NextEra Energy (NEE) Q2 Earnings: What's In The Cards?

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) is scheduled to release second-quarter 2017 financial results before the opening bell on Jul 26. Last quarter, this utility company reported a positive earnings surprise of 12.18%. Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.

Factors to Consider

We expect the ongoing improvement in the economic conditions in service territories to continue to help the company in the second quarter.

NextEra Energy’s 126-mile natural gas pipeline began operations towards the end of the second quarter, creating another source of revenue for the company. Further, its expects to receive higher contribution from its interest in Desert Sunlight Solar Energy Center in the to-be-reported quarter.

NextEra Energy, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that NextEra Energy is likely to beat estimates this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. But that is not the case here, as you will see below. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks ESP: NextEra Energy has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% as both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at $1.74.

Zacks Rank: NextEra Energy carries a Zacks Rank #2, which when combined with a 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.

We caution against Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks to Consider

Instead, here are a few players in the utility sector that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) has an earnings ESP of +20.00% and a Zacks Rank #2. It is expected to report second-quarter 2017 earnings on Aug 8.

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) has an earnings ESP of +2.08% and a Zacks Rank #2. It is expected to report first-quarter 2017 earnings on Aug 3.

Pattern Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGI) is expected to report first-quarter 2017 earnings on Aug 4. It has an earnings ESP of +23.08% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >>