American Electric Power vs Vistra
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The short version
- American Electric Power is the larger business, with $21.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $17.7B for Vistra.
- American Electric Power grew revenue faster (10.9%, against 3.0%).
- American Electric Power kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (24.3% operating margin, against 10.8%).
- Vistra turned more of its sales into free cash flow (7.4% FCF margin, against −6.9%).
- Vistra earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (7.2%, against 6.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Vistra’s earnings: a P/E of 23.7x against 19.2x for American Electric Power.
| Latest fiscal year | AEP · FY25 | VST · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $71.0B | $47.5B |
| Revenue | $21.9B | $17.7B |
| Free cash flow | −$1.5B | $1.3B |
| Net income | $3.7B | $944M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 10.9% | 3.0% |
| 5-year growth | 8.0% | 9.2% |
| Share count change | 1.2% | −2.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 24.3% | 10.8% |
| Net margin | 16.9% | 5.3% |
| FCF margin | −6.9% | 7.4% |
| Return on capital | 6.7% | 7.2% |
| Return on equity | 12.7% | 17.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $48.6B | $18.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.6x | 4.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.0B | $1.3B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 19.2x | 23.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 4 |
Revenue
FY16
AEP $16.4B
VST —
FY17
AEP $15.4B
VST $5.4B
FY18
AEP $16.2B
VST $9.1B
FY19
AEP $15.6B
VST $11.8B
FY20
AEP $14.9B
VST $11.4B
FY21
AEP $16.8B
VST $12.1B
FY22
AEP $19.6B
VST $13.7B
FY23
AEP $19.0B
VST $14.8B
FY24
AEP $19.7B
VST $17.2B
FY25
AEP $21.9B
VST $17.7B
AEP
VST
Operating margin
FY16
AEP 7.1%
VST —
FY17
AEP 22.9%
VST 3.7%
FY18
AEP 16.6%
VST 5.4%
FY19
AEP 16.7%
VST 16.9%
FY20
AEP 20.0%
VST 13.3%
FY21
AEP 20.3%
VST −12.5%
FY22
AEP 17.7%
VST −8.6%
FY23
AEP 18.7%
VST 18.0%
FY24
AEP 21.8%
VST 23.7%
FY25
AEP 24.3%
VST 10.8%
AEP
VST
Free cash flow
FY16
AEP −$259M
VST —
FY17
AEP −$1.4B
VST $1.3B
FY18
AEP −$1.1B
VST $941M
FY19
AEP −$1.8B
VST $2.0B
FY20
AEP −$2.4B
VST $2.1B
FY21
AEP −$1.8B
VST −$1.2B
FY22
AEP −$1.4B
VST −$816M
FY23
AEP −$2.4B
VST $3.8B
FY24
AEP −$827M
VST $2.5B
FY25
AEP −$1.5B
VST $1.3B
AEP
VST
Return on capital
FY16
AEP 3.0%
VST —
FY17
AEP 5.9%
VST —
FY18
AEP 6.0%
VST 2.8%
FY19
AEP 5.5%
VST 8.3%
FY20
AEP 5.7%
VST 6.0%
FY21
AEP 5.8%
VST −6.8%
FY22
AEP 5.6%
VST −5.4%
FY23
AEP 5.2%
VST 11.8%
FY24
AEP 6.2%
VST 17.7%
FY25
AEP 6.7%
VST 7.2%
AEP
VST
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.