Vistra Corp. (VST)

Over the past six months, Vistra Corp.'s stock has experienced significant movement, with a 60.73% increase from October 2, 2024, to October 1, 2025. Key events include the acquisition of natural gas generation facilities, senior secured notes offerings, a dividend increase to $0.226 per share, and analyst ratings adjustments. Vistra reported its Q2 adjusted EBITDA of $1.35 billion, which was down approximately 4.5% year-over-year. Investor interest in AI and increased power demand have benefited Vistra's stock, while CEO James A. Burke sold shares of Vistra stock in September and October 2025.

Demand for Vistra Corp.'s products and services is subject to seasonal fluctuations and extreme weather events, with the retail electricity business facing stiff competition. In Q2 2025, retail earnings fell due to less favorable seasonal cost trends, despite customer and margin growth. Electric load growth remains strong, and the ongoing AI boom is expected to significantly increase peak power demand. Vistra aims to mitigate power pricing risk through its hedging program.

Vistra Corp. is a Fortune 500 integrated retail electricity and power generation company based in Irving, Texas, operating in the Electric Utilities & Independent Power Producers (IPPs) industry. It is one of the largest competitive power generators and retail energy providers in the United States, with a diverse power generation portfolio of approximately 41,000 MW, including natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. Vistra serves approximately 5 million customers across multiple states through brands like TXU Energy and Ambit Energy and is actively growing its zero-carbon resources.

Vistra Corp. provides power resources across the United States, operating in competitive wholesale markets. Its segments include Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. The East segment operates in PJM, ISO-NE, and NYISO markets, while the West segment covers the CAISO market, including battery energy storage system projects at the Moss Landing power plant site. A recent acquisition, approved on October 2, 2025, will broaden Vistra's footprint across PJM, New England, New York, and California by adding approximately 2,600 MW of natural gas generation capacity.

Vistra Corp. emphasizes its commitment to reliability, affordability, and sustainability, highlighting its progress towards ESG targets, including a 60% reduction of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Vistra also joined the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Sustainability indices in 2024. However, Vistra's reputation has been impacted by its environmental record, including being ranked as the highest CO2 emitter in the US as of 2020 and the No. 1 polluter in the United States for the Greenhouse 100 Polluters Index Report in 2024. Other events affecting Vistra's reputation include the Moss Landing Power Plant fire, the nuclear plant license extension, the acquisition of Energy Harbor, and the focus on AI power needs.

Vistra Corp. is primarily owned by institutional shareholders, who hold 85.08% of the stock, while insiders own 54.53%, and retail investors hold 0.00%. Major institutional owners include Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock, Inc., and Fmr LLC. Major individual owners (insiders) include Brookfield Asset Management Inc., Oaktree Capital Group Holdings GP LLC, and Apollo Management Holdings GP LLC.