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TOTO (TSE:5332) has been drawing attention after its recent share performance, with returns over the month and past 3 months outpacing its longer term 5 year record and prompting fresh interest in its plumbing fixtures business.
See our latest analysis for TOTO.
With the share price at ¥4,724 and a 30 day share price return of 11.60% feeding into a 7.71% year to date gain, recent momentum contrasts with a weaker 5 year total shareholder return of a 12.53% decline. This hints that sentiment around TOTO’s prospects has shifted more positively in the nearer term.
If this kind of renewed interest in established industrial names has your attention, it could be a good moment to see what else is moving through fast growing stocks with high insider ownership.
With the stock at ¥4,724, a value score of 1 and trading above an average analyst price target of ¥4,309, the key question is whether TOTO is still undervalued or if the market is already pricing in future growth.
TOTO is trading on a P/S of 1.1x, which sits above both its peer group and the broader Japan building industry despite the recent share price recovery.
The P/S ratio compares the company’s market value with its annual revenue, so it tells you how much investors are paying for each ¥ of sales in TOTO’s plumbing fixtures and related products business.
In TOTO’s case, the current 1.1x P/S is described as expensive compared to both the peer average of 1x and the Japan building industry average of 0.6x. At the same time, that 1.1x level is flagged as good value against an estimated fair P/S of 1.6x, a level the market could move toward if sentiment and fundamentals stay aligned.
Relative to the sector, the current P/S suggests investors are already paying a premium versus many building names, even though TOTO’s earnings profile has recently included a large one off loss and low return on equity.
Explore the SWS fair ratio for TOTO
Result: Price-to-Sales of 1.1x (ABOUT RIGHT)
However, you still need to weigh risks like TOTO’s recent large one off loss and low return on equity, which could potentially limit how much investors are willing to pay.
Find out about the key risks to this TOTO narrative.
While the 1.1x P/S ratio looks roughly in line with a fair ratio of 1.6x, our DCF model points in a different direction. On that basis, TOTO at ¥4,724 is described as trading above an estimated fair value of ¥3,460.5, which suggests less room for error if expectations slip.
Look into how the SWS DCF model arrives at its fair value.
5332 Discounted Cash Flow as at Jan 2026
Simply Wall St performs a discounted cash flow (DCF) on every stock in the world every day (check out TOTO for example). We show the entire calculation in full. You can track the result in your watchlist or portfolio and be alerted when this changes, or use our stock screener to discover 100+ undervalued stocks based on their cash flows. If you save a screener we even alert you when new companies match – so you never miss a potential opportunity.
If you see the story differently or prefer to lean on your own work, you can shape a fresh view in just a few minutes: Do it your way.
A great starting point for your TOTO research is our analysis highlighting 1 key reward and 3 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.
If TOTO has sharpened your focus, do not stop here. The Screener can quickly surface other angles that might suit your watchlist and research style.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Companies discussed in this article include 5332.T.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
Ji Seung-ryeol is being roasted online for his fashion
Ji Seung-ryeol, 41, prides himself on his sense of fashion.
He diligently shares mirror selfies on Instagram, where everyone knows the more likes you get, the cooler you are.
So he was bewildered to find out thatmen his age have become the subject of ridicule online, mocked for shoehorning their way into styles associated with Gen Z and younger millennials.
AI-generated caricatures of this demographic have gone viral on social media: a middle-aged man decked out in street wear and clutching an iPhone. The kids call them “Young 40s”.
The memes have made Ji’s beloved Nike Air Jordans and Stüssy T-shirts the butt of jokes—and the source of much indignation.
“I’m just buying and wearing things I’ve liked for a long time, now that I can afford them,” he tells the BBC. “Why is this something to be attacked for?”
The iPhone that started it all
Once celebrated as pioneers of taste in the 1990s, the tide of public opinion on 40-year-olds turned after the release of the iPhone 17 last September.
The smartphone, long considered the preserve of the youth, was suddenly recast as a tacky trademark of Young 40s. These are, in the words of Gen Z Jeong Ju-eun, people “trying too hard to look young”, who “refuse to accept that time has passed”.
