FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) issues 2026 outlook, affirms multi-year Core earnings target

Rhea-AI Filing Summary

FirstEnergy Corp. filed a current report announcing that it has issued a Letter to the Investment Community outlining its 2026 financial outlook. The company’s communication includes Core (non-GAAP) earnings guidance for the full year 2026 and reaffirms its five year compound annual Core earnings growth rate target for 2025 through 2029. The Investor Letter and a detailed 2026 Financial Guidance Presentation were posted on FirstEnergy’s investor relations website and attached as exhibits to the report.

The company notes that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including ongoing regulatory and legal matters related to Ohio House Bill 6, compliance with prior agreements with government authorities, changing economic conditions, severe weather events, evolving environmental and tax laws, capital markets access, cyber and physical security, and the ability to execute its strategic and investment plans. FirstEnergy emphasizes that actual results may differ materially from its outlook due to these and other factors discussed in its SEC filings.

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Equity research analyst

FirstEnergy shares a 2026 outlook and reaffirms longer-term Core earnings goals.

FirstEnergy Corp. has released a Letter to the Investment Community presenting its 2026 financial outlook and Core (non-GAAP) earnings guidance, while reaffirming a five year compound annual Core earnings growth rate target for 2025–2029. This indicates management is providing a structured view of near-term performance alongside a multi-year earnings framework, which can help align market expectations with its strategic and capital investment plans.

The company pairs this outlook with an extensive discussion of risks that could cause results to differ from its guidance. These include regulatory and legal developments tied to Ohio House Bill 6, compliance with prior government agreements, macroeconomic factors such as inflation and interest rates, severe weather and climate-related impacts, cyber and physical security threats, and potential changes in environmental and tax policy. It also highlights execution dependencies around its Energize365 transmission and distribution investment plan, rate filings, cost control, and maintaining investment-grade credit metrics.

For investors, the key elements are that management is publicly standing behind a multi-year Core earnings growth narrative while explicitly acknowledging a broad set of operational, regulatory, and financial risks that could affect outcomes. Future investor materials and periodic SEC reports will show how actual results compare with the 2026 outlook and the 2025–2029 growth ambitions.

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): December 9, 2025

Commission

Registrant; State of Incorporation;

I.R.S. Employer

File Number

Address; and Telephone Number

Identification No.

333-21011

FIRSTENERGY CORP

34-1843785

(An

Ohio

Corporation)

341 White Pond Drive

Akron

OH

44320

Telephone

(800)

736-3402

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol(s)

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, $0.10 par value per share

FE

New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure

On December 9, 2025, FirstEnergy Corp. (“FirstEnergy” or the “Company”) issued a Letter to the Investment Community setting forth the Company’s 2026 financial outlook (the “Investor Letter”), including, among other things, the Company’s Core (non-GAAP) earnings guidance for the full year 2026 and affirming the Company’s five year compound annual Core earnings growth rate target from 2025 to 2029. Concurrently, the Company posted the Investor Letter together with a presentation (“2026 Financial Guidance Presentation”) to the Company’s Investor Relations website at investors.firstenergycorp.com. FirstEnergy’s Investor Letter and 2026 Financial Guidance Presentation are attached hereto as Exhibits 99.1 and 99.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, respectively, and are incorporated herein by reference.

The information set forth in and incorporated into this Item 7.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K is being furnished pursuant to Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any of the Company’s filings under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, whether made before or after the date hereof and regardless of any general incorporation language in such filings, except to the extent expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing. The furnishing of this Item 7.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K shall not be deemed an admission as to the materiality of any information herein that is required to be disclosed solely by reason of Regulation FD.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit No.						Description
99.1						Investor Letter issued by FirstEnergy Corp., dated December 9, 2025
99.2						2026 Financial Guidance Presentation, dated December 9, 2025
104						Cover Page Interactive Data File (the cover page XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

