LNT · Q1 2026 Earnings

Bullish

Alliant Energy

Reported May 1, 2026

30-second summary

Alliant opened 2026 by beating consensus on revenue (~+6.7%) and non-GAAP EPS (+3.8% vs $0.79), though non-GAAP EPS was down slightly YoY ($0.82 vs $0.83). Revenue grew +5.0% YoY. Roughly 25% of the FY non-GAAP EPS midpoint of $3.41 is now in the bank in a single quarter — a comfortable start against guidance left untouched at $3.36–$3.46. Contracted data center demand ticked up to 3.4 GW from the 3 GW disclosed at Q3, the first incremental sign that the 2–4 GW negotiation pipeline is converting. The reaffirmation rather than raise is conservative given the Q1 pace, but consistent with utility cadence: management rarely moves the range on the Q1 print.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q1 FY2026

$0.82

+3.8% vs est.

Revenue

Q1 FY2026

$1.18B

+5.0% YoY

+6.8% vs est.

Operating margin

Q1 FY2026

21.0%

Key financials

Q1 FY2026

Metric	Q1 FY2026	YoY	Q3 FY2025	QoQ
Revenue	$1.18B	+5.0%	$1.21B	-2.1%
EPS	$0.82	—	$1.12	-26.8%
Operating margin	21.0%	—	28.8%	-780bps

Guidance

Alliant Energy reaffirmed its full-year 2026 EPS guidance of $3.36–$3.46 after delivering a strong Q1 with 3.8% EPS beat and 6.8% revenue beat.

Guidance is issued for the full year only, refreshed each quarter. Prior and new below are the same FY updated this quarter.

Reaffirmed unchanged this quarter: EPS (non-GAAP) ($3.36 - $3.46)

Segment KPIs

Q1 FY2026

Segment	Q1 FY2026	YoY
Electric utility	$0.888B	+4.1%
Gas utility	$0.271B	+12.9%
Other utility	$0.002B	-84.6%
Non-utility	$0.023B	+4.5%

Other KPIs

Q1 FY2026

Segment	Q1 FY2026
Contracted data center demand	3.4 GW
Total retail electric customers	1,011,434
Total retail gas customers	434,433
Operating margin	21.0%
Book value per share	$28.74
Quarterly common dividend rate per share	$0.535

Management tone

No transcript available this quarter; tone analysis based on prepared remarks in the press release only.

The Q3 narrative arc — Construction begins → Pipeline tripled, plan rewritten, growth rate raised — extends into Q1-2026 as quiet execution. Management's three qualitative statements this quarter ("strong start in 2026", "approximately 25% of our ongoing earnings guidance midpoint", "over a decade strong track record of compound annual earnings growth of more than 6%") read as steady-state confirmation rather than new escalation. After two quarters of stepping up the multi-year framework (Q2: signed ESAs teed up; Q3: $13.4B capex, 7%+ CAGR floor), holding the line on Q1 with a clean beat is the right cadence — anything more aggressive would have signaled overreach.

The 3.4 GW contracted figure is the substantive new disclosure that didn't need new rhetoric. At Q3 management put 3 GW contracted plus 2–4 GW in active negotiation; an incremental 0.4 GW converting in one quarter is on pace with the framework they laid out. The fact that this wasn't trumpeted with revised long-term guidance is consistent with their stated discipline of only printing "mature" (~85% probability) opportunities into the plan.

What is missing — and worth flagging — is any update on Iowa Utilities Commission decisions, the $2.4B equity issuance cadence, or first-production-load timing for the Google ramp in Q4 2026. Press release silence on these is not a negative signal at Q1, but each was on the Q3 watch list and will need to surface by the Q2 call to maintain the conviction the Q3 print built.

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Conversion of 2–4 GW negotiation pipeline to contracted — Contracted data center demand moved to 3.4 GW from 3.0 GW at Q3, an incremental 0.4 GW of conversion in one quarter via a new ~370 MW Iowa ESA. This is the first datapoint validating that the Q3 negotiation pipeline is closing on schedule. Status: Resolved positively

Iowa Utilities Commission decisions in 2026 — No update disclosed in the press release. The advance ratemaking on up to 1 GW of wind and CPCN filings for gas generation were not addressed in the Q1 release. Status: Continue monitoring

2025 EPS landing point — Not addressed in the Q1-2026 release; the Q4 2025 print would have been the resolution event and is not covered in this filing. Status: Continue monitoring

Equity issuance cadence and price realization — The press release did not disclose quarterly ATM or block activity. Material to dilution math but absent from the available materials this quarter. Status: Continue monitoring

Google load ramp pace in H2 2026 — No update on first-production-load timing. Q1 is early for a Q4 2026 milestone, but a Q2 or Q3 datapoint will be required to underwrite the upside scenario management framed at Q3. Status: Continue monitoring

What to watch into next quarter

Whether contracted data center demand crosses 4 GW: another 0.4–0.6 GW conversion in Q2 would put the contracted book above the midpoint of the 2–4 GW negotiation pipeline disclosed at Q3, and start to pressure the 7%+ 2027–2029 CAGR floor higher.

First FY2026 guide narrowing or upper-half framing: with ~25% of the midpoint achieved in Q1, watch whether Q2 commentary moves toward "trending to the upper half of $3.36–$3.46" — the same language Q3 used to soft-raise FY25.

Iowa Utilities Commission orders on advance ratemaking and CPCN: any decision on the up-to-1 GW wind advance ratemaking or gas generation CPCN filings determines whether the $13.4B capex book earns at authorized return on schedule.

Equity issuance progress: dollar amount of $2.4B raise settled to date and weighted average price — material to per-share growth and absent from this quarter's disclosure.

Google first-production-load timing confirmation: management cited Q4 2026 as the earliest in-quarter datapoint; a Q2 or Q3 reaffirmation of that timeline would be the leading indicator for any 2026 guide raise.

Sources

Alliant Energy Q1 2026 Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1, filed May 1, 2026 — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/352541/000035254126000030/lnt043020268-kex991.htm

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