NRG Energy vs Talen Energy
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The short version
- NRG Energy is the larger business, with $30.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.6B for Talen Energy, about 12 times as much.
- Talen Energy grew revenue faster (22.0%, against 9.2%).
- NRG Energy kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (6.0% operating margin, against −3.5%).
- Talen Energy turned more of its sales into free cash flow (23.5% FCF margin, against 2.5%).
- NRG Energy earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (10.9%, against −1.3%).
| Latest fiscal year | NRG · FY25 | TLN · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $19.6B | $15.1B |
| Revenue | $30.7B | $2.6B |
| Free cash flow | $766M | $606M |
| Net income | $864M | −$219M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 9.2% | 22.0% |
| 5-year growth | 27.6% | — |
| Share count change | −6.1% | −19.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 6.0% | −3.5% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | −8.5% |
| FCF margin | 2.5% | 23.5% |
| Return on capital | 10.9% | −1.3% |
| Return on equity | 41.6% | −17.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $11.7B | $6.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.6x | 32.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.7B | $103M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 24.2x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | — |
Revenue
FY16
NRG $8.9B
TLN —
FY17
NRG $9.1B
TLN —
FY18
NRG $9.5B
TLN —
FY19
NRG $9.8B
TLN —
FY20
NRG $9.1B
TLN —
FY21
NRG $27.0B
TLN —
FY22
NRG $31.5B
TLN —
FY23
NRG $28.8B
TLN —
FY24
NRG $28.1B
TLN $2.1B
FY25
NRG $30.7B
TLN $2.6B
NRG
TLN
Operating margin
FY16
NRG 0.4%
TLN —
FY17
NRG −8.2%
TLN —
FY18
NRG 10.4%
TLN —
FY19
NRG 13.1%
TLN —
FY20
NRG 12.2%
TLN —
FY21
NRG 12.4%
TLN —
FY22
NRG 6.4%
TLN —
FY23
NRG 1.3%
TLN —
FY24
NRG 8.6%
TLN 10.7%
FY25
NRG 6.0%
TLN −3.5%
NRG
TLN
Free cash flow
FY16
NRG $1.4B
TLN —
FY17
NRG $1.4B
TLN —
FY18
NRG $989M
TLN —
FY19
NRG $1.2B
TLN —
FY20
NRG $1.6B
TLN —
FY21
NRG $224M
TLN —
FY22
NRG −$7.0M
TLN —
FY23
NRG −$819M
TLN —
FY24
NRG $1.8B
TLN $171M
FY25
NRG $766M
TLN $606M
NRG
TLN
Return on capital
FY16
NRG 0.1%
TLN —
FY17
NRG −3.8%
TLN —
FY18
NRG 12.4%
TLN —
FY19
NRG 21.1%
TLN —
FY20
NRG 10.6%
TLN —
FY21
NRG 28.2%
TLN —
FY22
NRG 12.9%
TLN —
FY23
NRG 2.4%
TLN —
FY24
NRG 14.6%
TLN —
FY25
NRG 10.9%
TLN −1.3%
NRG
TLN
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.