Start here if you're new
what it is
Alliant Energy sells electricity and natural gas to about 1 million electric and 430,000 gas customers in Wisconsin and Iowa.
how it gets paid
Last year Alliant Energy made $4.4B in revenue. Residential electric was the main engine at $1.63B, or 37% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 9.6% last year. The 10-cent EPS miss mattered because it turned a $0.65 expectation into $0.55.
what just happened
Alliant Energy missed by 15.38% after reporting $0.55 EPS versus $0.65 expected.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
95/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
22.9x trailing p/e — priced about right
6.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 69/100 — average
What they do
Alliant Energy sells electricity and natural gas to about 1 million electric and 430,000 gas customers in Wisconsin and Iowa.
You do not switch a power company the way you switch phone plans. Alliant serves about 1 million electric and 430,000 gas customers, so your home is tied to its wires. Its 95 earnings predictability score says the cash is usually boring, and boring is why a utility can still trade at 22.9x earnings.
How they make money
$4.4B
annual revenue · their business grew +9.6% last year
Residential electric
$1.63B
Commercial electric
$1.06B
Industrial electric
$1.23B
Wholesale electric
$0.35B
Other electric
$0.13B
The products that matter
regulated electric and gas utility
interstate power and light
part of the $4.4B regulated business
this is one of the two monopoly utilities under the alliant umbrella. the snapshot does not break out revenue separately, so the honest answer is that you are underwriting the combined system, not a neatly segmented growth engine.
iowa footprint
regulated electric and gas utility
wisconsin power and light
part of the same $4.4B revenue base
this is the wisconsin side of the franchise, where the canceled qts data-center project mattered. the utility is still there. the faster-load-growth angle just got less automatic.
wisconsin growth angle
generation and grid investment
capital program
100-megawatt gas plant under discussion
the proposed 100-megawatt natural gas plant and additional storage are the mechanism for future earnings growth. Regulated utilities turn capital spending into profit if regulators approve the spend and the projects show up on time.
rate-base growth
Key numbers
$4.4B
annual revenue
This is a $4.4B company. That is enough scale to fund steel, wires, and regulated patience.
22.9x
trailing p/e
You are paying 22.9 times trailing earnings for a utility with 6.5% return on capital. The market wants calm and is charging extra for it.
6.5%
return on capital
For every $100 invested, the business earns $6.50 in operating profit. That is decent, not dazzling.
$11.0B
long-term debt
Debt equals 37% of capital. That is why every rate change matters more here than in a software stock.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 1 — safer than 95% of stocks
- price stability 100 / 100
- long-term debt $11.0B (37% of capital)
- return on equity 14% — $0.14 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A — among the top-rated companies for balance sheet quality.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in LNT 3 years ago → it's now worth $15,030.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
Alliant Energy missed by 15.38% after reporting $0.55 EPS versus $0.65 expected.
VL's quarterly path was uneven: $0.83, $0.68, $1.09, then $0.55 in 2025. Full-year EPS still rose from $2.69 in 2024 to $3.14 in 2025, so the utility did grow, just not cleanly.
$4.4B
revenue
$0.55
eps
23.5%
operating margin
the number that mattered
The 10-cent EPS miss mattered because it turned a $0.65 expectation into $0.55, a 15.38% shortfall.
-
alliant energy has managed to avoid what could have been the loss of a major power customer.qts, an operator of large data centers (dcs) for major tech companies, recently canceled its plan for a significant dc project on the outskirts of madison, wisconsin, dealing a blow to alliant’s wisconsin power & light unit (wpl). that said, wpl’s loss will apparently be interstate power & light’s (ipl) gain, as qts has opted to move the project to iowa. against that backdrop, alliant and its ipl unit have signed a new electric service agreement for qts’s relocated project. furthermore, with the retention of that business, management reported that alliant’s capital spending plan and investment growth expectations remain on track. leadership recently affirmed a 2026–2029 capital plan that envisions alliant spending a total of $13.4 billion over the four-year stretch on new and existing power generation.
-
on the docket is a new, 100-megawatt, natural gas-fired plant near the utility’s prairie creek generating station in cedar rapids, iowa, and upgrades to other facilities.also on tap is a further buildout of energy storage, which will help alliant better meet demand for electricity during sup-optimal periods for solarand windpower generation. new debt and operating cash flow are expected to fund a majority of the utility company’s expansion plans. the remainder should come from the issuance of additional equity and the continued sale of renewable-energy tax credits. that said, there is the risk that those monetizable credits are ultimately phased out, as the trump administration has been highly critical of renewable energy, in general, and wind power, specifically.
-
the board of directors raised the dividend 5.7% in 2025, marking the 22nd straight year that the payout has been increased.
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what’s more, steady hikes of 5%–7% seem likely.alliant energy shares remain a decent investment play on the proliferation of data centers tasked with handling energy-consuming ai workloads.
-
still, we suggest that most accounts wait for a better entry point.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
alliant's risks are not mysterious. they sit in rate cases, project execution, and the cost of funding $11.0B of debt across iowa and wisconsin.
med
allowed return pressure
you own a utility with a 12% return on equity because regulators let it earn one. if commissions get stingier, the valuation math changes fast.
this is the core risk because 100% of the $4.4B business sits inside the regulated model.
med
load-growth disappointment in wisconsin
the qts cancellation showed that the data-center upside is not automatic. one lost large customer does not break the company, but it does make the growth story less clean.
if replacement demand does not show up, you are left with the safe utility you already had — not the faster-growing version investors were paying for.
med
capital projects missing the script
the proposed 100-megawatt gas plant and storage buildout only help if they are built on time and regulators allow alliant to earn on them. delays and overruns are how predictable utilities get less predictable.
this is where a 6.0% return on capital stays mediocre instead of improving.
med
financing costs
alliant carries $11.0B of long-term debt, equal to 37% of capital. when you run an infrastructure business, the cost of money is part of the business model.
higher borrowing costs do not change the monopoly. they do make future equity returns less attractive.
this is a $4.4B regulated business with $11.0B of long-term debt. that means rate decisions and financing costs matter more here than product launches ever will.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
calendar
next earnings on april 30, 2026
watch whether management keeps the path toward $3.70 in full-year 2027 EPS intact. for a utility, that guidepost matters more than flashy one-quarter beats.
risk
iowa and wisconsin rate outcomes
allowed returns are the quiet part loud here. if regulators get less generous, the premium valuation gets harder to justify.
trend
large-customer demand after the qts cancellation
the data-center electricity story still matters. you want to see replacement demand, not just broad AI-power headlines with no local follow-through.
metric
dividend growth versus capex growth
the payout rose 5.7% and the streak sits at 22 years. if that rhythm slows while spending rises, income investors will notice quickly.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
below average
momentum score 4 — in human-speak, analysts expect this to lag in the near term.
risk profile
safest 5%
stability score 1 — lower risk of permanent capital damage than almost any stock.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 — the chart is behaving normally, which is a very utility-like thing to do.
earnings predictability
95 / 100
management's earnings path is usually reliable. you're not buying this for surprise upside.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 295 buyers vs. 244 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.2B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$62
$89
$72
current price
$76
target midpoint · +6% from current · 3-5yr high: $90 (+25% · 9% ann'l return)
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