Pinnacle West Capital Corporation PNW reported third-quarter 2024 earnings of $3.37 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.35 by 0.6%. However, the bottom line decreased 3.7% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $3.50.

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Total Revenues of PNW

Sales for the quarter totaled $1.77 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.68 billion by 5.2%. The top line also increased 7.9% from $1.64 billion recorded in the year-ago quarter.

PNW’s Operational Highlights

Total operating expenses were $1.22 billion, up 8.9% year over year. This was due to higher fuel and purchased power and increased operations and maintenance expenses.

Operating income totaled $547 million, up 5.9% from $516.3 million recorded in the year-ago quarter.

Total interest expenses were $109.9 million, up 13.4% from $96.9 million registered in the prior-year period.

PNW’s Financial Highlights

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $49.2 million as of Sept. 30, 2024, compared with $4.96 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.

Long-term debt-less current maturities amounted to $8.06 billion as of Sept. 30, 2024, compared with $7.54 billion as of Dec. 31, 2023.

Net cash flow provided by operating activities in the first nine months of 2024 totaled $1.17 billion compared with $0.83 billion recorded a year ago.

PNW’s Guidance

The company raised its 2024 consolidated earnings guidance to $5.00-$5.20 per share compared with the previous projection of $4.60-$4.80. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $4.90, lower than the company’s new guided range.

Pinnacle West plans to invest $9.65 billion in the 2024-2027 period to further strengthen its operations.

Management expects its retail customers to increase 1.5-2.5% in 2024 from the 2023 levels.

The company expects 2025 consolidated earnings to be in the range of $4.40-$4.60 per share on a weather-normalized basis.

PNW’s Zacks Rank

Pinnacle West currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Upcoming Releases

Evergy EVRG is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Nov. 7, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.95 per share, which suggests a year-over-year increase of 3.7%.

EVRG’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.85%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings is pinned at $3.84 per share, which implies a year-over-year improvement of 8.5%.

NRG Energy NRG is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Nov. 8, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $2.05 per share, which suggests a year-over-year increase of 26.5%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings is pinned at $6.29 per share, which implies a year-over-year improvement of 45.6%. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 7% in the past four quarters.

UGI Corporation UGI is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on Nov. 21, after market close. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at a loss of 30 cents per share.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pinned at $1.54 billion, which implies a year-over-year improvement of 9.9%. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 99.1% in the past four quarters.

 

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