AES vs NEE: How The AES Corporation and NextEra Energy Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of July 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: AES is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AES and NEE share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AES and NEE exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

The AES Corporation is a global electricity company that operates across four segments: Renewables, Utilities, Energy Infrastructure, and New Energy Technologies. It owns or operates a generation fleet of roughly 34,740 megawatts spanning solar, wind, hydro, energy storage, gas, and legacy coal, and it distributes power to about 2.7 million utility customers. A key growth engine has been its renewables development pipeline, with a signed power purchase agreement backlog of about 12.6 gigawatts (around 5.6 GW under construction) as of March 2026, much of it tied to surging electricity demand from AI and cloud data centers. The company has been executing a coal exit while leaning into contracted clean generation and its regulated US utilities.

Full AES guide

NextEra Energy runs two very different businesses under one holding company. Florida Power & Light is a regulated electric utility serving roughly twelve million people across Florida; it earns an authorized return on the capital it invests in poles, wires, generation, and storage, so its profit grows as it grows its rate base, which expanded about ~8.8% year over year in early 2026. NextEra Energy Resources (NEER) is the competitive arm and the world's largest generator of electricity from wind and solar; it develops, builds, and operates clean-energy and battery-storage projects, selling power and capacity largely under long-term contracts to utilities, corporations, and data-center customers. The regulated utility provides steady, rate-regulated cash flow while the resources segment supplies higher-growth, contracted renewables and storage development.

Full NEE guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• AES drivers: Pending $15.00 cash acquisition; Renewables backlog and data-center demand.
• NEE drivers: Record renewables and storage backlog; Data-center and AI power demand.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The largest risk is deal-specific: a delay, regulatory block, or renegotiation of the $15.00 cash acquisition would remove the price support the stock currently enjoys. For NEE, nextEra is highly capital-intensive and carries substantial debt to fund construction, which makes it sensitive to interest rates: higher rates raise its borrowing costs and tend to compress the valuations investors assign to utility and renewable-growth stocks.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick AES if you believe its drivers more; NEE if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the AES and NEE guides.

AES. AES trades around the $15.00 cash offer, so headline multiples (a trailing P/E near the low teens and a forward P/E that looks low on 2026 estimates) matter less than the fixed deal price and the odds and timing of a close. The high debt load, roughly $31 billion, is typical of a capital-intensive utility but is a key reason the enterprise value (around $33 billion) is far larger than the equity value. Figures are approximate and drawn from mid-2026 filings and market data.

NEE. As of late June 2026, NEE traded near the high-$80s per share with a market cap around ~$184B to ~$186B. The forward P/E of roughly ~23x sits below its own five-year average closer to ~27x but at a premium to several utility peers, a gap the market ties to its ~33 GW backlog and growth profile. Figures are approximate, drawn from the Q1 2026 release and public market data, and move with the share price.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): AES shows revenue (ttm) ~$12.6B, q1 2026 revenue ~$3.18B (+9% YoY), market cap ~$10.7B, acquisition price $15.00/share cash; NEE shows revenue (ttm) ~$27.9B, adjusted eps guidance (fy2026) ~$3.92 to ~$4.02, dividend yield ~2.7%, adjusted eps growth target ~8%-plus per year through 2032.

AES and NEE are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AES and NEE exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.