Mizuho has increased its price objective on Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (NYSE: BEP) to $31.00 from $30.00, while leaving its recommendation unchanged at Neutral. At the time of the note, BEP units were trading around $29.83 and have returned approximately 44.69% over the past year, a level that InvestingPro data suggests may outpace the company's Fair Value.
The upgrade to the target reflects Mizuho's recognition of Brookfield's fourth-quarter operational performance. The bank highlighted fourth-quarter funds from operations (FFO) of $346 million, or $0.51 per unit, which represented a 13.8% year-over-year increase. Mizuho attributed that FFO growth to several operating drivers: continued development activity, accretive mergers and acquisitions, capital recycling efforts and long-term contracts that carry premium pricing.
Despite the improvement in FFO, external data from InvestingPro points to ongoing profitability and cash-flow pressures. InvestingPro shows the company was not profitable over the last twelve months, and net income is forecast to decline in the current year. In addition, Brookfield reported negative free cash flow as it aggressively invests in growth, a trend InvestingPro characterized as the firm "quickly burning through cash." Those liquidity dynamics are underscored by a current ratio of 0.54, which indicates short-term obligations exceed liquid assets.
Operationally, Brookfield continues to expand capacity at pace. The company deployed 8 GW of new capacity globally in 2025, about 20% more than the prior year, and management reiterated a target of reaching a 10 GW per year run-rate by 2027. The firm also has an 84 GW pipeline of projects in advanced stages, highlighting an ambitious development agenda that will require sustained capital deployment.
Mizuho noted investor focus on Brookfield's hyperscaler partnerships as a source of commercial momentum. That includes a 20-year agreement with Microsoft and a 3 GW hydro arrangement with Google. The bank also flagged the Westinghouse nuclear initiative, an approximately $80 billion partnership with the U.S. government aimed at delivering roughly 10 large-scale reactors by 2030, as a material area of interest for investors and stakeholders.
Revenue performance has been mixed. Brookfield recorded 9.04% revenue growth over the last twelve months, but analysts surveyed expect sales to decline in the current year. Bears have emphasized execution risks tied to the nuclear build-out, calling out potential timing delays, cost overruns and questions around how risk will be shared on those projects. Mizuho maintained its Neutral stance on BEP units, describing the risk-reward profile as balanced given the upside from development and contracted cash flows versus the execution and liquidity risks.
Income-oriented shareholders may find certain features of Brookfield appealing: InvestingPro reports a dividend yield near 5% and notes an 11-year streak of annual dividend increases. At the same time, the company's short-term balance-sheet pressure and negative free cash flow highlight trade-offs between growth ambitions and near-term financial flexibility.
In other recent corporate reporting, Brookfield Renewable Partners LP released quarterly results showing a notable revenue beat in its third quarter. The firm posted revenue of $1.6 billion, surpassing a consensus forecast of $913 million by roughly 75.25%. While the period produced an overall loss, reported earnings per share were $0.23, which was better than an anticipated loss of $0.31. Those figures underline robust top-line performance even as per-share profitability remains negative for the period in question. The results have drawn analyst attention, though no specific rating changes were cited alongside the release.
Overall, Mizuho's move to raise the price target to $31 while keeping a Neutral rating encapsulates the central tension in Brookfield's investment case: meaningful development and contract-driven growth on one hand, and execution, profitability and liquidity pressures on the other. Investors evaluating BEP will need to weigh the company's growth pipeline and partner commitments against near-term cash flow dynamics and the potential for project-level setbacks.