The figures seem to reflect this shift. While the majority of young South Koreans still prefer the iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy, over the past year Apple’s market share fell by 4% among Gen Z consumers and rose 12% for people in their 40s, according to research by Gallup.
Something similar played out a few years back with Geriatric Millennials, born in the early ’80s, whose brand of humour—the crying-laughing emoji, finger moustaches and the word “adulting”—was derided as cringey.
Back then, debate over Geriatric Millennials sparked self-deprecating jokes, think pieces and quizzes dictating if you’re meant to pile on the ribbing or be subjected to it.
The same trends have taken hold in South Korea with Young 40s.
News1
The iPhone, long considered the preserve of young people, is now seen as a trademark of Young 40s
In Korea, age difference, even by a year, forms the basis of social hierarchy. Age is one of the first things strangers ask each other, setting the tone for future interactions: how they address one another, who gets to open the bottle of soju at parties (it’s usually the oldest person) and which way to tip your shot glass (the correct answer: away from your seniors).
But the Young 40 memes also represent Korean youth’s growing scepticism of this almost forced reverence for elders.
Just a few years ago, the term “kkondae” was another buzzword among young South Korean to describe an annoying breed of rigid, condescending elders.
Such friction has been exacerbated by social media, where “multiple generations mix within the same space”, says Lee Jae-in, a sociology professor at Korea University’s Sejong campus.
“The old pattern where different generations consumed separate cultural spaces has largely disappeared,” he adds.
A self-conscious sandwich generation
Popularised in marketing circles in the 2010s, the term “Young 40” originally referred to consumers with youthful sensibilities. They were health-conscious, active and comfortable with technology—an important target demographic for companies.
“In the past, people in their 40s were seen as already old,” says Kim Yong-Sup, a trend analyst widely credited with coining the term “Young 40”.
As the median age of South Korea’s society rose, however, these people were “no longer on the verge of old age but at the centre of society”, he says.
But the marketing term has since taken a viral, sardonic turn. Over the past year, “Young 40” was mentioned online more than 100,000 times – more than half the referenceswere used in a negative context, according to analytics platform SomeTrend. Many of them appeared alongside words like “old” and “disgusting”.
An offshoot of the meme is Sweet Young 40, a sarcastic label for middle-aged men who like to hit on young women.
Getty Images
Many South Korean youth face soaring house prices and cut-throat competition in the job market
Some see the jokes about Young 40s as a form of punching up: these are people at the peak of their careers, who amassed wealth in a time of economic stability and a property boom.
On the other side are Gen Z and young millennials, born a couple of decades later, who face soaring house prices and cut-throat competition in the job market. In their eyes, Young 40s represent “the generation that made it through just before the door of opportunity closed”, according to psychologist Oh Eun-kyung.
“They are seen not simply as individuals with personal tastes, but as symbols of privilege and power,” she says. “That’s why the energy of mockery is focused on them.”
But Ji, the 41-year-old fashion enthusiast who lived through the so-called golden era, tells a different version of that story.
As a young graduate entering the job market during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, he remembers submitting around 70 applications to land a job. His generation is one that “had very little to enjoy growing up, and only began to enjoy things later, as adults”, he says.
Instagram/@detailance
Ji says he feels “caught in between” two generations
Now at the workplace, he often finds himself sandwiched between two worlds. The generation above him ran a “strict, top-down system where you did what you were told”, while below him is “a generation that asks ‘why””.
“We’re a generation that has experienced both cultures. We feel caught in between.”
While the ability to straddle two generations was once a badge of honour, Ji says he has become self-conscious about interacting with younger colleagues for fear of being labelled a kkondae or Young 40.
“These days, I hardly organise drinking gatherings,” he says. “I try to keep conversations focused on work or career concerns, and only share personal stories when discussions naturally deepen.”
According to Kang, another fashionable 41-year-old, sitting at the heart of the Young 40 meme is a deeply human desire.
“As you get older, longing for youth becomes completely natural. Wanting to look young is something every generation shares.”
