e — priced about right
5.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 66/100 — average
What they do
FirstEnergy is the company sending power to 6.3 million homes and businesses across six states.
Regulated utility monopoly → your default power provider → you usually pay the bill instead of shopping around. FirstEnergy serves about 6.3 million customers across OH, PA, NJ, WV, MD, and NY, and most of those wires are not facing a head-to-head price war. That dull setup is the point: earnings predictability is 100, which is finance-speak for unusually steady profits.
How they make money
$15.1B
annual revenue · their business grew +12.0% last year
residential
$9.06B
commercial
$3.32B
industrial
$2.11B
other electric revenue
$0.60B
The products that matter
delivers regulated electricity
Regulated Electric Utilities
$15.1B revenue · 100% of sales
it's the entire $15.1B business. you are not buying optionality here. you are buying an electric utility monopoly.
100% of revenue
regulated ohio operations
Ohio Service Territory
~17% of rate base
this territory represents about 17% of rate base, which is why a tough ohio ruling hurts but does not break the whole company.
regulatory swing factor
multi-state utility footprint
Other State Footprint
~83% of rate base
the rest of the footprint makes up roughly 83% of rate base and spreads risk across multiple states. FE is still a ~6.3M-customer utility overall—that's the part keeping the story from becoming ohio-only.
diversifies regulation
Key numbers
100/100
price stability
Price stability → the stock usually moves less violently → you are not buying this for chaos. The glance strip’s 100/100 is earnings predictability—a different metric that also reads 100 here. FE also has a 0.75 beta, below the market's 1.0.
$25.5B
long-term debt
Debt equals 49% of capital, which is the quiet part: this utility is stable because the balance sheet carries a lot of the burden.
5.5%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on invested money → so what: this is a safe plodder, not a high-return machine.
14.6%
operating margin
Operating margin → money left after running the business → so what: FE keeps $14.60 from every $100 of revenue before interest and taxes.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 100 / 100
- long-term debt $25.5B (49% of capital)
- return on equity 12% — $0.12 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 FE 3 years ago → it's now worth $12,800.
The index would have given you $14,770.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
met estimates
Filing revenue print ~$11.3B is YTD / multi-quarter, not the $15.1B annual total. EPS landed exactly where expected at $0.53.
Annual revenue was $15.1B, up 12.0%. The $11.3B line was incorrectly read as “latest quarter” alongside $15.1B FY—label the period in the 10-Q/10-K. EPS $0.53 vs $0.53 estimate = no surprise.
$11.3B
YTD revenue (feed)
$0.53
eps
14.6%
operating margin
the number that mattered
The key number was $0.53 EPS because matching estimates exactly tells you this is a utility story about execution and regulation, not upside surprises.
-
firstenergy’s tumultuous ohio rate case concluded.in 2024, the utility filed for higher electric rates in the state for the first time since the 2020 bribery scandal came to light. although new leadership has done a good job of moving on from that chapter of the company’s history, ohioans were loath to forget, and requests for higher prices were met with strong opposition.
-
firstenergy was seeking $183 million in new annual revenue, which was countered with a recommendation for an $8.5 million increase from the staff at the state’s public utilities commission (puco).
-
the ohio consumers’ counsel suggested cuts instead of hikes.the wide disconnect was due to the opinion of many ohioans that the company’s past bribery settlement was too lenient.
-
in late november, the puco approved a total net rate increase of about $34 million.simultaneously, it ordered customer refunds of $186 million and a state penalty of $64 million as final settlements to resolve the hb 6 corruption scandal.
-
ohio accounts for about 17% of firstenergy’s rate base.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is ohio-style rate-case pushback.
med
regulators approve less than FE asks for
the latest ohio case showed the pattern clearly: FE asked for $183M in new annual revenue and got about $34M. in a regulated business, that gap flows straight into the earnings debate.
ohio is about 17% of rate base, so hostile rulings there are manageable but not trivial.
med
$25.5B of debt keeps financing costs relevant
long-term debt equals 49% of capital. utilities live with leverage, but higher rates make every refinancing and capital plan a little less comfortable.
if allowed returns do not keep pace with capital costs, a fair-looking 18.3x multiple can start to look rich.
med
the bribery scandal is no longer the headline, but it still shapes the room
the settlement included $186M of customer refunds and a $64M penalty. even after new leadership, that history makes regulators and customers less eager to grant the benefit of the doubt.
reputational damage is hard to model, but you just saw how it can show up in a rate case.
A repeat of the ohio template — about $34M approved against a $183M ask, plus $186M of refunds and a $64M penalty — would pressure the earnings case on a stock with only 5% upside to its $49 midpoint target.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
calendar
next earnings report
watch whether management keeps the full-year earnings story steady after the ohio outcome.
risk
new rate filings and commission rulings
this business moves when regulators decide what FE can charge and what return it can keep.
metric
debt load versus allowed returns
$25.5B of long-term debt and a 12% return on equity work fine together until financing costs stop cooperating.
trend
utility sentiment versus bond-like alternatives
when interest rates shift, utilities often trade like income substitutes. FE does not fully escape that gravity.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts see a steady utility, not a stock with unusual short-term juice.
risk profile
above average
stability score 2 — safer than roughly 80% of stocks. boring can be a feature.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 — the chart is behaving like the market expects a utility chart to behave.
earnings predictability
100 / 100
few surprises. management and the business model both make earnings easier to forecast than most stocks.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 441 buyers vs. 304 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.5B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$41
$57
$47
current price
$49
target midpoint · +5% from current · 3-5yr high: $70 (+50% · 14% ann'l return)
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