Evergy's second quarter of 2026 is the financial statement of a regulated electric utility doing exactly what regulated electric utilities are supposed to do when they are well run: growing the revenue base, holding the cost structure, and converting rate-approved investment into earnings. Operating revenues rose to $1,500.1 million, up $63.1 million year over year, net income attributable to Evergy reached $215.0 million against $171.3 million a year earlier, and adjusted earnings per diluted share came in at $0.88 against $0.82. For the first half, net income reached $366.5 million against $296.3 million, and adjusted EPS reached $1.57 against $1.37. The stock trades at $81.39, within a 52-week range of $70.42 to $88.62, with a market capitalization of roughly $18.8 billion, an average daily volume of about 2.0 million shares, a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 20.6x, a forward ratio of 17.8x, and a dividend yield of 3.44 percent.
The quarter's story is told best by two numbers. Utility gross margin, Evergy's preferred non-GAAP measure of what the regulated business earns after fuel and transmission costs, rose to $1,052.8 million, up $61.1 million year over year, and income from operations rose to $380.6 million, up $36.8 million. Retail electric revenue rose $87.2 million on strength in every customer class, with residential up $36.5 million, commercial up $39.5 million, and industrial up $9.7 million, and megawatt-hours sold rose 531 thousand against a year-ago quarter that included weather effects. Wholesale revenue fell $23.1 million, but wholesale is the volatile, non-rate-based line, and the retail strength is the line that matters for the regulated earnings base. Depreciation and amortization rose $15.9 million, which is the financial signature of the capital investment program flowing through the rate base, and interest expense rose $12.1 million, which is the financial signature of the debt that funded it. The net effect was a quarter where the top line grew, the cost structure held, and the earnings per share number moved up.
The investment question for Evergy is not whether the business works, because the business is a regulated monopoly with a mandated return, and the quarter confirms it works. The question is whether the market will pay more than 20 times earnings for a utility whose growth rate is set by rate cases and capital plans rather than by demand surprises, and at a price of $81.39 against a 52-week high of $88.62, the market is currently paying a moderate premium for the visibility. The dividend yield of 3.44 percent is the income component, the adjusted EPS growth from $1.37 to $1.57 year to date is the growth component, and the rate case calendar is the variable that will determine whether both continue. The honest read is that this is a compounder, not a growth story, and the quarter's results are consistent with that classification. The investor who buys here is buying the argument that the regulatory compact holds and the capital plan converts to earnings, and the argument that it does not is written into the interest expense line and the rate case risk factors. At 20.6 times trailing earnings with a 3.4 percent yield, the price is fair for the visibility and not cheap for the growth rate.