FirstEnergy Corporation FE is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2024 results on Feb. 26, after market close. The company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 6.6% in the last reported quarter.

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Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to be reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.

Factors That Might Have Impacted FE’s Q4 Performance

During the fourth quarter, FirstEnergy’s subsidiary Jersey Central Power & Light relocated and upgraded power lines in portions of Bernardsville, Somerset County, to enhance electric service for customers in Bernardsville and nearby towns.

In October 2024, FirstEnergy’s subsidiary FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company energized a new transformer at a substation in Bradford to enhance electric service reliability for more than 1,000 customers in Bradford and Bradford Township.

These initiatives are expected to have further enhanced service reliability and bolstered the company’s bottom line in the to-be-reported quarter.

In October 2024, FirstEnergy’s subsidiary Mon Power and Potomac Edison completed its second utility-scale solar site in West Virginia. Nearly 14,000 solar panels are now producing up to 5.5 megawatts of clean, renewable power at the Rivesville site in Marion County to help meet the state's electricity needs. This is likely to have had a positive impact on the quarterly earnings.

During the same month, American Transmission Systems, Inc. completed construction on a new operations service center in North Jackson, Mahoning County, to help streamline operations and maximize efficiencies along the local high-voltage power system. The goal was to enhance electric service reliability and minimize the impact of service disruptions for customers in the area.

However, higher other operating expenses might have offset some positives in the to-be-reported quarter.

FE’s Q4 Expectations

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 70 cents per share, indicating a year-over-year increase of 12.9%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pinned at $3.67 billion, implying a 16.7% improvement year over year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total electric distribution deliveries is pinned at 38,216.2 megawatt-hours, up 9.5% from the figure registered in the year-ago quarter.

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for FirstEnergy this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here as you will see below.
 

Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is -0.70%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Currently, FirstEnergy carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Recent Releases

Eversource Energy ES reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $1.01 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 99 cents by 2%.

ES’ long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 5.66%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $12.91 billion, implying a year-over-year increase of 8.5%.

DTE Energy Company DTE reported fourth-quarter 2024 operating earnings per share of $1.51, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46 by 3.4%.

DTE’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.57%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $12.98 billion, implying a year-over-year increase of 4.2%.

Exelon Corporation’s EXC fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of 64 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 59 cents by 8.5%.

EXC’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.71%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $23.8 billion, implying a year-over-year increase of 3.4%.

 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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