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Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) reported second quarter 2025 earnings per share of $0.38, a 15.2% increase from $0.33 in the same period last year, according to the company’s quarterly presentation delivered on July 31, 2025. The utility provider reaffirmed its full-year EPS guidance of $4.00 to $4.20 while highlighting significant progress on strategic growth initiatives, particularly in data center development and transmission infrastructure.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
Black Hills delivered improved quarterly results despite facing headwinds from increased operational costs and financing expenses. The company’s Q2 EPS growth was primarily driven by margin improvements and favorable weather conditions.
"We’re delivering on our financial commitments by reaffirming our full-year earnings guidance and maintaining a strong balance sheet to enable growth," said CEO Lynn Evans in the presentation materials.
As shown in the following chart of Q2 2025 EPS drivers compared to Q2 2024:
The $0.05 increase in EPS was driven by a $0.22 positive contribution from margin improvements and $0.03 from favorable weather, partially offset by negative impacts from operations and maintenance expenses (-$0.05), financing costs (-$0.08), and depreciation and amortization (-$0.04).
Year-to-date performance shows similar patterns, with EPS reaching $2.24 compared to $2.19 in the first half of 2024:
The company’s stock closed at $56.53 on July 30, 2025, up 1.04% for the day but still below its 52-week high of $65.59. After the Q1 2025 earnings report in April, the stock had declined 3.26% despite beating expectations, reflecting ongoing investor concerns about rising operational costs.
Strategic Growth Initiatives
Black Hills is pursuing several major growth initiatives, with a particular focus on data center development and transmission infrastructure. The company’s five-year capital investment forecast totals $4.7 billion from 2025 to 2029, with significant investments planned for customer growth, system integrity, and electric generation.
The capital investment forecast is illustrated in this chart:
A key growth driver is the company’s expanding data center business. Black Hills is developing plans to serve more than 1 gigawatt of total data center demand within the next decade, including 500 MW in the current plan by 2029. The company expects data center EPS contribution to grow to more than 10% beginning in 2028.
"We’re seeing strong and growing demand, particularly in Wyoming where we’ve served four new all-time peak loads this year, representing a 21% increase over 2024 due to data center and blockchain growth," noted Evans.
The Ready Wyoming transmission expansion project, a 260-mile, $350 million investment, is on track for completion by year-end 2025. All regulatory approvals have been received and 100% of land rights-of-way have been procured.
Financial Outlook and Guidance
Black Hills reaffirmed its 2025 EPS guidance range of $4.00 to $4.20, which represents 5% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. For the longer term, the company is targeting 4% to 6% EPS growth, with plans to deliver in the upper half of that range starting in 2026.
The company’s strategic growth trajectory is illustrated in this chart:
Black Hills maintains a solid investment-grade financial position with credit ratings of Baa2 (Stable) from Moody’s and BBB+ (Stable) from S&P. The company reported $623 million of available liquidity and is targeting a long-term FFO/Debt ratio of 14-15%.
The dividend track record remains strong, with 2025 marking 55 consecutive years of annual increases and 83 consecutive years of payments. The current annualized dividend rate is $2.70 per share, representing a 4.5% compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025.
Regulatory and Clean Energy Progress
Black Hills is advancing several regulatory initiatives and clean energy projects. The company received approval of a rate review for Kansas Gas with new rates effective August 1, 2025, and is advancing a rate review request for Nebraska Gas with an anticipated decision in Q1 2026.
In Colorado, the company is implementing its Clean Energy Plan, which aims to reduce emissions 80% by 2030. The plan includes adding 100 MW of utility-owned solar, 50 MW of utility-owned battery storage, and 200 MW of solar through a power purchase agreement.
The company also received approval for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Wyoming Public Service Commission for the Lange II 99-MW natural gas generation project. Construction will commence in Q3 2025 with the facility expected to enter service in the second half of 2026.
Black Hills is also addressing wildfire risk through its industry-leading reliability metrics. The company highlighted its low vegetation-caused outage rate of 3.5% over the last five years compared to the industry average of approximately 20%.
"We have strong confidence in our long-term growth outlook," Evans concluded. "Our integrated pure-play utility profile, diversified mix of electric and gas businesses, stable and growing service territories, and robust capital plan with timely recovery position us well for continued success."
Full presentation:
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