VST

Vistra Corp is headquartered in Irving, Texas, and operates the largest competitive power generation fleet in the United States. After completing its $3.4B acquisition of Energy Harbor in 2024 and announcing the $4B Cogentrix deal in January 2026, Vistra's portfolio spans approximately 41,000 MW of generation capacity across nuclear, natural gas, coal, solar, and battery storage — with another 5,500 MW of modern gas plants incoming from Cogentrix. The company also runs one of the largest retail electricity businesses in the country under brands including TXU Energy, Dynegy, and Luminant, serving approximately 5 million residential and commercial customers.

The AI narrative transformed Vistra's investment thesis beginning in 2024. The company's nuclear fleet — Comanche Peak's two units in Texas (~2,400 MW) plus the three Energy Harbor plants in Pennsylvania and Ohio (Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse, Perry, totaling ~4,000 MW) — became among the most sought-after power assets in the country when hyperscalers began competing for long-term, carbon-free baseload electricity. In September 2025, Vistra signed a 20-year PPA with Amazon Web Services for 1,200 MW from Comanche Peak, with delivery beginning Q4 2027 and ramping to full capacity by 2032. The agreement includes options to explore nuclear uprates and small modular reactor development. Vistra also signed nuclear PPAs with Meta for capacity at its PJM facilities, bringing total contracted nuclear capacity to approximately 3,800 MW. These contracts convert what was formerly merchant power exposure into decades-long contracted revenue at premium pricing.

Beyond nuclear, Vistra's natural gas fleet is the backbone of the story. The Cogentrix acquisition adds 10 modern gas facilities (three combined-cycle, two combustion turbine in PJM, four combined-cycle in ISO-NE, one cogeneration in ERCOT), and the company is expanding its Permian Basin Power Plant from 325 MW to 1,185 MW. Gas generation provides the dispatchable, fast-ramping capacity that data centers need for reliability — and that renewables alone cannot deliver. Vistra is actively engaged in co-location discussions with large load customers like data centers for potential power sales from both nuclear and gas plants through long-term agreements.

Vistra also operates one of the largest battery energy storage portfolios in the US, anchored by the Moss Landing facility in California (750 MW / 3,000 MWh — the world's largest lithium battery storage system). Total BESS capacity is expected to exceed 1,200 MW by 2026. The integrated retail business contributed $1.6B in adjusted EBITDA in 2025, providing a natural hedge against wholesale market volatility and a stable cash flow base. Full year 2025 revenue was $17.7B, adjusted EBITDA was $5.9B, and adjusted free cash flow before growth was $3.6B. The company has ~$1.8B remaining in share repurchase authorization and targets at least $1B in additional buybacks through 2027.