American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) stock traded lower Thursday after the utility reported mixed second-quarter results, with revenue beating Wall Street estimates but adjusted earnings missing expectations.
Quarterly Results
Adjusted earnings came in at $1.36 per share, below the analyst consensus estimate of $1.50. Revenue rose to $5.45 billion, topping the Street estimate of $5.34 billion.
AEP Texas recently secured a U.S. Department of Energy loan of up to $3.3 billion to finance nearly 100 transmission projects. The company expects the financing to generate about $685 million in customer interest savings over the life of the loan.
With the latest financing, AEP has secured about $5 billion in DOE loans across its portfolio, supporting nearly $1 billion in projected customer savings through lower financing costs. Combined with nearly $400 million in DOE grants, the programs are expected to deliver about $1.4 billion in total customer benefits over their lifetime.
Segment Performance
Operating earnings in the Vertically Integrated Utilities segment increased to $302 million from $297 million a year earlier. Transmission and Distribution Utilities operating earnings rose to $239 million from $224 million.
Transmission Holdco reported operating earnings of $225 million, compared with $224 million a year earlier. Generation and Marketing operating earnings slipped to $91 million from $92 million.
Growth And Regulatory Updates
American Electric Power highlighted continued strength in demand from AI-focused hyperscalers, saying the “demand fundamentals in Texas remain exceptionally strong” even as grid and transmission constraints could affect the timing of new connections.
The company said it has secured 69 gigawatts of contracted load through 2030, including 45 gigawatts in Texas backed by fully executed agreements and nearly $2 billion in customer cash or collateral, reinforcing management’s confidence that hyperscaler demand remains durable despite infrastructure bottlenecks.
AEP signed 6 gigawatts of new load agreements during the quarter, primarily in Texas. The company also secured an additional 3 GW of gas-fired turbine capacity, increasing total secured capacity to 13 GW through 2031. It is evaluating up to 10 GW of additional capacity through 2035 to meet growing electricity demand.
During the quarter, AEP received approval for a distribution rate reduction in Ohio, authorization to add 1.3 GW of generation capacity in Oklahoma, and completed a $1.4 billion securitization.
Outlook
AEP raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $6.25 to $6.55 per share from its previous outlook of $6.15 to $6.45. The new guidance compares with the analyst consensus estimate of $6.35 and reflects strong first-half performance and expectations for the remainder of the year.
The company reaffirmed its long-term operating earnings growth target of 7% to 9% annually through 2030 and said it expects a compound annual growth rate of more than 9% based on the midpoint of its 2025 guidance.
The outlook includes AEP’s $78 billion five-year capital investment plan and more than $10 billion of identified incremental investment opportunities, including the Wyoming fuel cell project, the Piketon transmission project in Ohio and additional generation investments across its service territory.
AEP Price Action: American Electric Power shares were down 1.01% at $128.10 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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