Duke Energy Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

Duke Energy Corporation's DUK third-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.81 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.74 by 4%. The bottom line also improved 11.7% from $1.62 reported in the year-ago quarter.

DUK’s Total Revenues

Total operating revenues were $8.54 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.42 billion by 1.4%. The top line also increased 4.7% from $8.15 billion in the year-ago period.

Highlights of DUK’s Earnings Release

Duke Energy’s total operating expenses amounted to $6.23 billion in the reported quarter, up 3.4% year over year. The increase was primarily driven by higher expenses for the cost of natural gas, operation, maintenance and other, depreciation and amortization, as well as property and other taxes.

The operating income increased 8.9% to $2.33 billion from $2.14 billion recorded in the year-ago quarter.

Interest expenses rose to $902 million from $872 million recorded in the third quarter of 2024.

The average number of customers in its Electric Utilities increased 1.4% year over year. 

Total electric sales volumes for the reported quarter went up 0.2% year over year to 72,880 gigawatt-hours.

DUK’s Segmental Highlights

Electric Utilities & Infrastructure: This segment’s adjusted earnings for the third quarter totaled $1.66 billion, up from $1.46 billion in the third quarter of 2024.

Gas Utilities & Infrastructure: Adjusted loss from this segment amounted to $26 million compared with a loss of $22 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Other: The segment includes corporate interest expenses not allocated to other business units, resulting from Duke Energy’s captive insurance company and other investments. This segment incurred a loss of $225 million compared with a loss of $206 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Financial Condition of DUK

As of Sept. 30, 2025, Duke Energy had cash & cash equivalents of $688 million, up from $314 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.

As of Sept. 30, 2025, the long-term debt was $79.3 billion compared with $76.34 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

During the first nine months of 2025, the company generated net cash from operating activities of $8.67 billion compared with $8.95 billion a year ago.

2025 Guidance by DUK

Duke Energy now expects to generate 2025 adjusted EPS in the range of $6.25-$6.35 compared with the previous projection of $6.17-$6.42. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings is pegged at $6.33, which is higher than the midpoint of the company’s projected range.

DUK continues to project long-term EPS growth of 5-7% through 2029.

DUK’s Zacks Rank

Duke Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Utility Releases

NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $1.13 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.04 by nearly 8.7%. The bottom line was also up nearly 9.7% year over year.

In the third quarter, NextEra Energy’s operating revenues totaled $7.96 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.11 billion by 1.86%. However, the top line improved 5.3% year over year.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. CNP reported third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 50 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 46 cents by 8.7%. The bottom line also increased 61.3% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of 31 cents.

CNP generated revenues of $1.99 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.5%. The top line also came in 7.1% higher than the year-ago quarter’s reported figure of $1.86 billion.

Entergy Corporation ETR reported third-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.53 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46 by 4.8%. The bottom line also improved 2% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $1.50.

Entergy reported revenues of $3.81 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.51 billion by 8.6%. The top line also inched up 12.4% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $3.39 billion. 

 

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research