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Xcel Energy (XEL) Tops Q2 Earnings & Sales, Ups '18 View

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Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL - Free Report) recorded second-quarter 2018 operating earnings of 52 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 47 cents by 10.6%. Also, the bottom line was 15.6% higher than the year-ago quarter’s tally.

The year-over-year increase in earnings was driven by improvement in electric and natural gas margins, courtesy of comparatively favorable weather conditions. Sales growth also drove bottom-line performance.

Total Revenues

Xcel Energy’s second-quarter revenues of $2,658 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,655 million by a narrow margin. Revenues were 0.5% higher than the prior-year quarter’s $2,645 million.

Segment Results

Electric: Revenues inched up 0.4% to $2,348 million from $2,338 million in the last reported quarter.

Natural Gas: Quarterly revenues improved 0.7% to $292 million from a year ago.

Other: The segment recorded revenues of $18 million in the quarter, up 5.9% from the year-ago quarter.

Xcel Energy Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Quarterly Highlights

Total operating expenses fell 1.3% year over year to $2,208 million. Costs declined primarily due to lower cost of natural gas sold and transported expenses.

Operating income in the reported quarter was down 3.4% from the prior-year quarter to $450 million.

Looking Ahead

Xcel Energy raised 2018 earnings guidance. The company expects earnings per share in the range of $2.41-$2.51, compared with the previous range of $2.37-$2.47.

The company expects to deliver long-term earnings growth within 5-6% from the 2017 level of $2.30 per share.

Zacks Rank

Xcel Energy carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Other Utility Releases

DTE Energy (DTE - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2018 operating earnings per share of $1.36, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.11 by 22.5%.

American Electric Power (AEP - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2018 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.01, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 88 cents per share by 14.8%.

NextEra Energy (NEE - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2018 adjusted earnings of $2.11 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.07 by 1.93%.

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