# How Alliant Energy makes money

CXProWealth Business Lens · Alliant Energy (LNT) · Q3 FY2026

Read from the 10-Q for the period 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30, filed 2026-10-30 with the SEC (accession 0000352541-26-000047): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/352541/000035254126000047/

Business Lens explains how a company earns, spends and keeps its money, from its own filings. It is insight and context, never a view on the shares, a target, or advice. Figures are raw units as filed; percentages are percentage points.

## Headline figures

- Revenue: $1.3B (+6.2% on the year)
- Operating income: $389.0M (operating margin 30.3%)
- Net income: $398.0M (net margin 31.0%)
- Gross margin: 86.3%
- Free cash flow: —
- Cash conversion (operating cash flow / net income): —
- Capital expenditure: — of revenue

## Where the money goes (Q3 FY2026)

- IPL → Total revenues: $664.0M
- WPL → Total revenues: $595.0M
- Other → Total revenues: $26.0M
- Total revenues → Total operating expenses: $896.0M
- Total revenues → Operating income: $389.0M
- Operating income → Total other (income) and deductions: $58.0M
- Total other (income) and deductions → Interest expense: $145.0M
- Allowance for funds used during construction → Total other (income) and deductions: $38.0M
- Other → Total other (income) and deductions: $4.0M
- Equity income from unconsolidated investments, net → Total other (income) and deductions: $45.0M
- Operating income → Income before income taxes: $331.0M
- Income before income taxes → Net income attributable to common shareowners: $331.0M
- Income tax expense (benefit) → Net income attributable to common shareowners: $67.0M

## Where the revenue comes from

### Segments (Segments Of Business (Schedule Of Segments Of Business) (Details))

| Member | Value | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| IPL | $664.0M | 51.7% |
| WPL | $595.0M | 46.3% |
| Other | $26.0M | 2.0% |

The members sum to total revenue.

### LegalEntity (Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Income)

| Member | Value | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| IPL | $664.0M | 51.7% |
| WPL | $595.0M | 46.3% |

The members do not sum to total revenue.

## Key insights

### Profit grew with the plant, not with the sales

Retail electric volumes rose 2%, yet operating income rose 11.5%, a gap the filing credits to rates on new investment.

Operating income rose 11.5% to $389 million from $349 million, while retail electric volumes rose only 2%, to 7,146 GWh from 6,974 GWh. Revenue rose 6.2% to $1,285 million and total operating expenses 4.1% to $896 million, so the operating margin widened 1.43 points to 30.3%. _(from the filing)_
The filing names higher revenue requirements from IPL's and WPL's capital investments among the main drivers, alongside higher retail electric sales. Fuel and purchased power fell to $222 million from $239 million, while other operation and maintenance rose to $228 million from $204 million, which the filing puts chiefly on higher incentive compensation. _(from the filing)_
For a regulated utility this is the expected shape: the return allowed on approved plant, more than the volume of power sold, sets most of the profit. Temperatures also lifted volumes this quarter, a factor that does not repeat on a schedule. _(analysis)_

### A tax benefit pushed profit above pre-tax income

A $67 million tax benefit made taxes a source of profit, and the filing puts part of it on timing.

Income before income taxes was $331 million, up 25.9% from $263 million. Net income attributable to common shareowners was $398 million, up 41.6% from $281 million. The gap is an income tax benefit of $67 million, equal to 20.2% of pre-tax income, against a benefit of $18 million a year earlier. _(from the filing)_
The filing names the timing of income taxes first among the drivers of utility profit, and points to additional tax credits from renewable generation and energy storage projects already in service or expected in service this year. Diluted earnings per share were $1.52 against $1.09. _(from the filing)_
Credits tied to new storage and renewables recur as long as such projects keep entering service, but the part the filing calls timing moves profit between quarters rather than adding to the year. Operating income, which grew more slowly, is the steadier measure of the quarter. _(analysis)_

### Wisconsin grew the sales, Iowa grew the profit

IPL brings in 51.7% of revenue but earned 63.1% of net income, lifted by tax credits rather than sales.

WPL revenue grew 10.2% to $595 million and IPL revenue 2.6% to $664 million, moving WPL's share of the total up 1.68 points to 46.3%. Net income moved the other way: IPL earned $251 million against $165 million a year earlier, WPL $156 million against $123 million. _(from the filing)_
IPL's net income equalled 37.8% of its revenue, against 26.2% at WPL. The filing ties IPL's result to additional tax credits from renewable generation and energy storage projects, while WPL's revenue gain came from higher revenue requirements and higher sales to commercial and industrial customers. Together the two utilities earned more than the $398 million consolidated total, because the parent and non-utility operations ran at a loss. _(from the filing)_
The two utilities play different roles in the same quarter. Wisconsin shows growth from rates and new demand; Iowa shows how tax credits from storage and wind can carry net income even when sales barely move. _(analysis)_

### Interest rose, yet the net financing cost fell

Venture fund gains and a construction credit absorbed most of the $145 million interest bill this quarter.

Interest expense rose 13.3% to $145 million from $128 million, which the filing ties to financings completed this year and last. Yet total other deductions, net of credits, fell to $58 million from $86 million. _(from the filing)_
Two credits did the work. Equity income from unconsolidated investments rose 150% to $45 million from $18 million, which the filing attributes to higher valuations in corporate venture funds, including an onsite power company that completed an initial public offering, recognized on a one-quarter lag. The allowance for funds used during construction rose 58.3% to $38 million from $24 million, on storage, gas generation and wind refurbishment work. _(from the filing)_
These credits behave differently. The construction allowance tracks the build program and is recovered later in rates, but it is not cash. The venture gain rests on a valuation and need not repeat. Interest, by contrast, is paid in cash and grows with every financing. _(analysis)_

## For members

Signed-in members read, on the page: the investor's and the founder's views of Alliant Energy (its fundamentals against its peers, where the profit is made, how the model works, where every $100 of revenue goes against the industry, the path to scale), its performance over time with every line as filed, and the edge and the risks. Membership is free.

## Member research

Signed-in members read, on the page: what Alliant Energy's numbers depend on from here, and the playbook behind each mechanism (what needs scale, what transfers, how to test it, the metric that would show it).

## Sources

- Alliant Energy 10-Q for the period to 2026-09-30: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/352541/000035254126000047/ (2026-10-30)

Methodology business-lens-1.0 · schema 1.2.0 · run business-lens-2026-11-03 · as of 2026-11-03