Adjusted EPS matched expectations; full-year outlook stayed unchanged.

The quarter met, rather than exceeded, the published earnings bar. Consolidated adjusted EPS was $0.16, matching a published consensus of about $0.16. That makes the result neutral on the core headline despite management’s positive operational framing.

The year-over-year quarterly decline is real even after adjustments. Adjusted EPS fell about 27% from last year’s $0.22, while GAAP EPS fell more sharply to $0.09. The reconciliation removes $0.07 per share of items, including favorable weather and costs tied to the April NIPSCO lockout and the Value Captured initiative; those adjustments explain part of the GAAP gap but do not change the lower adjusted result versus last year (Schedule 1 — Adjusted EPS reconciliation).

Keeping guidance intact supports the full-year plan, but offers no new upside. First-half adjusted EPS of $1.22 is ahead of the comparable prior-year period, and management maintained its $2.02–$2.07 full-year range and 9%–10% long-term adjusted-EPS growth target. Yet that guidance was already in place, so the filing confirms execution rather than raising the market’s earnings outlook (2026 Outlook).

Data-center progress is strategically supportive but still mostly a future-growth item. NiSource said special contracts with Amazon and Alphabet received regulatory approvals and reiterated a $28.6 billion 2026–2030 capital plan, including $7.6 billion for data-center infrastructure. The filing provides no incremental near-term earnings contribution or higher 2026 guidance from those approvals, so this strengthens the existing growth narrative without changing this quarter’s earnings conclusion (2026 Outlook; CEO Commentary).