This Form 8-K includes forward-looking statements based on information currently available to management and unless the context requires otherwise, references to “we,” “us,” “our” and “FirstEnergy” refers to FirstEnergy Corp. and its subsidiaries. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements include declarations regarding management's intents, beliefs and current expectations. These statements typically contain, but are not limited to, the terms “anticipate,” “potential,” “expect,” "forecast," "target," "will," "intend," “believe,” "project," “estimate," "plan" and similar words. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, which may include the following: the potential liabilities, increased costs and unanticipated developments resulting from government investigations and agreements, including those associated with compliance with or failure to comply with the Deferred Prosecution Agreement entered into July 21, 2021 and settlements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”); the risks and uncertainties associated with government investigations and audits regarding Ohio House Bill 6, as passed by Ohio’s 133rd General Assembly (“HB 6”) and related matters, including potential adverse impacts on federal or state regulatory matters, including, but not limited to, matters relating to rates; the risks and uncertainties associated with litigation, arbitration, mediation and similar proceedings, particularly regarding HB 6 related matters; changes in national and regional economic conditions, including recession, volatile interest rates, inflationary pressure, supply chain disruptions, higher fuel costs, and workforce impacts, affecting us and/or our customers and those vendors with which we do business; variations in weather, such as mild seasonal weather variations and severe weather conditions (including events caused, or exacerbated, by climate change, such as wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, droughts, high wind events and extreme heat events) and other natural disasters, which may result in increased storm restoration expenses or material liability and negatively affect future operating results; the potential liabilities and increased costs arising from regulatory actions or outcomes in response to severe weather conditions and other natural disasters; legislative and regulatory developments, and executive orders, including, but not limited to, matters related to rates, energy regulatory policies, compliance and enforcement activity, cyber security, climate change, and equity and inclusion; the ability to access the public securities and other capital and credit markets in accordance with our financial plans, the cost of such capital and overall condition of the capital and credit markets affecting us, including the increasing number of financial institutions evaluating the impact of climate change on their investment decisions, and the loss of FirstEnergy Corp.’s status as a well-known seasoned issuer; the risks associated with physical attacks, such as acts of war, terrorism, sabotage or other acts of violence, and cyber-attacks and other disruptions to our, or our vendors’, information technology system, which may compromise our operations, and data security breaches of sensitive data, intellectual property and proprietary or personally identifiable information; the ability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits through establishing a culture of continuous improvement and our other strategic and financial goals, including, but not limited to, executing Energize365, our transmission and distribution investment plan, executing on our rate filing strategy, controlling costs, improving credit metrics, maintaining investment grade ratings, strengthening our balance sheet and growing earnings; changing market conditions affecting the measurement of certain liabilities and the value of assets held in our pension trusts may negatively impact our forecasted growth rate, results of operations and may also cause it to make contributions to its pension sooner or in amounts that are larger than currently anticipated; changes in assumptions regarding factors such as economic conditions within our territories, the reliability of our transmission and distribution system, our generation resource planning in West Virginia, or the availability of capital or other resources supporting identified transmission and distribution investment opportunities; human capital management challenges, including among other things, attracting and retaining appropriately trained and qualified employees and labor disruptions by our unionized workforce; mitigating exposure for remedial activities associated with retired and formerly owned electric generation assets, including those sites impacted by the legacy coal combustion residual rules that were finalized during 2024, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s reconsideration of such rule; changes to environmental laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, federal and state rules related to climate change, and potential changes to such laws and regulations; changes in customers’ demand for power, including, but not limited to, economic conditions, the impact of climate change, emerging technology, particularly with respect to electrification, energy storage and distributed sources of generation; future actions taken by credit rating agencies that could negatively affect either our access to or terms of financing or our financial condition and liquidity; the potential of non-compliance with debt covenants in our credit facilities; the ability to comply with applicable reliability standards and energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates; changes to significant accounting policies; any changes in tax laws or regulations, including, but not limited to, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, as signed into law on July 4, 2025, or adverse tax audit results or rulings and potential changes to such laws and regulations; the ability to meet our publicly-disclosed goals relating to climate-related matters, opportunities, improvements, and efficiencies, including FirstEnergy’s Greenhouse gas reduction goals’ and the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in FirstEnergy Corp.’s SEC filings. Dividends declared from time to time on FirstEnergy Corp.’s common stock during any period may in the aggregate vary from prior periods due to circumstances considered by the FirstEnergy Corp. Board at the time of the actual declarations. A security rating is not a recommendation to buy or hold securities and is subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating agency. Each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating. These forward-looking statements are also qualified by, and should be read together with, the risk factors included in FirstEnergy Corp.’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and in other filings with the SEC. The foregoing review of factors also should not be construed as exhaustive. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such factors, nor assess the impact of any such factor on FirstEnergy Corp.’s business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. FirstEnergy Corp. expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise, except as required by law, any forward-looking statements contained herein or in the information incorporated by reference as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

December 9, 2025

			FIRSTENERGY CORP.
			Registrant
By:			/s/ Jason J. Lisowski
			Jason J. Lisowski Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer

FAQ

What did FirstEnergy (FE) announce in this 8-K report?

FirstEnergy announced that it issued a Letter to the Investment Community presenting its 2026 financial outlook, including Core (non-GAAP) earnings guidance for 2026, and reaffirmed its five year compound annual Core earnings growth rate target for 2025 through 2029.

Where can investors find FirstEnergy’s 2026 financial guidance materials?

The company posted its Investor Letter and the 2026 Financial Guidance Presentation on its investor relations website at investors.firstenergycorp.com, and also attached them as Exhibits 99.1 and 99.2 to the report.

Does FirstEnergy reaffirm any long-term earnings goals in this disclosure?

Yes. FirstEnergy states that it is affirming its five year compound annual Core (non-GAAP) earnings growth rate target covering the period from 2025 to 2029.

How is the information in FirstEnergy’s 8-K treated under SEC rules?

The company specifies that the information furnished under Item 7.01 is being provided under Regulation FD, is not deemed “filed” under Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is not automatically incorporated into other SEC filings unless specifically referenced.

What key risks could affect FirstEnergy’s ability to meet its 2026 outlook and growth targets?

FirstEnergy lists numerous risks, including government investigations and settlements, litigation related to Ohio House Bill 6, economic conditions such as inflation and interest rates, severe weather and climate-related events, regulatory and environmental changes, access to capital markets, cyber and physical security threats, pension and tax law impacts, and its ability to execute plans like the Energize365 investment program and maintain investment-grade credit ratings.

Which exhibits are included with FirstEnergy’s 8-K about its 2026 outlook?

The report includes Exhibit 99.1, the Investor Letter dated December 9, 2025, Exhibit 99.2, the 2026 Financial Guidance Presentation dated December 9, 2025, and Exhibit 104, the cover page interactive data file with embedded Inline XBRL tags.