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what it is
Portland General sells electricity to 950,000 customers across Oregon, mostly homes and businesses around Portland and Salem.
how it gets paid
Last year Portland General made $3.6B in revenue. residential electricity was the main engine at $1.84B, or 51% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 4.0% last year. It helped, but facing higher borrowing and operations & maintenance costs, the real difference maker was most likely exceptional weather-normalized volume growth.
what just happened
The latest report missed on profit, with EPS at $0.47 versus a $0.68 estimate, a 30.88% shortfall.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
85/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
14.8x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
3.9% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
5.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
Portland General sells electricity to 950,000 customers across Oregon, mostly homes and businesses around Portland and Salem.
You do not casually switch your electric utility. Portland General serves 950,000 customers across 51 cities in a 4,000-square-mile Oregon territory, and that monopoly-like service area is the moat. Rate case → state-approved price changes → your bill goes up slowly, so what: growth is capped, but the customer base is sticky.
How they make money
$3.6B
annual revenue · their business grew +4.0% last year
residential electricity
$1.84B
commercial electricity
$1.19B
industrial electricity
$0.58B
other electric revenue
$0.02B
The products that matter
delivers regulated retail electricity
electricity service
$3.6B revenue · 100% of the business
it's the whole story: one regulated utility operation serving roughly 2 million people and producing $3.6B in operating revenue.
monopoly territory
approved investment recovery
battery storage recoupment
$42M annual revenue
a favorable october regulatory decision tied to battery storage added $42M in annual revenue. in utility land, infrastructure only matters if the regulator lets you bill for it.
rate-base catalyst
customer load growth
weather-normalized demand
helped offset a thin rate case
management benefited from exceptional weather-normalized volume growth after receiving only $98M of the requested rate relief. that's a reminder that demand strength can bail out a mediocre ruling — for a while.
the swing factor
Key numbers
14.8x
trailing p/e
P/E → how many dollars you pay for each dollar of profit → so what: POR is priced like a steady utility, not a growth story.
3.9%
dividend yield
Yield → cash paid back to you each year as a share of price → so what: most of your return starts with the payout.
$4.9B
long-term debt
Debt is almost the size of the company's roughly $5 billion market cap, which keeps balance-sheet risk very real.
5.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on money invested in the business → so what: this is a slow grinder, not a compounding machine.
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 $4.9B (48% of capital)
- return on equity 10% — $0.10 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 POR 3 years ago → it's now worth $11,460.
The index would have given you $14,770.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
The latest report missed on profit, with EPS at $0.47 versus a $0.68 estimate, a 30.88% shortfall.
Revenue was reported at $2.7 billion, up 182% vs. prior year, but that top-line surge did not stop the earnings miss. There is also a data split: EDGAR shows latest-quarter EPS of $2.41, while Yahoo consensus lists the last earnings print at $0.47, so you should anchor on the miss versus estimates for market reaction.
$2.7B
revenue
$0.47
eps
30.88%
surprise
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was the 30.88% EPS miss, because utilities rarely get paid for drama and POR just delivered some.
-
portland general electric will likely report decent operating gains for 2025.in the fourth quarter, leadership reaffirmed its full-year earnings forecast of $3.13 to $3.33 per share.
-
the increase will be no small feat after the company suffered a disappointing general rate case entering 2025, when its authorized return on equity (roe) was lowered from 9.5% to 9.34%.
-
the utility had sought an 8.6% across-the-board rate hike, but instead received a 5.5% residential lift and a 7.7% commercial/industrial rise.
-
overall, portland got a $98 million revenue increase, representing 54% of the requested amount.it helped, but facing higher borrowing and operations & maintenance costs, the real difference maker was most likely exceptional weather-normalized volume growth. a favorable regulatory decision in october tied to the investment recoupment for a battery storage system chipped in $42 million in annual revenue.
-
rising electricity demand in the utility’s service area is a huge positive.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is oregon rate-case pressure on allowed returns.
high
authorized roe gets squeezed again
the state already cut allowed roe to 9.34% from 9.5%. for a company earning roughly utility-like 9% returns, that is not cosmetic.
if future rulings keep trimming allowed returns, the ceiling on earnings and valuation gets trimmed with them.
med
rate relief keeps landing below requests
management asked for an 8.6% hike and the commission approved 5.5% for residential and 7.7% for commercial and industrial customers. the final $98M revenue increase was only 54% of what was requested.
that forces the company to rely more heavily on load growth and cost control to hit earnings targets.
med
volume strength may not repeat
management appears to have benefited from exceptional weather-normalized volume growth in 2025. if that fades, the thin rate-case outcome becomes harder to outrun.
the recent earnings resilience may prove less durable than the headline EPS number suggests.
low
capital intensity stays real
long-term debt is $4.9B, or 48% of capital. utilities can carry leverage, but it turns financing conditions and recovery timing into real earnings variables.
if investment recovery slows while borrowing costs stay elevated, equity returns stay boxed in.
nearly all of POR's $3.6B revenue sits inside one regulated electric franchise, so a 16-basis-point roe cut and a rate order that granted only 54% of the requested revenue increase matter more than a typical quarterly beat.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
the next allowed return decision
9.34% is the new benchmark. if regulators push below that, the entire valuation case gets harder to defend.
trend
weather-normalized demand growth
recent volume strength helped offset a disappointing rate case. you want to see whether that demand tailwind sticks around.
metric
earnings versus the $3.13–$3.33 playbook
POR delivered $3.25 for full-year 2025. if results start slipping toward or below the low end of that range, the defensive story weakens fast.
calendar
investment recovery rulings
the battery-storage decision added $42M in annual revenue. future rulings like that can quietly matter more than headline EPS beats.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
below average
momentum score 4 — in human-speak, analysts think this could lag most stocks in the near term.
risk profile
above average
stability score 2 — safer than roughly 80% of stocks. boring has a job.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — the tape looks better than the fundamental rank. that happens when investors want defense, not excitement.
earnings predictability
85 / 100
management tends to land near what it guides. with utilities, that reliability is part of the product.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 226 buyers vs. 186 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.1B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$42
$61
$48
current price
$52
target midpoint · +8% from current · 3-5yr high: $70 (+45% · 13% ann'l return)
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