Buying shares in the best businesses can build meaningful wealth for you and your family. While the best companies are hard to find, but they can generate massive returns over long periods. Just think about the savvy investors who held Channel Infrastructure NZ Limited (NZSE:CHI) shares for the last five years, while they gained 453%. And this is just one example of the epic gains achieved by some long term investors. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 13% gain in the last three months.
So let’s investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business’ progress.
Trump has pledged to “unleash” American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit.
In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company’s share price and its earnings per share (EPS).
During the five years of share price growth, Channel Infrastructure NZ moved from a loss to profitability. Sometimes, the start of profitability is a major inflection point that can signal fast earnings growth to come, which in turn justifies very strong share price gains. Given that the company made a profit three years ago, but not five years ago, it is worth looking at the share price returns over the last three years, too. We can see that the Channel Infrastructure NZ share price is up 106% in the last three years. Meanwhile, EPS is up 77% per year. This EPS growth is higher than the 27% average annual increase in the share price over the same three years. So you might conclude the market is a little more cautious about the stock, these days.
You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).
NZSE:CHI Earnings Per Share Growth January 17th 2026
It is of course excellent to see how Channel Infrastructure NZ has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on how its financial position has changed over time.
As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for Channel Infrastructure NZ the TSR over the last 5 years was 602%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
It’s nice to see that Channel Infrastructure NZ shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 60% over the last year. And that does include the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 48%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks, for example – Channel Infrastructure NZ has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of undervalued companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on New Zealander exchanges.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content?Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Theft of signalling cables has caused “major disruption” on parts of the train network, National Rail said.
The cables were stolen at Napsbury, resulting in a fault with the signalling system at St Albans, Hertfordshire.
National Rail said East Midlands Railway services between Sheffield, Nottingham, Corby and London St Pancras were affected as well as Thameslink services between Bedford and East Croydon, and also between Luton and Rainham, in Kent.
A spokeswoman said work to replace the cables was taking place overnight and normal services were expected to resume at about 06:00 GMT on Sunday.
The company said the theft resulted in “major disruption” meaning that “trains running between Luton and London St Pancras International may be cancelled, severely delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised”.
On National Rail’s website, East Midlands Railway advised customers to expect delays as “trains are being manually sent through the affected area”.
Thameslink also told customers to expect lengthy delays and more frequent train change.
Alternative arrangements for travel have been posted on the National Rail site.
Make better investment decisions with Simply Wall St’s easy, visual tools that give you a competitive edge.
If you are wondering whether Hitachi’s current share price fairly reflects the business, this article walks through what the numbers are saying about its value.
Hitachi’s share price recently closed at ¥5,204, with returns of 1.3% over 7 days, 4.9% over 30 days, 2.7% year to date, 42.4% over 1 year, around 4x over 3 years and a very large gain over 5 years.
Recent coverage around Hitachi has focused on its position as a major capital goods player and ongoing interest from investors tracking large Japanese industrials, which has kept attention on the share price. This backdrop helps frame the recent returns and raises the question of how much of the story is already reflected in the current valuation.
On our checks, Hitachi scores 1 out of 6 on undervaluation tests, giving it a valuation score of 1/6. Next we will compare different valuation methods to see what they imply and then finish with a way to look at value that can help you go beyond any single metric.
Hitachi scores just 1/6 on our valuation checks. See what other red flags we found in the full valuation breakdown.
A Discounted Cash Flow model takes estimates of the cash a company may generate in the future and discounts those figures back to today to arrive at an estimate of what the business could be worth now.
For Hitachi, the model used is a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity approach based on cash flow projections. The latest twelve month free cash flow is ¥1.20b. Analyst and extrapolated projections suggest free cash flow of ¥631,110.29m in 2026 and ¥811,403.91m in 2035, with Simply Wall St extending forecasts beyond the years covered by analyst estimates.
When these projected cash flows are discounted, the result is an estimated intrinsic value of ¥3,591.03 per share. Compared with the recent share price of ¥5,204, the DCF output indicates the stock is around 44.9% above this modelled value. This suggests Hitachi is trading at a premium on this measure.
