IDACORP, Inc. (IDA) Stock Price & How to Invest

IDACORP is the parent of Idaho Power Company, a vertically integrated regulated electric utility that generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to more than 640,000 customers across a growing territory in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Its earnings come mainly from regulated rates set by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission and Oregon regulators, so profitability is tied to the utility's allowed return on a growing rate base rather than to commodity prices. A hydro-heavy generation fleet plus purchased power and battery storage rounds out the resource mix.

The investment picture is a classic regulated-utility one, tilted toward growth by an unusually strong local economy. Meta, Micron, and other large industrial and data-center loads are pushing electricity demand higher than the national average, which supports a large multi-year capital plan and steady customer additions. In return, investors accept the usual utility trade-offs: earnings capped by regulation, sensitivity to interest rates and financing costs, and reliance on constructive rate outcomes to earn on new investment.

The 2026 numbers so far fit that pattern. Second-quarter revenue rose about 4% to roughly $470 million and net income reached about $103 million, or $1.79 per diluted share against a consensus near $1.78, after a first quarter in which EPS rose to $1.21 from $1.10. Trailing twelve-month revenue is about $1.8 billion and net income about $339 million. The capital plan shows up in the cash flow: operating cash flow of about $480 million against negative free cash flow of roughly $1.2 billion over the trailing year, funded with debt that now totals about $4.0 billion. In September the board raised the quarterly dividend 2.3% to $0.90 a share, or $3.60 a year. As of October 16, 2026 the stock closed at $138.24, up about 8.6% year to date and 1.8% over twelve months, inside a 52-week range of roughly $124 to $155.

As a capital-intensive regulated utility, IDACORP depends on regulators granting adequate rates and returns on its large spending plan, and unfavorable rate-case outcomes would pressure earnings. Heavy financing needs make the stock sensitive to interest rates, and rising utility bills tied to serving big data-center loads have drawn political and customer pushback in Idaho. Its hydro-heavy fleet exposes it to drought and weather variability, while concentration in a few very large industrial customers adds demand risk if any pull back. Free cash flow was roughly negative $1.2 billion over the trailing year and total debt is about $4.0 billion against $84 million of cash, so the capital plan depends on continued access to debt and possibly equity markets. The valuation, at about 23 times trailing and 20 times forward earnings, prices in continued growth, so disappointments could weigh on the shares.

9 analysts publish price targets on IDA, averaging $153.89 against a $138.30 price as of October 2026, or +11.3%. The published targets run from $143.00 to $171.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 7 buy, 2 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 3 raises and 4 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full IDA forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on IDACORP, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Data-center and industrial load growth. Large customers including Meta, Micron, and Chobani are driving demand well above typical utility trends, with the 2025 Integrated Resource Plan projecting roughly 8% annual retail sales growth over five years. The most optimistic published target, $171.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. As a capital-intensive regulated utility, IDACORP depends on regulators granting adequate rates and returns on its large spending plan, and unfavorable rate-case outcomes would pressure earnings. The most pessimistic target, $143.00, is roughly what IDA is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on IDA, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. IDACORP, Inc. (IDA) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

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

• Revenue (TTM): ~$1.8B
• Q2 2026 revenue: ~$470M (+~4% y/y)
• Q2 2026 diluted EPS: ~$1.79 vs ~$1.78 expected
• Net income (TTM): ~$339M (~19% net margin)
• 2026 EPS guidance: ~$6.25 to $6.45 (consensus ~$6.39)
• Market cap: ~$8.0B
• Dividend (annual): ~$3.60 (~2.6% yield)
• P/E: ~23x trailing, ~20x forward

IDACORP trades at about 23 times trailing and 20 times forward earnings as of October 16, 2026, a modest premium that reflects its above-average load growth. Net income has grown in each 2026 quarter even when revenue dipped, a reminder that utility earnings track allowed returns more than top-line sales. The dividend yield of roughly 2.6% after the September increase is on the lower side for utilities, consistent with the market pricing in growth, and third-quarter results on October 29 carry a consensus of about $2.49 per share.

Other names that sit close to IDA: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get IDA 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 portfolio, so IDA sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where IDA 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.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

IDA is a regulated-utility story where load growth from data centers and industrial expansion is funding a record capital plan, with returns tied to how regulators treat that spending. Third-quarter results on October 29, 2026, normally the utility's strongest quarter, are the next checkpoint.

Whether IDA 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 IDA a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the IDA stock forecast.

For income investors, whether IDA pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does IDA pay a dividend? And to weigh IDA against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: IDA vs NWE and IDA vs AVA.