Has FirstEnergy Stock Really Become Cheaper?
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A lower price-to-earnings multiple, the price investors pay for each dollar of profit, usually reads as a cheaper stock, and the multiple for FirstEnergy (FE) has fallen a long way. Three years ago, in September 2023, the stock traded at 37.4 times its profit over the latest twelve months. At the latest close, it traded at 22.6 times. Does a multiple that has fallen that far make the stock cheaper?
FirstEnergy Stock Rose While Its Multiple Fell
The shares themselves actually cost more. FirstEnergy’s share price rose 37.2% from the end of September 2023 to the latest close, before dividends. Over those same three years, the price went up while the multiple came down.
How Much Has FirstEnergy’s Profit Grown?
FirstEnergy recorded a profit of $1.2 billion for the twelve months to September 2026, compared with $0.524 billion three years earlier. That is about 2.3 times as much.
| Twelve months to | Net income | Change in a year | Price-to-earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2021 | $1.1 billion | +51.2% | 17.6 |
| Sep 30, 2022 | $1.24 billion | +12.6% | 17.1 |
| Sep 30, 2023 | $0.524 billion | -57.6% | 37.4 |
| Sep 30, 2024 | $0.892 billion | +70.2% | 28.6 |
| Sep 30, 2025 | $1.33 billion | +49.1% | 19.9 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | $1.2 billion | -9.7% | 20.9 |
| Sep 30, 2026 (at the share price of Oct 30, 2026) | $1.2 billion | -9.7% | 22.6 |
Net income is the reported total for the twelve months ending on the date shown. Change in a year is that net income against the twelve months before. Each price-to-earnings multiple is the market value at the calendar quarter end paired with those twelve months, over that net income; the last row uses the share price of Oct 30, 2026.
The table also shows what preceded that climb. Profit fell 57.6% in the twelve months to September 2023, and the subsequent rise has brought it back to roughly its level in the twelve months to September 2022.
By 2025 revenue, FirstEnergy’s largest business is its Distribution segment, followed by its Integrated and Stand-Alone Transmission segments. On the October 28 call, management said third-quarter core earnings, its own adjusted measure, rose largely on its rate and investment programs and rising customer demand.
Does A Lower Multiple Make FirstEnergy Cheaper?
Not by itself. The better question is what buyers were paying for when the multiple was high, and how much of it has arrived since. FirstEnergy’s multiple reached 59.0 at the end of 2022, its highest level of the past five years, and profit today is about three times what it was then. Profit for the twelve months to December 2022 was $0.406 billion.
Investors paid the most for each dollar of profit when there was far less of it, after a steep fall, and profit has since recovered. A buyer today pays less for each dollar of profit than a buyer three years ago did, but that earlier buyer was paying for the rise in profit that has since arrived. This follows the usual curve for a multiple: it peaks when profit is small and expected to grow, then falls once the profit is there. So the lower multiple is not a discount. In 2021 and 2022, with profit close to today’s level, buyers paid 17.6 and 17.1 times profit, less than today’s 22.6.
Where Is FirstEnergy On That Curve Now?
Over twelve months, FirstEnergy’s profit has shifted from fast growth to a decline. Profit fell 9.7% in the twelve months to September 2026, after rising 49.1% the year before. Sales still grew 12.2% over those same months. This latest twelve-month period includes a small loss in the fourth quarter of 2025, and profit in the latest quarter was up about 26% from a year earlier.
At 22.6 times profit, FirstEnergy’s multiple now matches the S&P 500’s. Management expects core earnings, its adjusted measure rather than the profit figures above, to grow near the top of its 6% to 8% range a year through 2030. When the company next reports in February 2027, the figure to watch will be FirstEnergy’s profit growth from here against its fall over the latest twelve months.
How To Act On FE?
Now you know FirstEnergy better. Our purpose is to inform you so you can decide for yourself, and acting on one stock, in either direction, carries its own risk.
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