# CenterPoint Energy (CNP.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/CNP

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:27:34.269Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2026.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $39.80 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $1.63 per share, central $1.80 per share, high $2.02 per share. Buy at or below the central value $1.80 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:27:34.269Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 3.2% at the stated quote. About 3.2% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: pass

- 4 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 4

- Years with a net loss: 1

- Operating margin variation: 0.23×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 0.12×

- FY2018: 0.14×

- FY2019: 0.14×

- FY2020: 0.14×

- FY2021: 0.16×

- FY2022: 0.17×

- FY2023: 0.20×

- FY2024: 0.23×

- FY2025: 0.23×

- LTM to Jun 2026: 0.23×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: 5.8%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 5.4%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: -7.1 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 38.9%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 46.0%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 42.6%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 1.2%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 9.9%

- FY2018: 5.4%

- FY2019: 5.8%

- FY2020: 5.5%

- FY2021: 6.0%

- FY2022: 5.3%

- FY2023: 6.3%

- FY2024: 6.2%

- FY2025: 5.8%

- LTM to Jun 2026: 5.8%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: -0.36×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$2.0B

- Net income, five-year total: $5.5B

- Return on incremental invested capital: 5.8%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.0 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 0.3 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 10.5%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 1.00×

- FY2022: 0.55×

- FY2023: -2.27×

- FY2024: -2.02×

- FY2025: 0.07×

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 6.7% vs 6.2%

- Per-share earnings: 1.00 to 1.58 (three-year endpoint medians)

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 4.3%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 4.3%

- Market cap gain: $14B

- Cumulative retained earnings: $2.7B

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 4.3%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 4.3%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: 5.9%

- Per-share value change: $0.59

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $1.00

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $1.58

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 1.00

- Average buyback yield: 2.3%

- Buyback history: 2 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: $4.3B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $8.1B

- ROIC, first three-year median: 6.7%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 6.2%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $1.00

- FY2017: $4.13

- FY2018: $0.81

- FY2019: $1.57

- FY2020: -$1.46

- FY2021: $2.44

- FY2022: $1.67

- FY2023: $1.45

- FY2024: $1.58

- FY2025: $1.60

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -3.0%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.98×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 0.0%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 2.36×

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.32×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -6.8%

- FY2017: 1.6%

- FY2018: -6.5%

- FY2019: -2.4%

- FY2020: -8.3%

- FY2021: 3.9%

- FY2022: -2.0%

- FY2023: -7.5%

- FY2024: -2.6%

- FY2025: -3.0%

## Holders

- [John Rogers](https://gigainvestors.com/AI): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Price needs cash profits to grow 46.4% a year for ten years · sales +2.8%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:32.206Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to grow 46.4% a year for ten years

- 2025-04-24: CenterPoint to spend more to meet AI power demand despite fall in quarterly profit ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/centerpoint-spend-more-meet-ai-112119707.html))

- 2025-09-30: CenterPoint Energy Unveils $65 Bln Investment Plan Through 2035, Raises FY25 Non-GAAP EPS Guidance ([nasdaq.com](https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/centerpoint-energy-unveils-65-bln-investment-plan-through-2035-raises-fy25-non-gaap-eps))

### Sales · FY2025–2026

sales +2.8%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130310/000113031026000008/cnp-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-19.

- FY2017: $9.6B 

- FY2018: $6.3B 

- FY2019: $7.6B 

- FY2020: $7.4B 

- FY2021: $8.4B 

- FY2022: $9.3B 

- FY2023: $8.7B 

- FY2024: $8.6B 

- FY2025: $9.4B 

- FY2026: $9.6B 

### Gross margin · FY2026

gross margin 54.1%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130310/000113031026000008/cnp-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-19.

- FY2017: 26.7% 

- FY2018: 39.9% 

- FY2019: 36.6% 

- FY2020: 39.5% 

- FY2021: 38.4% 

- FY2022: 36.4% 

- FY2023: 42.4% 

- FY2024: 46.0% 

- FY2025: 28.7% 

- FY2026: 54.1% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in utilities regulated electric; annual sales are USD 9.4 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130310/000113031026000008/cnp-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: revenue 9357000000; grossProfit 2686000000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); CNP.US: CenterPoint Energy, Inc. operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through Electric; Natural Gas; and Corporate and Other segments. The Electric segment provides electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market in Indiana Electric's service territory. The Natural Gas segment engages in the intrastate natural gas sales, and natural gas transportation and distribution for residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas; permanent pipeline connections through interconnects with various interstate and intrastate pipeline companies; and provides home appliance maintenance and repair services to customers in Minnesota and home repair protection plans to natural gas customers in Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas through a third party. As of December 31, 2025, it served approximately 2,859,313 metered customers; owned 355 substations with transformer capacity of 81,692 megavolt amperes; and owned and operated approximately 208 miles of intrastate pipeline in Louisiana and Texas. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 28.7% to 46% during 2023–25; it earns 5.8% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 42.4%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 46%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130310/000113031026000008/cnp-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 28.7%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); 10-year return on capital observations [[2017,0.09929201992832794],[2018,0.053852362856082865],[2019,0.05774539949558559],[2020,0.05545712341085007],[2021,0.05984596869024746],[2022,0.05304929053397918],[2023,0.06319685920318359],[2024,0.0616344120507903],[2025,0.057968805662459544],[2026,0.05762070806687883]]; median 0.05785710257902257. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Earns 5.8% on new investment; paid dividends in 10 of 10 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2016: growth capex 208546856.44113016; upkeep 1205453143.5588698; owner earnings 352546856.44113016. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.5915436562003616.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2017: growth capex 390000000; upkeep 1036000000; owner earnings 1792000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.21763392857142858.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2019: growth capex 1281000000; upkeep 1225000000; owner earnings 791000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 1.6194690265486726.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2021: growth capex 1848000000; upkeep 1316000000; owner earnings 1486000000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 1.243606998654105.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2022: growth capex 2655513806.118978; upkeep 1763486193.881022; owner earnings 581513806.118978. Growth capex / owner earnings = 4.566553327154641.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130310/000113031026000008/cnp-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: growth capex 2358645249.995416; upkeep 2511354750.004584; owner earnings 70645249.99541616. Growth capex / owner earnings = 33.38717394514787.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); Incremental return on capital 0.05751823280632798, from the economics test's unchanged annual inputs.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); Dividend observations: [[2016,621000000],[2017,461000000],[2018,908000000],[2019,695000000],[2020,529000000],[2021,492000000],[2022,489000000],[2023,535000000],[2024,522000000],[2025,574000000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 0.2% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); CNP.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 0.23800000000000002 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What could break it

"We are subject to fluctuations in natural gas prices" (SEC filing, Feb 2026)

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130310/000113031026000008/cnp-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); We are subject to fluctuations in natural gas prices

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits grow 46.4% yearly over ten years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate 0.6784111258874626. Price 39.8; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share -3.0359384443721233 → FY2025 0.10774841759386283. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $22.80 per share

- 2016-11: $23.86 per share

- 2016-12: $24.64 per share

- 2017-01: $26.21 per share

- 2017-02: $27.32 per share

- 2017-03: $27.57 per share

- 2017-04: $28.53 per share

- 2017-05: $28.61 per share

- 2017-06: $27.38 per share

- 2017-07: $28.19 per share

- 2017-08: $29.62 per share

- 2017-09: $29.21 per share

- 2017-10: $29.58 per share

- 2017-11: $30.01 per share

- 2017-12: $28.36 per share

- 2018-01: $28.18 per share

- 2018-02: $27.05 per share

- 2018-03: $27.40 per share

- 2018-04: $25.33 per share

- 2018-05: $26.13 per share

- 2018-06: $27.71 per share

- 2018-07: $28.48 per share

- 2018-08: $27.79 per share

- 2018-09: $27.65 per share

- 2018-10: $27.01 per share

- 2018-11: $28.01 per share

- 2018-12: $28.23 per share

- 2019-01: $30.92 per share

- 2019-02: $30.14 per share

- 2019-03: $30.70 per share

- 2019-04: $31.00 per share

- 2019-05: $28.44 per share

- 2019-06: $28.63 per share

- 2019-07: $29.01 per share

- 2019-08: $27.69 per share

- 2019-09: $30.18 per share

- 2019-10: $29.07 per share

- 2019-11: $24.56 per share

- 2019-12: $27.27 per share

- 2020-01: $26.48 per share

- 2020-02: $23.02 per share

- 2020-03: $15.45 per share

- 2020-04: $17.03 per share

- 2020-05: $17.78 per share

- 2020-06: $18.67 per share

- 2020-07: $19.01 per share

- 2020-08: $20.07 per share

- 2020-09: $19.35 per share

- 2020-10: $21.13 per share

- 2020-11: $23.19 per share

- 2020-12: $21.64 per share

- 2021-01: $21.09 per share

- 2021-02: $19.44 per share

- 2021-03: $22.65 per share

- 2021-04: $24.49 per share

- 2021-05: $25.30 per share

- 2021-06: $24.52 per share

- 2021-07: $25.46 per share

- 2021-08: $25.09 per share

- 2021-09: $24.60 per share

- 2021-10: $26.04 per share

- 2021-11: $25.91 per share

- 2021-12: $27.91 per share

- 2022-01: $28.36 per share

- 2022-02: $27.35 per share

- 2022-03: $30.64 per share

- 2022-04: $30.61 per share

- 2022-05: $32.05 per share

- 2022-06: $29.58 per share

- 2022-07: $31.69 per share

- 2022-08: $31.53 per share

- 2022-09: $28.18 per share

- 2022-10: $28.61 per share

- 2022-11: $31.11 per share

- 2022-12: $29.99 per share

- 2023-01: $30.12 per share

- 2023-02: $27.82 per share

- 2023-03: $29.46 per share

- 2023-04: $30.47 per share

- 2023-05: $28.21 per share

- 2023-06: $29.15 per share

- 2023-07: $30.09 per share

- 2023-08: $27.89 per share

- 2023-09: $26.85 per share

- 2023-10: $26.88 per share

- 2023-11: $28.27 per share

- 2023-12: $28.57 per share

- 2024-01: $27.94 per share

- 2024-02: $27.50 per share

- 2024-03: $28.49 per share

- 2024-04: $29.14 per share

- 2024-05: $30.51 per share

- 2024-06: $30.98 per share

- 2024-07: $27.75 per share

- 2024-08: $27.30 per share

- 2024-09: $29.42 per share

- 2024-10: $29.53 per share

- 2024-11: $32.62 per share

- 2024-12: $31.73 per share

- 2025-01: $32.57 per share

- 2025-02: $34.38 per share

- 2025-03: $36.23 per share

- 2025-04: $38.78 per share

- 2025-05: $37.24 per share

- 2025-06: $36.74 per share

- 2025-07: $38.82 per share

- 2025-08: $37.71 per share

- 2025-09: $38.80 per share

- 2025-10: $38.24 per share

- 2025-11: $39.98 per share

- 2025-12: $38.34 per share

- 2026-01: $39.69 per share

- 2026-02: $43.50 per share

- 2026-03: $43.16 per share

- 2026-04: $43.65 per share

- 2026-05: $42.26 per share

- 2026-06: $44.04 per share

- 2026-07: $42.04 per share

- 2026-08: $39.60 per share

- 2026-09: $36.80 per share

- 2026-10: $39.80 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $9.92 per share, central $10.92 per share, high $12.26 per share

- FY2017: low $13.70 per share, central $15.26 per share, high $17.34 per share

- FY2018: low $17.37 per share, central $18.35 per share, high $19.65 per share

- FY2019: low $9.47 per share, central $10.53 per share, high $11.93 per share

- FY2020: low $8.79 per share, central $9.77 per share, high $11.09 per share

- FY2021: low $18.11 per share, central $20.27 per share, high $23.14 per share

- FY2022: low $10.68 per share, central $12.07 per share, high $13.91 per share

- FY2023: low $10.09 per share, central $11.38 per share, high $13.10 per share

- FY2025: low $1.74 per share, central $1.91 per share, high $2.12 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

Prior published observations retained from 2026-10-15T06:33:14.219Z where newer inputs omit a numeric field or fiscal period.

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130310/000113031026000008/cnp-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-19.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.