Xcel Energy Inc XEL

What the company does

Xcel Energy Inc is a large-cap company in the Utilities sector (Utilities - Regulated Electric), with a market value of $48.8B, based in the USA.

It employs about 11,534 people and has been listed since Sep 24, 1985.

Xcel Energy Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas delivery company in the United States. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility and Regulated Natural Gas Utility segments. The company generates, purchases, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity through its energy portfolio, including wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar power from both owned generation facilities and PPAs, as well as its fossil fuel energy portfolio, such as coal and natural gas; sale and resale of wholesale transmission service; and engages in wholesale commodity and trading operations.

Cheap or expensive? priced in line with its group

Its price-to-earnings (P/E) is 21.2 versus 22.4 for the median of the Utilities sector in our universe (9 companies) — priced in line with its group.

Revenue is shrinking 5% versus the same quarter last year.

On analysts' next-year forecasts the multiple drops to 16.7 — they expect higher earnings.

The average analyst price target is 88.68, 14% above the current price (their view, not ours).

The stock sits at 67% of its one-year range (0% = the low, 100% = the high).

The risks

• • More cash leaves than comes in (negative free cash flow).
• • The share count grew 8% in a year — each share owns a smaller slice of the company.
• • Net debt is 1.6× shareholders' equity — high leverage.
• • Quarterly report in 4 days (2026-10-29) — a day the stock can move a lot.

Strengths

• ✅ Profitable — 19 of every 100 dollars of revenue stays as profit.
• ✅ Most analysts rate it buy (18 vs 0).
• ✅ Pays a dividend (2.9% a year).

What changed this week

Over the past week the stock rose 2.3% (for comparison: S&P 500 -0.4%, sector ETF XLU +0.8%).

This week's news

• Constellation Energy And 2 Other Top Nuclear Power Stocks finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-23
  What the article says

  Oil prices recently jumped above US$111 as attacks on Saudi energy facilities disrupted a key source of global supply. When fossil fuel routes look fragile, reliable baseload power suddenly matters a lot more. Nuclear energy stocks linked to uranium supply and reactor technology can appeal to investors who want… source ↗

• Xcel Energy (XEL) Earnings Expected to Grow: Should You Buy? finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-22
  What the article says

  Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Xcel Energy (XEL) reports results for the quarter ended September 2026. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is… source ↗

• NextEra Energy Q3 Earnings Beat on FPL Strength, Revenues Miss finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-21
  What the article says

  NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.24 per share, up 9.7% from $1.13 a year ago. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.20 by 3.3%. Strong contributions from Florida Power & Light ("FPL") and NextEra Energy Resources supported earnings growth. GAAP earnings per… source ↗

What changed since last week

No material change: same valuation verdict, same risk flags, price moved less than 3%.