New York, Jan 9, 2026, 12:37 EST — Regular session
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc shares were up about 9% at $14.91 in midday New York trading on Friday, after touching $15.04 earlier in the session. The stock opened at $13.66 and has traded nearly 3.0 million shares so far, market data showed.
The Honolulu-based utility parent has been a legal headline stock since the 2023 Maui wildfires, and traders still price the equity around how big the liability bill could be and how long it takes to pin it down. A clearer path to settlements can shrink the range of outcomes — and the stock tends to react fast.
Friday’s move comes as fresh paperwork and court-related developments keep the wildfire overhang in view. That backdrop has pulled in both long-only buyers and short-term traders, especially when the stock pushes into round-number territory.
Hawaiʻi Public Radio reported on Thursday that Hawaiian Electric Industries agreed to pay shareholders $47.75 million to settle claims that executives made misleading statements about the company’s wildfire mitigation efforts before the August 2023 fires. The report said the deal is preliminary and still needs a judge’s approval, and it is separate from a roughly $4 billion agreement to compensate Maui wildfire victims. (Hawaiipublicradio)
A separate regulatory filing also drew attention. BlackRock disclosed in a Schedule 13G — the form used for passive stakes of more than 5% — that it beneficially owned about 27.8 million Hawaiian Electric shares, or 16.1% of the class, as of Dec. 31, 2025; the filing was dated Jan. 8. (SEC)
Hawaiian Electric’s gain outpaced the broader market and most utilities. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF was up about 0.7% and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF gained about 1.6%, while wildfire-exposed peers PG&E and Edison International were up roughly 1.4% and 2.2%, respectively.
But the legal calendar is messy and outcomes can slip. Approvals, objections and appeals can all stretch timelines, and the company still has to balance settlement funding with wildfire-hardening spending and day-to-day utility demands.
The next date traders are circling is Jan. 27, when Hawai‘i’s Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in Nova Burnes, et al. v. Hawaiian Electric and others, a case tied to insurers’ bid to intervene in the class settlement process. (Hi)
