What's in the Cards for Xcel Energy (XEL) in Q4 Earnings?
Xcel Energy Inc. XEL is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2020 earnings on Jan 28, before market open. The company delivered an earnings surprise of 5.56% in the last reported quarter.
Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to get reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.
Factors at Play
With the revival of economic activities, demand from Xcel Energy’s Commercial and Industrial (C&I) group is gradually returning to the pre-pandemic levels. Also, improving demand from residential customers is likely to have continued in the December quarter. Further, the utility’s disciplined operational and maintenance expenses are likely to have supported its financials.
Additionally, the company is expected to have benefited from the ongoing increase in its electric and natural gas customer volume.
Q4 Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for final-quarter 2020 sales is pegged at $3.05 billion, indicating 9.03% growth from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. The consensus estimate for fourth-quarter earnings per share stands at 55 cents, which marks a 1.79% fall from the year-earlier quarter’s reported number.
Xcel Energy Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Xcel Energy Inc. price-eps-surprise | Xcel Energy Inc. Quote
What Our Quantitative Model Predicts
Our proven model doesn’t predict an earnings beat for Xcel Energy this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here as you will see below. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Earnings ESP: Xcel Energy has an Earnings ESP of +1.82%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: Currently, Xcel Energy carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Stocks to Consider
Here are some companies worth considering from the same industry, which according to our model, have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in the upcoming releases.
NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE is set to release fourth-quarter 2020 results on Jan 26. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.64% and a Zacks Rank #3.
CMS Energy CMS is set to release fourth-quarter 2020 results on Feb 4. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.82% and is Zacks #3 Ranked, presently.
PG&E Corporation PCG is set to release fourth-quarter 2020 results on Feb 25. It has an Earnings ESP of +10.53% and a Zacks Rank of 3.
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CMS Energy Corporation (CMS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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