Forensic Analysis · Utilities · as of Aug 11, 2026

Nrg Energy, Inc. (NRG)

A forensic read on Nrg Energy, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

D · Weak — demands caution

Forensic grade

Safe

Financial health

2.8

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

106.0

P / E (ttm)

51.4%

ROE

$25.1B

Market cap

1.60%

Dividend yield

9.2%

Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Nrg Energy, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.8, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.

What the filings flag

225% of FCF

FY2025

Shareholder returns. Returned $1.7B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 225% of free cash flow. More than free cash flow generated — and beyond operating cash too, so the extra is coming from debt or cash reserves, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $134M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 242%.

8.6%

FY2025

Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 8.6% in the latest fiscal year and steady — a modest positive spread over its ~6% cost of capital — growth adds value, though not dramatically.

$180M

FY2021–FY2024

Goodwill impairments. Took $180M of goodwill writedowns across 3 years (FY2021 ($35M), FY2022 ($130M), FY2024 ($15M)) — about 4% of net income over the span. Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$30.71B

Revenue Growth YoY+9.2%

Revenue CAGR (3yr)-0.9%

Net Margin2.8%

Free Cash Flow$766.0M

Return on Equity51.4%

Debt / Equity9.78x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 11, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.