What's In The Cards For Xcel Energy (XEL) In Q3 Earnings?

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) is scheduled to release third-quarter 2019 earnings on Oct 24, before the market opens.

Notably, the company delivered an average negative earnings surprise of 3.81% in the last four quarters.

Factors to Consider

Xcel Energy’s third-quarter earnings are likely to have benefited from the completion of the Texas-based 478-megawatt Hale Wind farm in June 2019.

In the second-quarter earnings call, the company announced that it will see a drop in operating costs due to lower plant outage in nuclear operation in the second half of 2019. Considering this, the company’s third-quarter results might reflect lower O&M expenses.

We believe weather-normalized retail electric and retail firm natural gas sales have made a positive impact on the company’s third-quarter earnings. However, higher interest expenses are likely to have had an adverse effect.

Q3 Expectations

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2019 sales is pegged at $3.21 billion, which indicates an improvement of 5.39% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earnings per share is pegged at $1.05 per share, which calls for year-over-year growth of 9.38%.

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Xcel Energy this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances 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, Xcel Energy 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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