Vistra Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Pricing and Lotus, Revenues Miss
Vistra Corp. VST reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.80 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.54 by 16.9%. GAAP diluted earnings were 76 cents per share, down 6.2% from 81 cents a year ago.
The reaction from the market was quite positive after the earnings release, with the stock gaining 3.08% since VST reported second-quarter results.
Total Revenues
Revenues totaled $4.02 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.29 billion by 36.2% and declining 5.5% year over year.
Operating revenues fell to $4.02 billion from $4.25 billion a year earlier. The decline primarily reflected a $611 million increase in unrealized mark-to-market losses on commodity derivative positions. However, higher retail contractual rates, stronger wholesale capacity and energy revenues and the addition of plants acquired from Lotus provided partial offsets.
Vistra Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Vistra Corp. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Vistra Corp. Quote
VST’s Operational Highlights
Total retail electricity sales volume declined 4.4% to 31,800 GWh, as ERCOT sales volumes fell 7.8% and Northeast/Midwest volumes increased 0.7%.
Fuel, purchased power costs and delivery fees declined 10.1% to $1.77 billion. Lower costs reflected a $123 million increase in unrealized mark-to-market gains on commodity derivatives and lower realized fuel costs from optimizing dispatch of select gas units, partly offset by the acquired Lotus plants.
Operating costs increased 16.4% to $853 million, driven mainly by higher maintenance and outage costs, the Lotus plants and incremental costs tied to the Moss Landing incident, net of insurance recoveries. Selling, general and administrative expenses fell 6.4% to $392 million, reflecting lower transition and merger costs and legal settlements.
Ongoing operations adjusted EBITDA rose 31% to $1.77 billion, aided by higher realized energy and capacity prices and contributions from the Lotus assets.
Operating income rose 7.4% to $553 million. Net income attributable to Vistra decreased 6.7% to $305 million, mainly because unrealized mark-to-market losses on derivative positions increased by $488 million.
Vistra's Hedging Supports Forward Visibility
As of Aug. 3, 2026, Vistra had hedged nearly 100% of expected generation volumes for 2026, 94% for 2027 and 72% for 2028. Management said the hedging program supports the company's 2026 outlook and helps reduce exposure to changes in forward power prices.
VST's Liquidity and Shareholder Returns Remain Strong
Cash and cash equivalents were $435 million at June 30, 2026, compared with $785 million at year-end 2025. Total available liquidity stood at $6.30 billion, including $4.41 billion available under the corporate revolving credit facility and $1.45 billion under the commodity-linked facility.
Cash provided by operating activities for the first six months of 2026 rose 89.8% to $2.22 billion. Vistra spent $709 million on share repurchases during the period. As of Aug. 3, roughly $1.2 billion remained under the authorization, which the company expects to complete no later than year-end 2027.
Vistra Reaffirms 2026 Guidance and Advances Growth
Vistra reaffirmed 2026 ongoing operations adjusted EBITDA guidance of $6.8-$7.6 billion and ongoing operations adjusted free cash flow before growth of $3.925-$4.725 billion.
Management said first-half performance supports an outcome at or above the midpoint of the 2026 ranges.
The company also advanced several growth initiatives. Vistra committed up to $1 billion to Helix Digital Infrastructure and will serve as its preferred power partner. It also received FERC approval for the pending Cogentrix Energy acquisition, which is expected to close in late 2026 and add about 5,500 MW of natural gas generation capacity.
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.
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