Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) ETR is set to release first-quarter 2021 results on Apr 28, before the opening bell. In the last-reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 4.41%.
Entergy beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 9.48%.
Factors to Consider
In the January-March 2021 quarter, the majority of territories served by Entergy witnessed average temperature trend. While at the onset of the first quarter, colder-than-normal temperature was observed, in the latter part of the quarter, warmer-than-normal temperature prevailed. So electricity usage is expected to have been moderate by the company’s customers, which must have favorably contributed to its first-quarter top line.
Moreover, positive effects of regulatory actions associated with the company’s customer-centric investments in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, are expected to drive its fourth-quarter results.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Entergy’s first-quarter revenues, pegged at $2.46 billion, indicates an improvement of 1.4% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
A series of storm activities including a few hailstorms and tornados affected Entergy’s service territories in the first quarter, which might have caused widespread damage to its poles and electricity infrastructure, thereby causing notable outages.
This may have pushed up operational expenses of this utility provider. However, this might have been more than offset by positive impacts of the company’s vigorous cost reduction activities.
Consequently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Entergy’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.19 per share, indicating an increase of 4.4% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Entergy 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’s not the case here.
Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: Entergy carries a Zacks Rank #3.
Stocks to Consider
Here are some players from the Utilities sector with the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the to-be-reported quarter.
CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) CNP has an Earnings ESP of +4.52% and a Zacks Rank #3.
Duke Energy Corp. DUK has an Earnings ESP of +0.16% and a Zacks Rank #3.
Xcel Energy Inc (NASDAQ:XEL). XEL has an Earnings ESP of +0.41% and a Zacks Rank #3.
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Entergy Corporation (ETR): Free Stock Analysis Report
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