Result: OVERVALUED
Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Hitachi may be overvalued by 44.9%. Discover 863 undervalued stocks or create your own screener to find better value opportunities.
6501 Discounted Cash Flow as at Jan 2026
Head to the Valuation section of our Company Report for more details on how we arrive at this Fair Value for Hitachi.
For profitable companies, the P/E ratio is a straightforward way to link what you pay for a share to the earnings that each share generates. It lets you compare businesses of different sizes on a like for like basis.
What counts as a “normal” P/E depends on what investors expect for future growth and how much risk they see in those earnings. Higher expected growth and lower perceived risk usually support a higher P/E, while lower growth or higher risk tend to mean a lower P/E.
Hitachi is currently trading on a P/E of 29.52x. That sits above the Industrials sector average of 12.98x and also above the peer group average of 13.32x. To add more context, Simply Wall St calculates a proprietary “Fair Ratio” for Hitachi of 36.10x, which reflects factors such as earnings growth, industry, profit margins, market cap and risk profile.
This Fair Ratio aims to be more tailored than a simple comparison with peers or the sector, because it adjusts for company specific traits rather than assuming all firms should trade on the same multiple. Compared with this Fair Ratio, Hitachi’s current P/E of 29.52x is lower, which points to the shares being undervalued on this measure.
Result: UNDERVALUED
TSE:6501 P/E Ratio as at Jan 2026
P/E ratios tell one story, but what if the real opportunity lies elsewhere? Discover 1445 companies where insiders are betting big on explosive growth.
Earlier we mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation. Narratives on Simply Wall St’s Community page let you turn your view of Hitachi into a clear story that links its business drivers to a forecast for revenue, earnings and margins, then to a Fair Value you can compare with the current price. All of this is updated as new news or earnings arrive. One investor might back a higher fair value around ¥5,300 if they think government backed energy and AI infrastructure and digital services can support stronger margins, while another might anchor closer to ¥3,900 if they are more cautious about competition, costs and underperforming segments.
Do you think there’s more to the story for Hitachi? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!
TSE:6501 1-Year Stock Price Chart
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Companies discussed in this article include 6501.T.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
A pair of patients with Waldenstrom’s non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) remain in complete remission (CR) after 7 and 15 months following treatment with an off-the-shefl chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell therapy alongside rituximab, according to leaders from ImmunityBio, who on Friday shared an update from an ongoing trial.1
Durable CRs were seen in patients who had failed to response to current standard therapy. The treatment from ImmunityBio is the first chemotherapy-free, lymphodepletion-free CAR NK therapy to show 100% disease control in its first 4 patients, all of whom have been treated as outpatients, according to a statement from the company.1
The update for the QUILT-106 clinical study (NCT06334991), which is ongoing, offered details for ImmunityBIo’s allogeneic cell therapy engineered to express a CD19-specific CAR NK and a high-affinity CD16 (FcγRIIIa 158V) receptor. The dual anti-tumor design creates a more potent tumor-fighting effect when paired with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab, as is the case in QUILT-106.1
Rituximab targets CD20 on B cells,2 and the QUILT-106 is using the combination regiment to treat Waldenström NHL, a rare B-cell malignancy whose patients have significant unmet need. Patients with Waldenström non-Hodgkins lymphoma who relapse or become refractory to available targeted and antibody-based therapies have limited options.1
Patients received a total of 8 doses of cell therapy in the outpatient setting without lymphodepletion, which requires chemotherapy. Tumors were targeted with both CD19 and CD20 by infusing CD19 CAR NK cells with rituximab, 2 doses per cycle every 21 days for a total of 4 cycles (8 doses of NK-CAR and 6 doses of rituximab) and no further therapy thereafter. Responses were evaluated after 2 cycles.
