With a market cap of $56.6 billion, Vistra Corp. (VST) is a leading integrated retail electricity and power generation company based in Irving, Texas. Serving approximately 5 million customers across the United States and the District of Columbia, the company operates through five segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, and Asset Closure.
Companies worth more than $10 billion are generally labeled as “large-cap” stocks and Vistra fits this criterion perfectly. With a generation capacity of around 41,000 megawatts, Vistra's diverse energy portfolio includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery storage.
Despite this, shares of the Irving, Texas-based company have declined 16.5% from its 52-week high of $199.84. VST stock has increased 45.9% over the past three months, outperforming the Nasdaq Composite’s ($NASX) 12.5% rise over the same time frame.
In the longer term, VST stock is up nearly 21% on a YTD basis, exceeding NASX’s 1.6% gain. Moreover, shares of the utility company have surged 82.8% over the past 52 weeks, compared to NASX’s 13.1% return over the same time frame.
The stock has been trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since late April.
Vistra stock dropped 3.7% on May 7, despite a 30% revenue increase, as investors focused on the company’s $268 million net loss and negative free cash flow of $169 million for Q1 2025, driven by $768 million in capital expenditures. Although cash from operations rose 92% year-over-year to $599 million, high spending, particularly on nuclear fuel, raised concerns. Despite reaffirming full-year guidance for $3 billion - $3.6 billion in adjusted FCF before growth investments, the market reacted to the disappointing bottom-line results.
Vistra stock has underperformed its rival NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG). NRG stock has soared 83.9% over the past 52 weeks and 65.2% on a YTD basis.
Due to the stock’s strong performance relative to the Nasdaq Composite, analysts remain bullish on Vistra. The stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from 14 analysts in coverage, and as of writing, VST is trading below the mean price target of $177.78.
On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
