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FINWIRES

Research Alert: CFRA Keeps Buy Opinion On Shares Of Firstenergy Corp.

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-- CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We trim our 12-month target by $1 to $55, 20.0x our next-12-month EPS view of $2.75, a premium to its five-year average of 15.6x. We reduce our 2026 EPS view by $0.02 to $2.72 and 2027 EPS by $0.01 to $2.93. The Q1 core EPS increase (+7.5% Y/Y) breaks a three-quarter streak of declines, and we see continued momentum throughout our forecast horizon. We see positive data center demand trends, with long-term contracted demand (4.3 GW) up 4% since February 2026 (4.1 GW) and up 47% since February 2025 (2.9 GW), while pipeline demand (14.9 GW) is up 15% since February 2026 (12.9 GW) and has more than doubled since February 2025 (6.1 GW). FE has reduced base O&M by over $200M (15%) since 2022, with Q1 2026 showing an additional ~5% YoY decline, while simultaneously improving reliability metrics. We think FE's cost discipline, service quality improvement, and competitive rate positioning should translate into more favorable rate case outcomes, reduced disallowance risk, and potentially higher allowed ROEs.

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