DUK vs PNW: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 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.

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. DUK and PNW 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 DUK and PNW 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.

Duke Energy is a holding company for a group of regulated electric and gas utilities serving roughly eight and a half million electric customers across six states, including the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, plus natural gas distribution to over a million customers. As a regulated utility, Duke earns an authorized return on the capital it invests in power plants, poles, wires, and pipes, so its profit grows largely as it grows its regulated asset base, or rate base, subject to approval from state utility commissions. This regulated model produces relatively stable, predictable cash flows that fund a long-running dividend, which is the core of the income case for the stock.

Full DUK guide

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW) is a holding company, and essentially all of its earnings come from Arizona Public Service, the largest electric utility in Arizona. APS serves roughly 1.46 million retail customers across most of the state, owns and operates the Palo Verde Generating Station (the largest nuclear plant in the United States by output), and earns a regulated return on its transmission, distribution and generation investment. Rates are set by the Arizona Corporation Commission for retail service and by FERC for transmission. In the twelve months through June 2026 the company produced about $5.55 billion of operating revenue and roughly $640 million of net income attributable to common shareholders, on total assets of about $32.6 billion.

Full PNW guide

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

• DUK drivers: Rate-base growth from a $103B capital plan; Data-center and large-load demand.
• PNW drivers: The 2025 rate case and the formula rate proposal; Load growth that is unusually concentrated in large customers.

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: Duke is highly capital-intensive and carries substantial debt to fund its build-out, which makes it sensitive to interest rates: higher rates raise its borrowing costs and tend to compress the valuations investors assign to regulated utilities, while also making bond yields more competitive with its dividend. For PNW, the single largest risk is regulatory.

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 DUK if you believe its drivers more; PNW 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 DUK and PNW guides.

DUK. As of late June 2026, DUK traded near the high-$120s per share with a market cap around ~$100 billion. The trailing P/E of roughly ~19x to ~20x is broadly in line with large regulated-utility peers, reflecting steady but moderate earnings growth rather than the higher multiples of faster-growing sectors. Revenue for full-year 2025 was about ~$31.8 billion, and Q1 2026 adjusted EPS was ~$1.93, up from ~$1.76 a year earlier. Figures are approximate, drawn from the Q1 2026 release and public market data, and move with the share price.

PNW. The trailing multiple understates the forward one because 2025 included an El Dorado investment gain and favorable weather that do not repeat, so the stock is closer to 21 times guided 2026 earnings than to 19 times. Against a $32.6 billion balance sheet carrying roughly $10.6 billion of long-term debt (including current maturities) and about $7.0 billion of common equity, the valuation reflects a long-term EPS growth target of 5% to 7% off the original 2024 midpoint rather than the 9%-plus sales growth being reported. The difference between those two numbers is regulatory lag and financing cost, which is exactly what the pending rate case and the proposed formula rate mechanism are meant to address.

Headline figures (approximate, 2026-06-27): DUK shows revenue (ttm) ~$31.8B, adjusted eps guidance (fy2026) ~$6.55 to ~$6.80, adjusted eps growth target ~5% to ~7% per year through 2030, dividend yield ~3.4%; PNW shows revenue (ttm) ~$5.55B (FY2025 $5.34B; 2026 guidance $5.56B to $5.66B), diluted eps (ttm) ~$5.21 (FY2025 $5.05; 2026 guidance $4.55 to $4.75), net income to common (ttm) ~$640M, market cap ~$12.0B (~$99 per share, ~121.2M shares outstanding).

DUK and PNW 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 DUK and PNW exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.