Clearway Energy vs NorthWestern Energy
Add, change or remove companies; up to four.
The short version
- NorthWestern Energy is the larger business, with $1.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.4B for Clearway Energy.
- NorthWestern Energy grew revenue faster (6.4%, against 4.2%).
- NorthWestern Energy kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.2% operating margin, against 11.2%).
- Clearway Energy turned more of its sales into free cash flow (25.8% FCF margin, against −8.1%).
- NorthWestern Energy earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (5.1%, against 1.0%).
| Latest fiscal year | CWEN · FY25 | NWE · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $1.1B | $4.8B |
| Revenue | $1.4B | $1.6B |
| Free cash flow | $369M | −$130M |
| Net income | $169M | $181M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 4.2% | 6.4% |
| 5-year growth | 3.6% | 6.1% |
| Share count change | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 62.9% | — |
| Operating margin | 11.2% | 20.2% |
| Net margin | 11.8% | 11.2% |
| FCF margin | 25.8% | −8.1% |
| Return on capital | 1.0% | 5.1% |
| Return on equity | 3.0% | 6.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $8.4B | $3.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 10.0x | 6.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $358M | $161M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 28.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
CWEN $1.0B
NWE $1.3B
FY17
CWEN $1.0B
NWE $1.3B
FY18
CWEN $1.1B
NWE $1.2B
FY19
CWEN $1.0B
NWE $1.3B
FY20
CWEN $1.2B
NWE $1.2B
FY21
CWEN $1.3B
NWE $1.4B
FY22
CWEN $1.2B
NWE $1.5B
FY23
CWEN $1.3B
NWE $1.4B
FY24
CWEN $1.4B
NWE $1.5B
FY25
CWEN $1.4B
NWE $1.6B
CWEN
NWE
Operating margin
FY16
CWEN 21.5%
NWE 20.3%
FY17
CWEN 28.1%
NWE 20.8%
FY18
CWEN 33.0%
NWE 22.3%
FY19
CWEN 21.7%
NWE 22.0%
FY20
CWEN 27.8%
NWE 19.7%
FY21
CWEN 20.8%
NWE 20.1%
FY22
CWEN 123.5%
NWE 17.8%
FY23
CWEN 20.0%
NWE 21.1%
FY24
CWEN 14.3%
NWE 21.4%
FY25
CWEN 11.2%
NWE 20.2%
CWEN
NWE
Free cash flow
FY16
CWEN $557M
NWE −$1.1M
FY17
CWEN $327M
NWE $46.3M
FY18
CWEN $415M
NWE $98.0M
FY19
CWEN $249M
NWE −$19.3M
FY20
CWEN $421M
NWE −$53.6M
FY21
CWEN $550M
NWE −$214M
FY22
CWEN $675M
NWE −$208M
FY23
CWEN $490M
NWE −$77.7M
FY24
CWEN $483M
NWE −$143M
FY25
CWEN $369M
NWE −$130M
CWEN
NWE
Return on capital
FY16
CWEN 2.6%
NWE 6.9%
FY17
CWEN 1.7%
NWE 6.6%
FY18
CWEN 2.2%
NWE 6.7%
FY19
CWEN 2.1%
NWE 6.7%
FY20
CWEN 2.9%
NWE 5.4%
FY21
CWEN 2.0%
NWE 5.8%
FY22
CWEN 11.3%
NWE 5.1%
FY23
CWEN 1.8%
NWE 5.3%
FY24
CWEN 1.2%
NWE 5.6%
FY25
CWEN 1.0%
NWE 5.1%
CWEN
NWE
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.