Alliant Energy Corporation

Alliant Energy reported second-quarter 2026 GAAP earnings of $0.65 per share. Year over year, ongoing earnings benefited from higher revenue requirements tied to capital investments in Iowa and Wisconsin, increased equity earnings from corporate venture fund investments, and higher temperature-normalized retail electric and gas sales, partly offset by higher O&M, milder temperatures, timing of income tax expense, and higher financing and depreciation costs. Milder-than-normal temperatures reduced second-quarter electric and gas margins by approximately $0.03 per share, compared with a $0.02 benefit in the same period last year. Excluding temperature impacts, second-quarter electric sales were approximately 3% higher year over year. The company reaffirmed its 2026 earnings guidance range and said it is currently trending in the upper half of the range. It expects compound annual earnings growth of 7% plus from 2027 through 2029, and it plans to update its 4- to 5-year capital expenditure and financing plans on the third-quarter call. Management also said remaining 2026 debt financing plans include up to $800 million of long-term issuances, with up to $300 million at WPL and up to $500 million at IPL, and that it has raised approximately $1.8 billion of the approximately $2.4 billion of announced common equity needs through 2029 via forward equity agreements.

CEO Lisa Barton emphasized execution, customer growth, and the company’s "Alliant Energy Advantage" strategy of combining demand growth, constructive regulation, flexible resource planning, and disciplined execution. She highlighted executed large-load agreements that are expected to drive a 60% increase in demand by 2031, including active construction at three large-load projects and a pipeline that she said still represents 2 to 4 gigawatts of potential future load. Her tone was confident and upbeat, stressing that large customers pay their own way and that growth can support affordability, reliability, and local economic development.

CFO Robert Durian said second-quarter results were supported by higher revenue requirements from capital investments, venture fund earnings, and stronger normalized sales, while weather, O&M, taxes, and higher financing/depreciation pressured results. He quantified the weather drag at about $0.03 per share and said ex-weather electric sales rose about 3%. On financing, he pointed to up to $800 million of 2026 long-term debt issuances and said approximately $1.8 billion of the roughly $2.4 billion of common equity needs through 2029 has already been covered through forward equity agreements, leaving about $500 million remaining, excluding share-direct plans. He also said the company expects 7%+ EPS CAGR from 2027-2029 and will revisit the capital plan in the third quarter.

Analysts pressed management on political pushback around data centers in Iowa and Wisconsin, the size and durability of the 2-4 gigawatt pipeline, QTS load-ramp acceleration, supply-chain readiness, and whether the company might update its EPS growth framework from a "plus" back to a range. Management said the ordinances and moratorium discussions are not impacting current projects or the pipeline, that their disciplined standards for land control, load ramp, transmission studies, and generation visibility remain unchanged, and that they expect to provide more specificity on the third-quarter call. On QTS, Robert Durian said CapEx should not change much, but revenues should be higher in 2027 and 2028, reducing the need to use tax credits as much during the growth phase.