AES Corporation (AES)
Utilities · $10.6B market cap · SEC CIK 0000874761
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Nov 2, 2026, with analysts expecting $0.74 in earnings per share.
The case for AES
- Cheap on earnings at 5.7×, well under the market's usual 20×.
- Revenue growing 8.5% year over year.
- Earnings per share up 84.8%.
- Pays a 3.9% dividend while you wait.
- A PEG of 0.07: a P/E of 5.7× is low for EPS growing 85%.
- Price/sales of 0.8× is lower than 97% of Utilities companies.
The case against
- Burned $1.6B of free cash in FY2025.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.75).
- Stability is weak (34/100): beta 0.94, a 28% swing over the year.
- Free-cash-flow yield of -15.3% is lower than 100% of Utilities companies.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Utilities companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 77 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 71 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 26 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 53 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 34 |
- Equity is a sliver of assets, so return on assets stands in for return on equity, and price-to-book and debt-to-equity are left out.
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 31 Utilities companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 5.7× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | n/m (equity a sliver of assets) |
| Price / sales | 0.8× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +8.5% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | +84.8% |
| Gross margin | 20% |
| Operating margin | 15% |
| Net margin | 14% |
| Return on assets | 3.6% (ROE not meaningful: equity a sliver of assets) |
| Debt / equity | n/m (equity a sliver of assets) |
| Current ratio | 0.75 |
| Dividend yield | 3.92% |
| Beta | 0.94 |
| 52-week range | $12.75 – $17.65 |
| Position in that range | 42% of the way up |
| 3-month return | +1.4% |
| 1-year return | +13.6% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from AES Corporation's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.2B | $12.3B | $12.7B | $12.6B | $11.1B |
| Gross profit | $2.2B | $2.3B | $2.5B | $2.5B | $2.7B |
| Net income | $910M | $1.7B | $249M | -$546M | -$409M |
| Operating cash flow | $4.3B | $2.8B | $3.0B | $2.7B | $1.9B |
| Capital expenditure | $5.9B | $7.4B | $7.7B | $4.6B | $2.1B |
| Total assets | $51.8B | $47.4B | $44.8B | $38.4B | $33.0B |
| Shareholder equity | $4.1B | $3.6B | $2.5B | $2.4B | $2.8B |
| Cash | $1.4B | $1.5B | $1.4B | $1.4B | $943M |
| Free cash flow | -$1.6B | -$4.6B | -$4.7B | -$1.8B | -$214M |
| Gross margin | 18.1% | 18.8% | 19.8% | 20.2% | 24.3% |
| Net margin | 7.4% | 13.7% | 2.0% | -4.3% | -3.7% |
| Diluted shares | 714M | 713M | 712M | 668M | 666M |
Share count is up 7.2% over 4 years. Mild issuance.
What AES Corporation says it does
Item 1.— Business is an outline of our strategy and our businesses by SBU, including key financial drivers. Additional items that may have an impact on our businesses are discussed in Item 1A.— Risk Factors and Item 3.— Legal Proceedings . Executive Summary Incorporated in 1981, AES is a global energy company accelerating the future of energy. Together with our many stakeholders, we are improving lives by delivering the greener, smarter energy solutions the world needs. Our diverse workforce is committed to continuous innovation and operational excellence, while partnering with our customers on their strategic energy transitions and continuing to meet their energy needs today. Our Strategy AES is the next-generation energy company with over four decades of experience developing, operating, and owning electric generation and utilities. The focus of our strategy is to partner with large corporations to deliver the electricity they need…
Risk factors AES lists in its 10-K
- .— Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
- Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Trends and Uncertainties—Macroeconomic and Political— U.S. Tax Law Reform and U.S. Renewable Energy Tax Credits
- Management's Discussion and Analysis—Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates—Pension and Other Postretirement Plans
- Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
- Business—Environmental and Land-Use Regulations
- — Business—Environmental and Land-Use Regulations—U.S. Environmental and Land-Use Legislation and Regulations—Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Certain of our businesses are sensitive to variations in weather and hydrology
- Severe weather and natural disasters may present significant risks to our business and adversely affect our financial results
- — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
- Management's Discussion and Analysis —Capital Resources and Liquidity