Xcel Energy (XEL)
Utilities · $45.6B market cap · SEC CIK 0000072903
$72.06
▲+0.29% on the day
close of Sep 22, 2026
59
Screens well
fundamentals score out of 100
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 22, 2026, with analysts expecting $1.33 in earnings per share.
The case for XEL
- Generated $4.1B of free cash flow in FY2025, 35% of revenue.
- Free cash flow of 9.0% of its market value a year: a lot of cash for the price.
- Pays a 2.9% dividend while you wait.
- Moves less than the market (beta 0.37).
The case against
- Near the bottom of its 52-week range, 14% below the high. Falling prices usually have a reason; find it first.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.70).
- Growth is weak (31/100): revenue +4.7%, EPS +1.3%, +5.0% a year over five years.
- Long-term debt of $9.3B against $129M of cash.
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 | 78 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 31 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 75 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 28 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 89 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 31 Utilities companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 20.4× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 2.08× |
| Price / sales | 3.1× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +4.7% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | +1.3% |
| Gross margin | 40% |
| Operating margin | 19% |
| Net margin | 15% |
| Return on equity | 10% |
| Debt / equity | 1.70× |
| Current ratio | 0.70 |
| Dividend yield | 2.88% |
| Beta | 0.37 |
| 52-week range | $71.67 – $84.23 |
| Position in that range | 3% of the way up |
| 3-month return | -7.2% |
| 1-year return | -0.4% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Xcel Energy's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating income | $2.6B | $2.4B | $2.5B | $2.4B | $2.2B |
| Net income | $2.0B | $1.9B | $1.8B | $1.7B | $1.6B |
| Operating cash flow | $4.1B | $4.6B | $5.3B | $3.9B | $2.2B |
| Capital expenditure | $10.9B | $7.4B | $5.9B | $4.6B | $4.2B |
| Total assets | $81.4B | $70.0B | $64.1B | $61.2B | $57.9B |
| Shareholder equity | $23.6B | $19.5B | $17.6B | $16.7B | $15.6B |
| Cash | $274M | $179M | $129M | $111M | $166M |
| Long-term debt | $32.3B | $27.3B | $25.5B | $24.0B | $22.4B |
| Free cash flow | -$6.8B | -$2.7B | -$527M | -$706M | -$2.1B |
| Operating margin | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net margin | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 589M | 563M | 552M | 547M | 540M |
Share count is up 9.1% over 4 years. Mild issuance.
Risk factors XEL lists in its 10-K
- Our natural gas and electric generation/transmission and distribution operations involve numerous risks that may result in accidents and other operating risks and costs
- Our utility operations, resource adequacy and system reliability are subject to long-term planning and project risks
- Our utilities are highly dependent on suppliers to deliver components in accordance with short and long-term project schedules
- We are subject to physical and financial risks associated with climate change and other weather, natural disaster and resource depletion impacts
- Our utilities have significant risks associated with wildfires
- We are subject to commodity risks and other risks associated with energy markets and energy production
- Failure to attract and retain a qualified workforce could have an adverse effect on operations
- Our operations use third-party contractors in addition to employees to perform periodic and ongoing work
- Actions of our employees, directors, third-party contractors or suppliers could expose us to reputational risks
- Our subsidiary, NSP-Minnesota, is subject to the risks of nuclear generation
- Our profitability depends on the ability of our utility subsidiaries to recover their costs and changes in regulation may impair the ability of our utility subsidiaries to recover costs from their customers
- Growth in large load customers, including data centers, may increase customer concentration, capital requirements and revenue variability risks
- Any reductions in our credit ratings could increase our financing costs and the cost of maintaining certain contractual relationships
- We are subject to capital market and interest rate risks