Duke Energy (DUK) to Post Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

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Duke Energy Corporation (DUK - Free Report) is slated to report fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results on Feb 9, before the opening bell.

In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 2.73%. Moreover, Duke Energy has a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 0.52%, on average.

Factors to Note

In the fourth quarter, the majority of DUK’s service territories experienced more or less moderate temperature. This must have boosted electricity demand among the company’s customers for cooling purposes, which in turn, is likely to have bolstered its fourth-quarter top line.

Customer growth, coupled with positive rate case outcomes, particularly in Florida, must have also favorably impacted Duke Energy’s fourth-quarter revenues. However, hurricane Ian, along with a few tornedos, resulted in major flooding, causing outages in parts of the company’s service territories, which might have had impacted overall Q4 revenues.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter revenues is pegged at $6.62 billion, implying growth of 6.2% from the year-ago quarter.

The impacts of hurricane Ian and tornadoes might have damaged Duke Energy’s infrastructure during the fourth quarter, thereby increasing its operating expenses. This, in turn, must have dragged down the company’s Q4 earnings.

Nevertheless, strong electricity sales volume, along with solid load growth, can be expected to have bolstered the company’s bottom line in the fourth quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.07 per share, indicating an increase of 13.8% from the prior-year reported figure.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for Duke Energy this time. 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.

The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.72% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are three other Utility players you may want to consider as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this season:

Dominion Energy (D - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.32% and a Zacks Rank #3.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Dominion Energy boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 5.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dominion Energy’s fourth-quarter sales and earnings is pegged at $4.20 billion and $1.03 per share, respectively.

American Electric Power (AEP - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.91% and a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its fourth-quarter earnings, pegged at $1.02 per share, implies an improvement of 4.1% from the prior-year quarter’s tally.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEP’s fourth-quarter sales is pegged at $4.24 billion. AEP has a four-quarter earnings surprise of 2.91%.

Consolidated Edison (ED - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +2.86% and a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 79 cents per share, indicating a decline of 21% from the prior-year reported figure.

Consolidated Edison boasts a four-quarter earnings surprise of 9.06%, on average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ED’s fourth-quarter sales is pegged at $3.53 billion, indicating growth of 3.4% from the prior-year reported figure.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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