Avista Corporation (AVA) Stock Price & How to Invest

Avista Corporation is a regulated utility holding company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through Avista Utilities it generates, transmits, and distributes electricity and delivers natural gas to roughly 1.7 million customers across eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and parts of Oregon, and through Alaska Electric Light and Power (AEL&P) it serves Juneau, Alaska. Its earnings come almost entirely from monopoly regulated operations, where state utility commissions set the rates and allowed returns, making revenue and profit relatively predictable but capped by the regulatory framework.

The investment picture is a defensive, income-first one. Avista affirmed 2026 non-GAAP utility earnings guidance of roughly $2.52 to $2.72 per diluted share and a long-term utility earnings growth target of about 4 to 6 percent, funded by a roughly $3.4 billion 2026-2030 capital plan that supports around 7 to 8 percent rate-base growth. The dividend yields close to 5 percent, which is the primary attraction, while the main swing factors are the outcomes of rate cases across Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska and the cost of wildfire mitigation in a fire-exposed service territory.

Avista is a small-cap utility with concentrated exposure to Pacific Northwest regulation, so an unfavorable rate-case outcome can directly compress earnings. Wildfire is a material risk: the service territory is fire-prone, mitigation spending is rising (around $45 million capital and $20 million O&M in 2026), and liability from a catastrophic fire could pressure the balance sheet despite deferral mechanisms and supportive legislation. Heavy capital spending means ongoing reliance on debt and equity issuance, which is sensitive to interest rates and can dilute shareholders. Weather variability and the Energy Recovery Mechanism (ERM) also introduce quarter-to-quarter earnings swings. As a regulated utility, upside is structurally capped by allowed returns.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Avista Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$1.96B
• Market cap: ~$3.4B
• 2026 utility EPS guidance: ~$2.52-$2.72
• Q1 2026 diluted EPS (GAAP): ~$1.11
• Dividend (annualized) / yield: ~$1.97 / ~4.8%
• 2026-2030 capital plan: ~$3.4B

Avista reported Q1 2026 net income of about $92 million ($1.11 per diluted share) on roughly $570 million of quarterly revenue, up from $0.98 a year earlier. On a trailing basis revenue is around $1.96 billion. At a share price implying a mid-teens P/E on guided earnings, AVA tends to trade at a modest discount to larger utility peers, reflecting its small size and Pacific Northwest wildfire exposure.

There are three common ways to get AVA exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so AVA sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where AVA fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

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AVA is a small-cap regulated utility whose story hinges on rate-case outcomes, a multi-year capital plan, and wildfire risk, with the dividend as the main draw for income-oriented holders.

Whether AVA is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is AVA a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the AVA stock forecast.

For income investors, whether AVA pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does AVA pay a dividend?