IDACORP (IDA) Beats Q4 Earnings Estimates, Adds Customers

IDACORP, Inc. IDA reported fourth-quarter 2020 earnings of 74 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 70 cents by 5.7%. However, the bottom line decreased 20.4% year over year.

The year-over-year decline was due to lower net income at Idaho Power and IDACORP Financial Services.

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Highlights of the Release

Customer growth in the company’s service areas increased 2.7% year over year for the 12 months ended Dec 31, 2020, which in turn boosted operating income for the fourth quarter. Customer growth boosted operating income by $3.2 million for fourth-quarter 2020 from the year-ago level.

For the reported quarter, increased sales volumes on a per-customer basis led to an increase in operating income by $0.6 million from fourth-quarter 2019, primarily due to higher usage per residential customer, offset partially by decreased usage per commercial customer.

Other O&M expenses were up $3.6 million for the reported quarter from fourth-quarter 2019, partially due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including higher bad debt costs.

Guidance

IDACORP initiated its 2021 earnings guidance in the range of $4.60-$4.80 per share. The metric was $4.60 per share in 2020. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 earnings is currently pegged at $4.80 per share.

Idaho Power’s capital expenditure for 2021 is expected in the range of $320-$330 million.

Zacks Rank

Currently, IDACORP has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Releases

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) WEC reported fourth-quarter 2020 earnings per share of 76 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 74 cents by 2.7%.

Xcel Energy Inc (NASDAQ:XEL). XEL posted fourth-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 54 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) ES reported fourth-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 85 cents per share, which matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

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