Vistra shares jump 10.5% after Q3 revenue tops estimates

Vistra (VST) shares rose 10.5% at 3:59 p.m. ET, from a $112.89 close.

Vistra (VST) reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $6.35 billion and Ongoing Operations Adjusted EBITDA of $2.38 billion, up more than 50% from a year earlier.

Here's how the company did:

• Net income: $1.14 billion vs. $652 million a year earlier
• Ongoing Operations Adjusted EBITDA: $2.38 billion vs. $1.58 billion a year earlier
• Revenue: $6.35 billion vs. $4.97 billion a year earlier, topping the $6.08 billion consensus estimate

Net income rose $488 million, driven mainly by higher EBITDA and a $375 million increase in unrealized mark-to-market gains on derivative positions. Net income also included a $559 million unrealized gain from hedges expected to settle in future years.

Ongoing Operations Adjusted EBITDA rose $797 million, driven mainly by higher realized energy and capacity prices, three months of contribution from the plants acquired from Lotus and the return of Martin Lake Unit 1 to operational status. Higher depreciation and amortization, a partial impairment of the Moss Landing 350 facility and higher taxes partly offset those gains.

"As the power landscape evolves, we continue to see more of these opportunities," president and CEO Jim Burke said, referring to new power contracts.

2026 and 2027 guidance

Vistra narrowed its 2026 Ongoing Operations Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $7.1 billion to $7.5 billion, from the $6.8 billion to $7.6 billion range it gave on Aug. 7.

Its 2026 Ongoing Operations Adjusted free cash flow before growth, or FCFbG, is now $4.3 billion to $4.7 billion, from $3.925 billion to $4.725 billion previously.

Vistra initiated 2027 guidance of $7.7 billion to $8.5 billion for Ongoing Operations Adjusted EBITDA and $4.3 billion to $5.1 billion for Ongoing Operations Adjusted FCFbG.

As of Oct. 30, 2026, Vistra had hedged about 100% of expected generation volumes for 2026, about 98% for 2027 and about 78% for 2028.

Growth projects and acquisition

Vistra closed its Cogentrix Energy acquisition in October, adding about 5,500 MW of natural gas-fueled generation capacity.

It began operating the 405 MW Pulaski Solar Facility in Illinois, under a power purchase agreement with Microsoft, and the 100 MW Deer Creek Solar & Energy Storage Facility in California.

Vistra announced a 20-year, 207 MW power purchase agreement with New Era Energy and Digital at its Odessa combined cycle gas plant in Texas.

Share repurchases and liquidity

Vistra's board authorized an additional $1.5 billion of share repurchases, which the company expects to complete by year-end 2028.

As of Nov. 2, 2026, Vistra had executed about $6.7 billion in repurchases since November 2021 and had about 339 million shares outstanding, down about 30% from Nov. 2, 2021. About $2.5 billion of authorization remains.

As of Sept. 30, Vistra had about $8.92 billion of available liquidity, including $2.74 billion of cash. In October and November, Vistra redeemed all $1 billion of Series A Preferred Stock, paid about $2.2 billion in cash for Cogentrix and repaid about $1.7 billion of assumed debt. On a pro forma basis, liquidity fell to about $5.4 billion.