NorthWestern Energy Group (NWE) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results

The quarter ended September 30, 2026 and NorthWestern Energy published the results on November 4, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison. NorthWestern Energy reports EPS two ways: GAAP, under the accounting rules every US filer follows, and adjusted non-GAAP diluted, which leaves out items the company considers outside its operating results. The release reconciles the two, and when they diverge, the reconciliation says why.

• NorthWestern Energy has agreed an all-stock merger with Black Hills Corporation, under which each NorthWestern share would convert into 0.98 Black Hills shares and the combined company would be named Bright Horizon Energy Corporation. At the time of the release it awaited a final order from the Montana Public Service Commission and expected to close by year-end 2026.
• Since January 1, 2026 NorthWestern owns additional interests in Colstrip Units 3 and 4, acquired from Avista and Puget for $0, whose operating costs are not yet in Montana base rates.

Source: NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 results, November 4, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

How NorthWestern Energy splits revenue in its own release, under its own labels, for Q3 2026 against Q3 2025. Indented lines are parts of the line above them.

• NorthWestern Energy's Electric revenue was $374 million in Q3 2026, up 10% from $340 million in Q3 2025, 88% of total revenue.
• NorthWestern Energy's Gas revenue was $50.1 million in Q3 2026, up 6% from $47.2 million in Q3 2025, 12% of total revenue.

Segment lines are the figures writers cite most often, because they show where the growth in a quarter came from. Companies redraw their segments from time to time and restate the prior year to match, so a year-ago figure here can differ from the one printed a year ago. When that has happened, the note above says so.

From the earnings release

In its Q3 2026 release, NorthWestern Energy said:

“We are affirming our 2026 non-GAAP earnings guidance of $3.68-$3.83 per diluted share.”

“We are affirming our long-term diluted earnings per share growth guidance of 4% to 6%, based on our 2024 adjusted diluted non-GAAP EPS baseline of $3.40.”

“Upon completion of the merger, NorthWestern's standalone guidance and outlook will no longer apply or be indicative of the combined company's expected results.”

Source: NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Nov 4, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the NWE forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP total revenues and diluted EPS, each as first reported in that quarter's release. NorthWestern's Q4 2025 release reported full-year 2025 figures only, so Q4 2025 revenue is full-year revenue of $1,610.6 million minus nine-month revenue of $1,196.3 million, and Q4 EPS is left blank.

We do not hold a confirmed date for NorthWestern Energy's next report. Companies post the date on their investor relations site a few weeks ahead, usually with the time of the conference call.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Nov 4, 2026

NorthWestern Energy is a regulated utility serving approximately 850,300 electric and natural gas customers in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and Yellowstone National Park. Electric brought in $373.6 million of its $423.8 million in Q3 2026 revenues, up from $339.8 million, and gas $50.1 million, up from $47.2 million. (NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

NorthWestern Energy's retail electric revenue was $333.7 million, up 8.3%: residential $143.7 million, commercial $162.4 million and industrial $12.1 million. Wholesale and other electric revenue rose to $34.1 million from $2.8 million. NorthWestern sells the capacity and energy from the Colstrip Puget Interests under a contract running from January 1, 2026 through late 2027, and the release credits $5.3 million of electric margin to that acquisition. (NorthWestern Energy Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 5, 2026; NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Because fuel and purchased power costs are largely passed through to customers, NorthWestern Energy reports utility margin, revenue less fuel, purchased supply and direct transmission expense. Utility margin was $316.5 million, up 5.5%, with electric $277.4 million and natural gas $39.1 million. Beyond the Puget contract, the increase came from lower non-recoverable Montana electric supply costs ($2.3 million), electric retail volumes ($1.5 million) and transmission revenue ($1.3 million). (NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

NorthWestern Energy said electric retail volumes benefited from favorable weather and customer growth in all jurisdictions. Montana had 426 cooling degree days in the quarter against 337 a year earlier, and South Dakota 794 against 730. Average retail electric customers were 511,870, against 506,893. (NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; NorthWestern Energy Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 5, 2026)

NorthWestern Energy's GAAP diluted EPS was $0.50 in Q3 2026, against $0.62, and net income fell to $30.7 million from $38.2 million. NorthWestern attributed the decline primarily to a $6.1 million net loss on its additional Colstrip interests, along with higher depreciation and interest expense. Operating, maintenance and administrative costs excluding merger costs reduced EPS by $0.18, including $7.2 million and $4.3 million of generation maintenance from the Puget and Avista interests. (NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Adjusted non-GAAP EPS was $0.58, against $0.79. For Q3 2026 NorthWestern Energy added back $0.04 of merger-related costs and $0.05 for the Colstrip Avista Interests, whose operating costs power sales did not recover, and deducted $0.01 for favorable weather. A year earlier it added back $0.12 of merger-related costs and $0.05 for unfavorable weather. (NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Average common shares outstanding were 61,518 thousand, little changed from 61,395 thousand. Income tax expense was $4.7 million on pre-tax income of $35.4 million. (NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

NorthWestern Energy gives annual EPS guidance. With Q3 2026 results it affirmed 2026 non-GAAP EPS guidance of $3.68 to $3.83 per diluted share, assuming normal weather, an effective tax rate of approximately 14 percent to 18 percent and about 61.8 million diluted shares, and excluding merger costs. It also affirmed long-term EPS and rate base growth of 4% to 6% and a $3.2 billion capital plan for 2026 to 2030. (NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

NorthWestern Energy said its guidance is on a standalone basis and will no longer apply once the Black Hills merger closes, which it expects by year-end 2026. (NorthWestern Energy Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover NorthWestern Energy, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones NorthWestern Energy's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning NWE is on is NWE a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the NWE forecast, and what the company does is on the NorthWestern Energy Group (NWE) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document NorthWestern Energy published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.