Vistra Fourth-Quarter Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

Vistra VST reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.14 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.17 by 47.5%. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported a loss of 48 cents per share.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Total Revenues of VST

Sales for the quarter totaled $4.04 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.61 billion by 12.4%. However, the top line increased 31.1% from $3.08 billion recorded in the year-ago quarter.

Full-year 2024 revenues totaled $17.2 billion compared with $14.8 billion last year.

VST’s Operational Highlights

Fuel, purchased power costs and delivery fees for the year amounted to $7.3 billion, down 3.9% from last year’s $7.6 billion.

Operating costs for the year totaled $2.4 billion, up 41.1% from last year’s $1.7 billion.

Selling, general and administrative expenses amounted to $1.6 billion, up 23% from last year’s $1.3 billion.

Operating income totaled $4.1 billion compared with $2.7 billion a year ago.

As of Feb. 24, 2025, Vistra executed $4.9 billion in share repurchases since November 2021. Vistra had 338.9 million shares outstanding, representing a 30% reduction of the amount of the shares outstanding on Nov. 2, 2021 and $1.9 billion dollars of the share repurchase authorization remains available, which it expects to complete by year-end 2026.

VST’s Financial Highlights

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $1.22 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024, compared with $3.5 billion as of Dec. 31, 2023.

Net cash flow provided by operating activities in 2024 totaled $4.6 billion compared with $5.4 billion last year.

Total capital expenditures for 2024 totaled $2.1 billion compared with $1.7 billion recorded a year ago.

VST’s Guidance

The company continues to expect its 2025 ongoing operations adjusted EBITDA and ongoing operations adjusted Free Cash Flow Before Growth to be in the band of $5.5-$6.1 billion and $3.0-$3.6 billion, respectively.

VST’s Zacks Rank

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Utility Releases

Eversource Energy ES reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $1.01 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 99 cents by 2%.

ES’ long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 5.66%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $12.91 billion, implying a year-over-year increase of 8.5%.

DTE Energy Company DTE reported fourth-quarter 2024 operating earnings per share of $1.51, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46 by 3.4%.

DTE’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.57%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $12.98 billion, implying a year-over-year increase of 4.2%.

Exelon Corporation’s EXC fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of 64 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 59 cents by 8.5%.

EXC’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.71%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $23.8 billion, implying a year-over-year increase of 3.4%.

 

Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2025

Hurry – you can still get in early on our 10 top tickers for 2025. Handpicked by Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian, this portfolio has been stunningly and consistently successful. From inception in 2012 through November, 2024, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks gained +2,112.6%, more than QUADRUPLING the S&P 500’s +475.6%. Sheraz has combed through 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank and handpicked the best 10 to buy and hold in 2025. You can still be among the first to see these just-released stocks with enormous potential.
 

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

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research