What To Expect From Pinnacle West (PNW) In Q1 Earnings?

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW) is scheduled to release first-quarter 2018 results on May 2, before the market opens. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 90.00%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up before the upcoming announcement.

Factors to Consider

Pinnacle West will gain from the improving economic conditions in its service territories. The solid job growth rate in the Metro Phoenix area and increase in customer volume are likely to boost results of Pinnacle West in the quarter to be reported.

Cost-management initiatives are likely to act as a tailwind for the company. In addition, Pinnacle West is expected to benefit from its programs and services, aimed to enhance reliability of services and improve experience of customers.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2018 earnings per share is pegged at 43 cents, reflecting a decline of 52.4% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not show that Pinnacle West is likely to beat estimates this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. But this is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is -16.66%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate is 13 cents, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 15 cents.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Pinnacle West has a Zacks Rank #3.

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

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few players from the industry that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the upcoming quarterly release.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) is expected to release first-quarter 2018 results on May 10. The company has an Earnings ESP of +2.82% and a Zacks Rank #3.

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA) is expected to release first-quarter 2018 results on May 3. The company has an Earnings ESP of +3.55% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) is expected to release first-quarter 2018 results on May 1. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.58% and a Zacks Rank #2.

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