FirstEnergy (FE) To Report Q3 Earnings: What's In Store?

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) is scheduled to release third-quarter 2019 earnings soon.

Notably, the company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 4.24% in the last four quarters.

Factors to Consider

During the quarter under review, the company’s unit — Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) — installed automated reclosing devices on power lines across its service territory, which help reduce duration of power outages, increase resilience of systems and boost earnings.

This along with FirstEnergy’s Energizing the Future plan, which has reduced transmission outages caused by equipment failures as well as improved reliability, resiliency and security, is likely to have positively impacted the company’s performance in the third quarter.

Q3 Expectations

The company expects third-quarter earnings in the lower end of its guidance of 68-80 cents per share, which includes distribution modernization rider (DMR) benefits of 6 cents.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earnings per share is pegged at 74 cents per share, which is within the guidance. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2019 sales is pegged at $2.87 billion, which indicates a decline of 6.18% from the year-ago quarter’s figure.

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model doesn’t conclusively 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. 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: 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: Currently, FirstEnergy carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks to Consider

Investors can consider the following players from the same industry that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the to-be-reported quarter.

American Electric Power Company (NYSE:AEP) is slated to release third-quarter 2019 results on Oct 24. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.68% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) is set to release third-quarter 2019 numbers on Oct 30. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.04% and carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Vistra Energy Corporation (NYSE:VST) is scheduled to release third-quarter 2019 results on Nov 5. It has an Earnings ESP of +6.55% and a Zacks Rank #2.

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