Ameren Raises 2026 Profit Outlook To $5.35-$5.55 A Share, Sets 2027 Range Of $5.70-$5.90
The St. Louis utility also guided to 8% to 10% annual earnings growth through 2031, tied to a $38.1 billion infrastructure plan.
Ameren, the St. Louis utility holding company, raised its 2026 earnings guidance to $5.35 to $5.55 per diluted share, up from $5.25 to $5.45, and set a 2027 range of $5.70 to $5.90. The company announced the changes Thursday with third-quarter results, when earnings per diluted share rose to $2.42 as warm weather lifted Missouri electricity sales.
Warm weather and grid returns lift the quarter
Third-quarter net income attributable to common shareholders was $676 million, or $2.42 per diluted share, against $640 million, or $2.35, a year earlier. Excluding a 2025 tax benefit tied to a FERC order on net operating loss carryforwards, third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings were $592 million, or $2.17 per share.
Against that adjusted base, Ameren credited higher earnings on infrastructure investments and on energy-technology investments, plus higher Ameren Missouri electric retail sales, driven mainly by warmer temperatures. Higher Missouri operations and maintenance costs, mostly reliability-focused tree trimming and energy center maintenance, offset part of the gain. A larger share count also weighed on the per-share comparison.
For the first nine months, GAAP earnings were $1,347 million, or $4.83 per diluted share, versus $1,204 million, or $4.43. Adjusted earnings for the same period of 2025 were $1,156 million, or $4.25 per share.
Ameren Missouri earned $582 million in the quarter, compared with $518 million a year earlier. Ameren Transmission earned $110 million, against adjusted earnings of $103 million in 2025.
The company and its spending plan
Ameren's subsidiaries generate, transmit and deliver electricity and distribute natural gas in Missouri and Illinois, and regulators set the rates it charges. Ameren Missouri electric service made up 52% of 2025 operating revenues, according to the company's annual report.
Beyond 2027, Ameren expects earnings per share to grow at an 8% to 10% compound annual rate through 2031, using the $5.80 midpoint of the 2027 range as the base. Management said that multi-year growth is expected to be driven by $38.1 billion of planned infrastructure investment, which underpins projected rate base growth of about 13.3% compounded annually from 2026 through 2031. Rate base is the asset value on which regulated utilities earn a return.
CEO Martin J. Lyons, Jr. said the company's strong year-to-date performance "gives us confidence to raise our 2026 earnings guidance." The 2026 outlook assumes normal temperatures for the last three months of the year.
Capital spending and dividend
Capital expenditures reached $4,089 million in the first nine months of 2026, up from $3,118 million a year earlier, according to the cash flow statement. Ameren issued $3,234 million of long-term debt in that period, compared with $1,960 million in the first nine months of 2025.
The company expects to keep growing its dividend annually, with a payout ratio between 45% and 55% of annual earnings per share.
Ameren holds its analyst call at 9 a.m. Central Time on Friday, November 6, with a slide presentation on the webcast.
