CMS Energy Corporation · CMS · FY2026 Q1 · Calendar Q2 2026

CMS Energy Beats on Q1 EPS, Reaffirms Guidance as Data Center Pipeline Builds

CMS Energy's Q1 results confirm that Michigan's accelerating data center and industrial load growth provides a multi-year earnings tailwind for a regulated utility with constructive regulatory outcomes. The 65% recovery in the electric rate case and reaffirmed guidance signal execution is on track. The central tension is between the growth opportunity--each gigawatt of new data center load could reduce average customer rates by 2% annually--and the financing burden it creates, evidenced by Moody's negative outlook and $700M in planned equity issuance. The 9 GW backlog, if converted, could drive $2-$5B of additional capex per gigawatt, fundamentally expanding the rate base. The stock trades at a discount to the analyst consensus target of $81.33, suggesting the market has not fully priced in this optionality.

Reported Before market openNYSEUtilities $22.97B market cap
90quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $1.13 Consensus $1.10
EPS surprise +2.7% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $2.73B Consensus $2.46B
Revenue surprise +11.1% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move -0.2% Event window
SPY move -0.5% Same window
Abnormal move +0.3% Stock minus SPY
Volume 1.8× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift -2.2% Up to 20 sessions
CMSSPY benchmark

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What changed

Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.13 beat the $1.10 consensus by 2.7%, and revenue of $2.73B exceeded the $2.46B estimate by 11%. Management reaffirmed full-year EPS guidance of $3.83-$3.90. The electric rate case yielded 65% of the requested ask with a maintained 9.9% ROE. Year-to-date, 110 MW of new contracts have been signed, and the backlog stands at 9 GW. CMS executed $495M in equity forward contracts in Q1, partially de-risking its $700M 2026 financing plan. Moody's placed the utility on a negative outlook, citing the size and timing of the five-year capital plan.

Guidance delta

Guidance was maintained. CMS reaffirmed its full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance range of $3.83-$3.90, unchanged from prior expectations.

Key takeaways

  • Adjusted EPS of $1.13 beat the $1.10 estimate by 2.7%; revenue of $2.73B beat by 11%.
  • Full-year EPS guidance of $3.83-$3.90 reaffirmed.
  • Electric rate case delivered 65% of ask with 9.9% ROE maintained.
  • 110 MW of new contracts signed YTD; 9 GW backlog could drive $2-$5B capex per gigawatt.
  • $495M in equity forward contracts executed, de-risking the $700M 2026 financing plan.
  • Moody's negative outlook on the utility reflects capital-recovery timing concerns.

Management priorities

  • File electric rate case in June and gas rate case in August/September.
  • Submit a twenty-year Integrated Resource Plan with a growth scenario.
  • Advance data center contracts and zoning approvals.
  • Pursue additional equity forward contracts to de-risk 2027-2028 financing.
  • Invest in renewable, storage, and natural-gas resources to meet load growth.
  • Continue CE Way cost-reduction initiatives.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
CMS EPS earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 10 reported fiscal quarters and 2 future estimate-only quarters. Q2 '24 estimate $0.63 Q2 '24 actual $0.66, beat Q3 '24 estimate $0.78 Q3 '24 actual $0.84, beat Q2 '25 estimate $0.68 Q2 '25 actual $0.71, beat Q3 '25 estimate $0.86 Q3 '25 actual $0.93, beat Q4 '25 estimate $0.93 Q4 '25 actual $0.95, beat Q1 '26 estimate $1.10 Q1 '26 actual $1.13, beat Q2 '26 estimate $0.36 Q2 '26 actual $0.37, beat Q3 '26 estimate $1.35 Q3 '26 actual $1.44, beat Q4 '26 estimate $1.26 Q1 '27 estimate $1.17
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy27 ratings
Bullish1451.9%
Neutral1348.1%
Bearish00.0%

2 unmapped firm ratings excluded from the percentages.

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$68.21Previous close
$57Low
$74.45Average
$84High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted previous close from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 29, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Wells Fargo Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainOct 28, 2026
Morgan Stanley Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainOct 21, 2026
BMO Capital Outperform OutperformMaintainOct 19, 2026
Barclays Overweight OverweightMaintainOct 16, 2026
Truist Securities Buy BuyMaintainOct 14, 2026
Show 24 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted previous close $68.21. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
HSBCMeike Becker$69$68.13 +1.2%Oct 22, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$73$68.42 +7.0%Oct 21, 2026
BMO CapitalAnalyst unavailable$76$68.26 +11.4%Oct 19, 2026
Truist FinancialAnalyst unavailable$77$66.3 +12.9%Oct 14, 2026
Capital One FinancialAnalyst unavailable$73$64.54 +7.0%Oct 6, 2026
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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

CMS Energy Corporation operates as an energy company primarily in Michigan. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility; Gas Utility; and NorthStar Clean Energy. The Electric Utility segment is involved in the generation, purchase, distribution, and sale of electricity. This segment generates electricity through coal, wind, gas, renewable energy, oil, and nuclear sources. Its distribution system comprises 263 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines; 4 miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines; 4,619 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines; 18 miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines; 82,854 miles of electric distribution overhead…

Historical context

All CMS earnings

Utilities peers this season

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NI NiSource Inc FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 +17.9% +0.6% NiSource Q3: Data-Center Contracts Expand Growth Plan
AEP American Electric Power Company, Inc. FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 +8.8% -1.6% AEP raises long-term growth target with $100B capital plan

Latest beats and misses

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-30T22:51:47.496932+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-30T22:51:47.494019+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-07-30. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.