Duke Energy (DUK) Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y
Duke Energy Corporation DUK reported third-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $1.94 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92 per share by 1%. The bottom line also increased 8.9% year over year.
Including one-time adjustments, the company reported a GAAP loss of $1.59 per share compared to the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $1.81 per share.
Total Revenues
Total operating revenues came in at $7,994 million, which improved 1.9% from $7,842 million in the year-ago period. The reported top line lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8111.2 million by 1.4%.
The Regulated electric unit’s operating revenues were $7,640 million (up 3.6% year over year), contributing 95.6% to the quarter’s total revenues. Revenues from the Regulated natural gas business totaled $284 million, down 28.5% year over year.
The Non-regulated Electric and Other segment generated revenues of $70 million, which decreased 2.8% year over year.
Duke Energy Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Duke Energy Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Duke Energy Corporation Quote
Highlights of the Release
Duke Energy’s total operating expenses amounted to $5,891 million in the reported quarter, up 1.7% year over year. The rise was largely driven by an increase in operation, maintenance and other expenses, depreciation and amortization expenses and a rise in property and other taxes and impairment of assets and other charges.
The operating income increased 2.7% to $2,111 million from $2,056 million recorded in the year-ago quarter.
Interest expenses rose to $774 million from $603 million recorded in the third quarter of 2022.
For the reported quarter, the average number of customers in its Electric Utilities increased 1.7% year over year. Total electric sales volumes for the reported quarter went down 0.9% year over year to 73,061 gigawatt-hours.
Segmental Highlights
Electric Utilities & Infrastructure: This segment’s adjusted earnings for the third quarter totaled $1,531 million, down from $1,540 million in the third quarter of 2022.
Gas Utilities & Infrastructure: Earnings generated from this segment totaled $15 million compared with $4 million in the year-ago period.
Other: The segment includes corporate interest expenses not allocated to other business units, resulting from Duke Energy’s captive insurance company and other investments.
This segment incurred an adjusted loss of $59 million compared with a loss of $183 million in the year-ago quarter.
Financial Condition
As of Sep 30, 2023, Duke Energy had cash & cash equivalents of $324 million, down from $409 million on Dec 31, 2022.
As of Sep 30, 2023, the long-term debt was $71.35 billion compared with $65.87 billion on Dec 31, 2022.
During the nine months ended Sep 30, 2023, the company generated net cash from operating activities of $7,309 million compared with $5,188 million in the same period last year.
Guidance
Duke Energy updated its 2023 adjusted EPS guidance. The company now expects to generate adjusted EPS in the range of $5.55-$5.65, down from the prior guidance in the band of $5.55-$5.75. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 earnings, pegged at $5.59 per share, is lower than the midpoint of the company’s projected range.
DUK now projects a long-term EPS growth expectation in the range of 5-7% through 2027.
Zacks Rank
Duke Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Recent Utility Releases
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NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE released third-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of 94 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 86 cents by 9.3%. The bottom line was also up 10.6% from the prior-year quarter. The year-over-year improvement was due to the solid performances of Florida Power & Light Company and NextEra Energy Resources.
For the third quarter, NextEra’s operating revenues were $7,172 million, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,453 million by 3.8%. However, the top line improved 6.7% year over year.
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