Edison International (EIX) Q4 Earnings: A Beat In The Cards?

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2017 earnings results on Feb 22, after the closing bell.

Last quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 7.52%. It has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 9.08%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up at the company prior to this announcement.

Why a Likely Positive Surprise?

Our proven model shows that Edison International is likely to beat earnings this quarter. Notably, a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. Edison International possesses both these attributes, as mentioned below:

Zacks ESP: The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.44%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: It currently carries a Zacks Rank #3, which along with a positive Earnings ESP increases the chance of surprise prediction.

Meanwhile, 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.

Factors at Play

Multiple wind-driven wildfires that ravaged through parts of California in December 2017, affected customers and electric service across the service territory of Southern California Edison, a subsidiary of Edison International. This in turn is likely to have an adverse impact on the fourth-quarter results.

In line with this, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Edison International’s fourth-quarter earnings reflects 7.9% decline year over year, on 0.2% lower revenues worth $2.88 billion.

On a bright note, the company hiked quarterly dividend rate by 11.5%, for shareholders of record at the close of business on Dec 29, 2017. This represents the strong cash generation capacity that Edison International boasts. We anticipate its soon-to-be-reported quarter’s result to duly reflect the company’s efficiency in terms of reporting a stable cash inflow through operating activities.

Other Stocks that Warrant a Look

Here are a few other utility stocks which have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) will report fourth-quarter results on Feb 23. The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.92% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW) will report fourth-quarter results on Feb 23. The company has an Earnings ESP of +12.20% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) will report fourth-quarter results on Feb 22. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.66% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Can Hackers Put Money INTO Your Portfolio?

Earlier this month, credit bureau Equifax (NYSE:EFX) announced a massive data breach affecting 2 out of every 3 Americans. The cybersecurity industry is expanding quickly in response to this and similar events. But some stocks are better investments than others.

Zacks has just released Cybersecurity! An Investor’s Guide to help Zacks.com readers make the most of the $170 billion per year investment opportunity created by hackers and other threats. It reveals 4 stocks worth looking into right away.

Download the new report now>>