NextEra Energy (NEE)
Utilities · $181B market cap · SEC CIK 0000753308
ahead of 92% of the S&P 500 · #1 of 31 in Utilities
Next reports on Jan 25, 2027, after the close, with analysts expecting $0.56 in earnings per share.
52-week range $74.41 to $98.75. 13% below its 52-week high and 16% above its low.
The case for NEE
- 40% of revenue drops through to net profit.
- Revenue growing 9.6% year over year.
- Earnings per share up 76.4%.
- Pays a 3.2% dividend while you wait.
- Reasonably priced for its growth: 15.5× earnings, where 8%+ a year of growth plus a 3.2% dividend would justify about 25×.
- Return on equity of 20%.
The case against
- Long-term debt of $89.6B would take 7 years of operating cash flow to repay.
- Operating profit covers its interest bill only 2.0 times.
- Priced at 6.3× sales with revenue growing only 9.6%.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.53).
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. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings and cash, against the growth you get | 77 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 81 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 88 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 52 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 36 |
- Capital spending is missing from its filings, so free cash flow cannot be worked out. Operating cash flow stands in for the cash test, against a stricter bar.
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 31 Utilities companies.
The financials
Revenue growth
Is the business growing? Yes
| Last 12 months | +9.6% |
|---|---|
| Over 5 years | +9.2% a year |
| FY2025 revenue | $27.4B (+11%) |
Free cash flow
Is it generating real cash? Can't tell: no capital spending in its filings
| FY2025 operating cash flow | $12.5B |
|---|---|
| Of profit, before capital spending | 183% |
Its filings do not give capital spending, so free cash flow cannot be worked out. Operating cash flow, which is before that spending, is shown instead, and the score judges it against a stricter bar.
Profit margins
Is profitability improving? Yes, improving
| Gross margin | n/a |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 30% |
| Net margin, FY24 → FY25 → now | 28.1% → 24.9% → 40.4% |
Debt vs. cash
Is the balance sheet healthy? Stretched
| Cash | $2.8B |
|---|---|
| Long-term debt | $89.6B |
| Net debt | $86.7B |
| Years to repay | 7.2 yrs |
Valuation
Is the stock price reasonable? Yes, it looks cheap
| P/E | 15.5× |
|---|---|
| Fair P/E for its growth | 25× |
| Forward P/E | 19.3× |
| EV / EBITDA | 19.2× |
At 15.5× earnings it trades below the 25× that 8%+ a year of growth plus a 3.2% dividend would justify. As a utility it is judged on earnings alone: it borrows to build, so its free cash flow says little about its price.
The financials, five years deep
Pulled from NextEra Energy's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | |||||
| Revenue | $27.4B | $24.8B | $28.1B | $23.0B | $18.8B |
| Change on the year | +11% | −12% | +22% | +22% | — |
| Profit margins | |||||
| Operating margin | 30.2% | 30.2% | 36.4% | 17.7% | 15.5% |
| Net margin | 24.9% | 28.1% | 26.0% | 18.0% | 19.0% |
| Debt vs. cash | |||||
| Cash | $2.8B | $1.5B | $2.7B | $1.6B | $639M |
| Long-term debt | $89.6B | $72.4B | $61.4B | $55.3B | $51.0B |
| Net cash (debt) | −$86.7B | −$70.9B | −$58.7B | −$53.7B | −$50.3B |
What NextEra Energy says it does
OVERVIEW NEE is one of the largest electric power and energy infrastructure companies in North America. As of December 31, 2025, NEE had approximately 80 gigawatts of net generation and storage capacity from a diverse portfolio of assets, primarily including natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear generation facilities and battery storage facilities. NEE has two principal businesses, FPL and NEER. FPL is the largest electric utility in Florida and the U.S. FPL’s strategic focus is centered on investing in generation, storage, transmission and distribution facilities to deliver on its value proposition of keeping customer bills low and delivering high reliability, outstanding customer service and energy from diverse generation sources for the benefit of its more than six million customer accounts. NEER is one of t he largest energy infrastructure developers in the U.S. NEER’s strategic focus is centered on the development, construction and…
Risk factors NEE lists in its 10-K
- NEE's and FPL's business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be materially adversely affected by the extensive regulation of their business
- Regulatory decisions that are important to NEE and FPL may be materially adversely affected by political, regulatory, operational and economic factors
- loss of investments in clean energy projects and reduced project returns, any of which could have a material adverse effect on NEE's and FPL's business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
- NEE's and FPL's business could be negatively affected by federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions
- NEE and FPL face risks related to project siting, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements that may impede their development and operating activities
- Reductions in the liquidity of energy markets may restrict NEE's ability to manage its operational risks, which, in turn, could negatively affect NEE's business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
- NEE's and FPL's hedging and trading procedures and associated risk management tools may not protect against significant losses
- If price movements significantly or persistently deviate from historical behavior, NEE's and FPL's risk management tools associated with their hedging and trading procedures may not protect against significant losses
- NEE and FPL are subject to credit and performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and vendors
- NEE and FPL could recognize financial losses as a result of volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in OTC markets
- NEE and FPL may be materially adversely affected by negative publicity
- inability to operate any of NEE's or FPL's nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating licenses or planned license extensions could have a mater
- NEE's and FPL's liquidity may be reduced if their credit providers are unable to fund their credit commitments to NEE, NEECH or FPL or to maintain their current credit ratings
- Certain of NEE's assets and investments are subject to changes in market value and other risks, which may materially adversely affect NEE's liquidity, financial condition and results of operations
- NEE may be unable to meet its ongoing and future financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock if its subsidiaries are unable to pay upstream dividends, make distributions or repay funds to NEE
- Disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets may exert downward pressure on the market price of NEE's common stock
- Widespread public health crises and epidemics or pandemics may have material adverse impacts on NEE’s and FPL's business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects