PSEG Q3 2026 Net Income Falls 40% to $0.76 Per Share

Public Service Enterprise Group reported third-quarter 2026 net income of $376 million, or $0.76 per diluted share, against $622 million, or $1.24 per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Non-GAAP operating earnings, which strip out mark-to-market and nuclear decommissioning trust items, rose to $574 million, or $1.15 per share, from $565 million, or $1.13 per share. The Newark-based utility holding company, which trades on the NYSE under the ticker PEG, maintained its full-year 2026 non-GAAP operating earnings guidance of $4.28 to $4.40 per share.

Context — why PSEG's Q3 2026 earnings gap matters now

The headline net income decline and the operating earnings increase point in opposite directions, and the difference is almost entirely a reconciling-item effect rather than an operational one. Reconciling items added $198 million, or $0.39 per share, to third-quarter 2026 results, compared with a $57 million, or $0.11 per share, subtraction in the prior-year quarter. Those excluded items include gains and losses tied to the Nuclear Decommissioning Trust and mark-to-market accounting.

That swing is large enough to invert the year-over-year comparison. On the non-GAAP basis the company prefers for comparing performance across periods, PSEG grew operating earnings by roughly 1.6% in dollar terms while diluted shares outstanding fell to 499 million from 501 million, which lifted per-share growth to about 1.8%.

Management framed the quarter around execution rather than earnings optics. Chief executive Ralph LaRossa said results for the quarter and year-to-date period "align with our expectations for the full-year," and the company reaffirmed its 2026 guidance range.

The quarter also carried a weather story. LaRossa said PSEG faced severe weather throughout the period, describing storm restorations in July and September as among the most challenging in the company's history, and said crews restored service to nearly all affected New Jersey customers within 24 hours.

The nine-month picture is more constructive than the single quarter. Through September 30, net income fell to $1,451 million, or $2.91 per share, from $1,796 million, or $3.59 per share, but non-GAAP operating earnings rose to $1,777 million, or $3.56 per share, from $1,667 million, or $3.33 per share.

Data — what PSEG's third-quarter numbers show

The segment split explains where the earnings pressure sat. PSE&G, the regulated New Jersey utility, posted net income of $506 million in the third quarter, down from $515 million a year earlier. PSEG Power & Other swung to a net loss of $130 million from net income of $107 million.

On the non-GAAP basis, the same segments read differently. PSE&G contributed $506 million in the quarter, and PSEG Power & Other contributed $68 million in operating earnings, up from $50 million. For the first nine months, PSE&G operating earnings reached $1,425 million versus $1,393 million, while PSEG Power & Other operating earnings rose to $352 million from $274 million.

Metric	3Q 2026	3Q 2025
Net income	$376M	$622M
Net income per share	$0.76	$1.24
Non-GAAP operating earnings	$574M	$565M
Non-GAAP EPS	$1.15	$1.13
Diluted shares	499M	501M

Operating revenue for the quarter came in at $3,020 million, down from $3,226 million. Total operating expenses were $2,398 million versus $2,371 million, with depreciation and amortization rising to $325 million from $311 million and interest expense climbing to $280 million from $253 million.

Those two line items are the mechanical drag on the regulated utility. PSE&G's quarter was helped by ongoing investment in energy efficiency and transmission plus gradual customer growth, but the company said higher depreciation and interest costs tied to incremental investments not yet reflected in current rates, along with the timing of taxes, more than offset those gains.

PSEG Power & Other benefited from the absence of the Hope Creek refueling outage that weighed on last year's third quarter, plus higher realized prices and increased nuclear generation, partly offset by higher taxes. PSEG Nuclear supplied 8.2 TWh of carbon-free baseload energy in the quarter at a 95.5% capacity factor, the company said.

Analysis — what it means for utilities and power markets

The read-through for regulated utility investors is the gap between capital deployed and capital recovered. PSE&G's earnings slipped even as its investment base grew, because depreciation and interest on unrated investments hit the income statement before rate cases catch up. That is the standard lag in the regulated model, and it resolves through rate proceedings rather than through operations.

The more interesting signal sits in PSEG Power & Other, where non-GAAP operating earnings nearly doubled year over year on higher realized prices and more nuclear output. Merchant nuclear economics have been the swing factor for this segment, and the quarter shows the sensitivity: one fewer refueling outage and better pricing moved the segment from $50 million to $68 million in operating earnings.

The counter-argument is that the merchant segment's reported results remain volatile. The $130 million net loss in PSEG Power & Other was driven by mark-to-market and Nuclear Decommissioning Trust losses the company excludes from operating earnings. Investors who anchor on GAAP net income will read this quarter as a 40% earnings decline; investors who anchor on the non-GAAP measure will read it as flat-to-slightly-up. Both are defensible, and the divergence is the story.

Positioning matters here. PSEG's reaffirmed guidance and its stated plan to fund a five-year capital program of $24 billion to $28 billion without issuing new equity or selling assets are the two anchors income-oriented holders watch. LaRossa also repeated a long-term target of 6% to 8% compound annual growth in non-GAAP operating earnings through 2030.

The company's nuclear fleet is 3,758 MW of carbon-free baseload capacity across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and its utility serves roughly 2.4 million electric and 1.9 million gas customers.

Outlook — what to watch next for PSEG

The immediate catalyst is the conference call scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET on the release date, where management said it would review third-quarter results, earnings guidance and other matters with the financial community. Registration details were posted on the company's investor relations site.

Beyond the call, the guidance range itself is the level to watch. PSEG's reaffirmed 2026 non-GAAP operating earnings band of $4.28 to $4.40 per share implies fourth-quarter operating earnings of roughly $0.72 to $0.84 per share, given the $3.56 per share booked through nine months. That arithmetic is the company's own, derived from figures it disclosed.

Operationally, Salem unit #1 recently entered its fall refueling after a 491-day breaker-to-breaker run, which the company said matched a similar run posted by Salem unit #2 earlier this year. Refueling outages reduce generation in the affected quarter, so the timing of that outage is a variable for fourth-quarter nuclear output.

On the regulated side, the depreciation and interest drag the company flagged depends on when incremental investments enter rate base. The report does not disclose a rate case schedule or the size of the unrecovered investment balance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did PSEG's net income fall but operating earnings rise?

Reconciling items swung from a $57 million subtraction in third-quarter 2025 to a $198 million addition in third-quarter 2026. Those items include mark-to-market losses and Nuclear Decommissioning Trust gains or losses, which the company excludes from non-GAAP operating earnings. Because the excluded amounts moved so sharply between periods, GAAP net income fell 40% while the non-GAAP measure rose slightly. The company presents operating earnings as its consistent comparison metric.