Valued at a market cap of $20.8 billion, NiSource Inc. (NI) is a regulated energy utility company that provides natural gas and electricity services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across the United States. Headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana, the company operates through its Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands, focusing on natural gas distribution, electric generation, transmission, and distribution. NiSource also invests in infrastructure modernization, grid reliability, and cleaner energy solutions to support its customers' evolving energy needs.
The utility titan is scheduled to announce its fiscal Q3 earnings for 2026 before the market opens on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Before this event, analysts expect this utility company to report a profit of $0.22 per share, up 15.8% from $0.19 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has topped or met Wall Street’s bottom-line estimates in three of the last four quarters, while missing on another occasion.
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For the current fiscal year, ending in December, analysts expect NI to report a profit of $2.05 per share, representing a 7.9% increase from $1.90 per share in fiscal 2025. Furthermore, EPS is expected to grow 9.8% year over year to $2.25 in fiscal 2027.
www.barchart.com NI has fallen 1.3% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 13.1% return over the same time frame. However, it has outpaced the State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLU) 5.8% downtick over the same time period.
www.barchart.com Despite NI’s weak price performance over the past year, NiSource is positioning itself to capitalize on surging electricity demand from AI-driven data centers through a recently announced new 20-year energy deal with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT). Starting in 2028, Microsoft is expected to receive power for its planned northwest Indiana campus, with the tech giant funding the generation and transmission infrastructure needed to support its operations. The agreement is expected to add approximately 1,100 megawatts to NiSource’s generation portfolio and boost projected customer savings to $1.75 billion, underscoring the utility’s efforts to turn data center expansion into a growth opportunity while shielding existing customers from higher electricity costs.
Wall Street analysts are highly optimistic about NI’s stock, with a "Moderate Buy" rating overall. Among 17 analysts covering the stock, 11 recommend "Strong Buy," one gives “Moderate Buy,” and five suggest "Hold." The mean price target for NI is $47.86, indicating a 10.6% potential upside from the current levels.
On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah 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.
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