Avista vs NorthWestern Energy
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The short version
- Avista is the larger business, with $2.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.6B for NorthWestern Energy.
- NorthWestern Energy grew revenue faster (6.4%, against 1.3%).
- NorthWestern Energy kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.2% operating margin, against 18.0%).
- Avista turned more of its sales into free cash flow (−5.1% FCF margin, against −8.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of NorthWestern Energy’s earnings: a P/E of 28.0x against 13.6x for Avista.
| Latest fiscal year | AVA · FY25 | NWE · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.1B | $4.8B |
| Revenue | $2.0B | $1.6B |
| Free cash flow | −$101M | −$130M |
| Net income | $193M | $181M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 1.3% | 6.4% |
| 5-year growth | 8.2% | 6.1% |
| Share count change | 2.8% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 18.0% | 20.2% |
| Net margin | 9.8% | 11.2% |
| FCF margin | −5.1% | −8.1% |
| Return on capital | — | 5.1% |
| Return on equity | 7.3% | 6.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | — | $3.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | 6.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $159M | $161M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 13.6x | 28.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | — | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
AVA $1.4B
NWE $1.3B
FY17
AVA $1.4B
NWE $1.3B
FY18
AVA $1.4B
NWE $1.2B
FY19
AVA $1.3B
NWE $1.3B
FY20
AVA $1.3B
NWE $1.2B
FY21
AVA $1.4B
NWE $1.4B
FY22
AVA $1.7B
NWE $1.5B
FY23
AVA $1.8B
NWE $1.4B
FY24
AVA $1.9B
NWE $1.5B
FY25
AVA $2.0B
NWE $1.6B
AVA
NWE
Operating margin
FY16
AVA 20.8%
NWE 20.3%
FY17
AVA 20.2%
NWE 20.8%
FY18
AVA 18.7%
NWE 22.3%
FY19
AVA 15.6%
NWE 22.0%
FY20
AVA 17.6%
NWE 19.7%
FY21
AVA 15.9%
NWE 20.1%
FY22
AVA 11.1%
NWE 17.8%
FY23
AVA 14.7%
NWE 21.1%
FY24
AVA 15.8%
NWE 21.4%
FY25
AVA 18.0%
NWE 20.2%
AVA
NWE
Free cash flow
FY16
AVA −$48.4M
NWE −$1.1M
FY17
AVA −$2.0M
NWE $46.3M
FY18
AVA −$62.5M
NWE $98.0M
FY19
AVA −$44.3M
NWE −$19.3M
FY20
AVA −$73.3M
NWE −$53.6M
FY21
AVA −$173M
NWE −$214M
FY22
AVA −$328M
NWE −$208M
FY23
AVA −$52.0M
NWE −$77.7M
FY24
AVA $1.0M
NWE −$143M
FY25
AVA −$101M
NWE −$130M
AVA
NWE
Return on capital
FY16
AVA 5.9%
NWE 6.9%
FY17
AVA 4.9%
NWE 6.6%
FY18
AVA 5.9%
NWE 6.7%
FY19
AVA 4.6%
NWE 6.7%
FY20
AVA 5.3%
NWE 5.4%
FY21
AVA 4.8%
NWE 5.8%
FY22
AVA 3.9%
NWE 5.1%
FY23
AVA —
NWE 5.3%
FY24
AVA —
NWE 5.6%
FY25
AVA —
NWE 5.1%
AVA
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.