The 2 patients in long-term follow-up remain in CR despite having no additional treatment, the company said in its statement.1
Both the speed to remission and treatment’s durability show the potential for long-term immune-mediated disease control without continuous therapy, officials said, underscoring the current trend toward time-limited regimens that spare patients toxicity and achieve savings for health systems.3
“This updated follow-up reinforces the central thesis that restoring and activating the immune system can deliver durable control of disease without chemotherapy or lymphodepletion,” Patrick Soon‑Shiong, MD, ImmunityBio’s founder, executive chairman, and global chief medical and scientific officer said in a statement. “Seeing complete responses persist beyond a year after treatment has stopped, in patients who had exhausted available options, represents a meaningful advance for patients with this rare disease of Waldenström lymphoma and validates CAR-NK as a potential next-generation immunotherapy platform.”1
In the 2 patients with evaluable follow up, 1 began with multiple lymphomatous bone lesions and 1 had with approximately 95% bone marrow infiltration by tumor cells. Both had complete responses after only 4 doses of CAR-NK plus rituximab.
Company officials said the patient with significant bone marrow involvement had complete bone morphological remission. In this patient, tumor cells had replaced 95% of the bone marrow, but after just 4 doses the patient achieved a CR that has now been maintained for 15 months, with no treatment beyond the scheduled 8 doses.
This approach “eliminates the need for cytotoxic conditioning for lymphodepletion or inpatient hospitalization, addressing key limitations associated with conventional CAR-T therapies,” ImmunityBio officials said in their statement.1
“These data highlight a favorable safety and efficacy profile that is particularly important for patients with indolent yet incurable lymphomas,” Lennie Sender, MD, ImmunityBio chief medical officer for liquid tumors and cell therapy, said in the statement.1So far, patients have not experienced any serious adverse events, Sender said.1
ImmunityBio plans a follow-up study is that will combine the CAR-NK therapy, rituximab, and the company’s nogapendekin alfa inbakicept treatment, an immunotherapy marketed as Anktiva. This triplet will be evaluated in indolent lymphoma, including Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.1 At present, nogapendekin alfa inbakicept is approved by FDA with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) to treat BCG-unresponsive nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), specifically with carcinoma in situ.4
References
ImmunityBio announces durable complete response of 15 months with a chemotherapy-free CD19 CAR-NK cell therapy in Waldenstrom lymphoma. News release. ImmunityBIo. January 16, 2026. Accessed January 17, 2026. https://ir.immunitybio.com/news-releases/news-release-details/immunitybio-announces-durable-complete-response-15-months
Maloney DG. Mechanism of action of rituximab. Anticancer Drugs. 2001;12(suppl 2:S1-4.
Caffrey M. Time-limited regimens gain notice, offering a break for patients with blood cancer and savings for payers. Am J Manag Care. 2026;32(Spec 1):SP12.
FDA approves nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. News release. April 22, 2024. Accessed January 17, 2026. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/fda-approves-nogapendekin-alfa-inbakicept-pmln-bcg-unresponsive-non-muscle-invasive-bladder-cancer
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Rolls-Royce is preparing to hand its chief executive a lucrative annual pay rise as part of a new remuneration policy following the company’s spectacular turnaround.
Under the revamped policy, Tufan Erginbilgiç’s annual bonus entitlement will increase from 200 per cent of his base salary of just over £1.1mn to 300 per cent. His long-term incentive awards will go from a maximum of 375 per cent of salary to 750 per cent.
As a result Erginbilgiç’s total package of salary, annual bonus and long-term incentive plan could top £13mn. In 2024, he took home £4.1mn in pay and bonuses.
The new policy, which will be presented to shareholders for approval at Rolls-Royce’s annual meeting in the spring, has the backing of the company’s top 20 investors, according to people familiar with the situation.
The consultation with shareholders was triggered in part by concerns over how to retain talent, one of the people said. They added that the aim was to bring Erginbilgiç’s remuneration more closely into line with those of executives at its aerospace and defence competitors. Sky News first reported the details of the proposal.
Since joining Rolls-Royce three years ago, Erginbilgiç has delivered a sweeping restructuring of the company whose engines power many of the world’s biggest airliners as well as submarines and military jets. Shares in the group have increased by more than 1,200 per cent since January 2023, taking its market value from just under £8bn to over £100bn.
The former oil executive is already in line for a share-based reward that could exceed £100mn.
Erginbilgiç received 8.3mn shares when he joined to compensate for lost earnings and bonuses from his previous employer, the private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners.
The shares, which vest in two tranches in 2027 and 2028, were granted in March 2023 at a price of 90.8p per share. Rolls-Royce shares closed at £12.80 on Friday, giving him a paper gain of just over £106mn. The potential payout would rank among the largest for a UK-listed company.
Although the shares will only vest if Erginbilgiç continues to work at Rolls-Royce, some analysts have questioned how long he will remain at the company after 2028.
Rolls-Royce said the “step-change” in the company’s performance “coupled with competitive pressures in the external environment for world-class talent” necessitated a review of the remuneration policy.
“This is a proactive measure initiated by the remuneration committee with the full support of the Rolls-Royce board,” it said.
Zattura Sims-El sorts through her utility bills in Baltimore, Maryland, on 13 January 2025.
Before she sat down to speak with the Guardian, Zattura Sims-El leaned over to plug a table lamp into the wall.
“I keep everything in this house unplugged when I’m not using it, because I heard that as long as it’s plugged into the wall, it’s costing you,” she said. “The only things I don’t unplug are my stove, my dishwasher, my refrigerator and my washing machine.”
The 76-year-old resident of Baltimore, Maryland, adopted the habit in an attempt to rein in her utility costs. Despite her efforts, her monthly gas and electricity bills last year always topped $500, and one month reached $975.
“It’s obscene,” said Sims-El, who has lived in her home for 46 years. “How is anyone supposed to keep up with this?
During his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly promised that, if elected, he would halve Americans’ energy bills within a year of returning to the White House. He has thoroughly failed to meet that pledge, a Guardian analysis has found.
“Trump is a liar, and that’s something I know from the bottom of my heart,” Sims-El said when asked about the president’s promise.
Zattura Sims-El’s energy bills have increased significantly over the last year, even as she has cut her electricity use.
The average US household paid nearly $116 more for electricity in 2025 than the year before, a 6.7% increase, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Gas prices rose as well, jumping 5.2% on average, federal data shows.
“If they keep rising, who is going to be able to pay their bills?” Sims-El asked. “Certainly not me, not anyone except the super-wealthy.”
Sacrifices
Sims-El said she has had to make lifestyle changes to cope with her energy costs. While she used to buy her groceries at a Giant supermarket nearby, she now drives to multiple stores each week to hunt for bargains – a process that can take hours.
Halfway across the country, Samantha Lott, a resident of Denton, Texas,has found herself tailoring her shopping habits to cope with rising energy costs, too. Last year, after Lott was diagnosed with endometriosis, her doctor suggested she adopt an anti-inflammatory diet. But the cost of energy has made it impossible to afford “anything but the basic groceries that I can find deals on”. And there’s an even more difficult sacrifice she now finds herself making: cutting back on medical appointments.
“It’s really hard, because I have to choose: do I go to the doctor this month and get the follow-up appointment I need, or do I pay for electricity?” she said. “The copay is $70 for an appointment, but I need that $70 to pay my bills.”
Liz Jacob, the lead staff attorney and energy insecurity coordinator at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit, Michigan, said she has seen many clients pushed to make those kinds of choices, “cutting back on food, toys, resources for their kids and everything they can”. With both gas and electricity prices so high, said Jacob, some are forced to choose between the two utilities.
The Curtis Bay neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland.
“Some folks make the choice to cut off their gas service and just keep electric in the winter, using space heaters to heat their rooms that they’re frequenting because they can’t afford to heat the whole house,” she said. “Other folks talk about cutting off their electric service and just going with gas because they need heat, though they then don’t have any access to light in their homes.”
Datacenters and gas exports
One driver of 2025’s soaring energy bills was the nationwide proliferation of datacenters for artificial intelligence. In October, PJM – the grid operator covering 13 mid-Atlantic and midwest states as well as the District of Columbia – called datacenters the “primary reason” for the increased price of power. In July, Trump rolled out a scheme to streamline permitting for datacenters, semiconductor manufacturing facilities and fossil fuel infrastructure.
“They’re going to strain the grid with these datacenters, which are massive developments,” said David Jones, a 45-year-old resident of south Baltimore. “Why should we have to take on the price of that?”
Jones, who lives in Baltimore’s industrial Curtis Bay neighborhood, said his monthly bills in 2025 were “at least $100” more than they were the previous year.
David Jones in his kitchen in Baltimore, Maryland, on 14 January 2026. Average US household electricity bills were 6.7% more expensive in 2025 compared with the previous year.
Amid growing outrage over steep power bills, the president last week announced that he is pressing tech companies to foot the bill for the rising costs associated with their datacenters.
“We are the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and Number One in AI,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Data Centers are key to that boom, and keeping Americans FREE and SECURE but, the big Technology Companies who build them must ‘pay their own way.’”
On Friday, Trump officials also met with current and former governors of east coast states to discuss the energy demands of the AI datacenter boom, then released a plan to urge PJM to make deals with technology companies to ensure that they foot the bill for upping the country’s power supply.
But Trump has not backed away from his unabashedly pro-fossil fuel agenda, which has also pushed up energy costs. His administration’s efforts to increase liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, for instance, cost US households a combined $12bn in the first nine months of 2025, according to a December report from the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen.
Jones cast his vote for Trump in the 2024 election because he felt the US needed a “businessman” in office, and because he could not bring himself to vote for Joe Biden. He still has a fondness for the president, he said. But he believes Trump has been too influenced by donors from big tech and the fossil fuel industry.
“His ‘drill, baby, drill’ agenda does a disservice to Americans,” he said. “I know he means well … but if I would have known about a lot of things that he’s done, as far as energy and things like that, I probably wouldn’t have voted for him.”
Reached for comment, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said federal officials “will continue to aggressively implement President Trump’s energy dominance agenda because cheaper energy can unleash unprecedented growth in every facet of our economy”.
“Blue states are stubbornly choosing Green Energy Scam policies that are making electricity bills unaffordable,” she said in an email. “Meanwhile, GOP-led states are successfully lowering energy costs for their residents by embracing President Trump’s commonsense ‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’ agenda.”
Aid cut
As the Trump administration has presided over rising electricity and gas costs, White House officials have also made it more difficult for Americans to access energy aid.
Last year, the administration eliminated tax credits for cost-cutting home energy-efficiency upgrades. It also attempted to eliminate the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps 6 million low-income Americans with their energy bills each year.
The program survived, but has been significantly hampered after the administration laid off the entire LIHEAP staff. The cuts and a record-breaking government shutdown caused unprecedented delays in getting energy assistance aid to low-income households.
“Detroit is not even taking aid applications right now because there’s so much backlog from that time,” said Jacob. “They have so many applications to process that they’re not taking new applications.”
Angie Shaneyfelt, a 52-year-old resident of Curtis Bay, Baltimore, has seen her bill shoot up rapidly this year, from less than $300 in December 2024 to $400 last month.
Angie Shaneyfelt, 52, outside her home in Baltimore, Maryland, on 13 January 2025.
Toward the end of last year, she applied for funding from a LIHEAP-funded Maryland program after receiving a gas and electric cutoff notice over a past-due balance. Her application was quickly denied.
“They said that because of the volume of applications – by the time they got to me the funds would be gone,” she said. “The only place I was able to find aid was from a church … and it wasn’t easy. Just finding aid that is available is a full-time job.”
Shaneyfelt averted the cutoff but is still struggling to keep up with her bills, especially because she lost her husband in February. She is considering taking up a second job, even signing up to deliver food with DoorDash last month.
“I’m not young, and I already work full-time, and I think working more would bust my body down,” she said. “But what am I going to do?”
More work hours would give Shaneyfelt even less time with her 13-year-old twin daughters, but with another gas and electric rate hike planned for next month, she may be forced to bring in more income.
“I’ve already slimmed back so much stuff,” she said. “And now I have to give up my time with my family?”
