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Pinnacle West (PNW) Beats on Q3 Earnings, Ups 2020 EPS View

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Pinnacle West Capital Corporation’s (PNW - Free Report) adjusted earnings per share of $3.07 in the third quarter of 2020 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.98 by 3%.

The bottom line also improved 10.8% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The result reflects the favorable impact of hotter-than-normal weather, which boosted demand.

Total Revenues

In the quarter under review, total revenues of $1.25 billion improved 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. However, the top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.26 billion by 0.8%.

Operational Highlights

In the third quarter, total operating expenses were $799.5 million, down 1.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Operating income improved 12.8% year over year to $455 million.

Interest expenses were $56.8 million, up 5.3% year over year.

Financial Highlights

Cash and cash equivalents worth $181.9 million as of Sep 30, 2020 were up from $10.3 million on Dec 31, 2019.

Total long-term debt was $6,316.4 million as of Sep 30, 2020, higher than $4,832.6 million at 2019 end.

Net cash flow provided by operating activities for the first nine months of 2020 was $772 million compared with $834.8 million in the comparable year-ago period. For the first nine months of 2020, capital expenditure of the company was $971.1 million compared with $857.9 million in the corresponding quarter of last year.

Guidance

Management lifted 2020 EPS to the range $4.95-$5.15 from the previous outlook of $4.75-$4.95. The upper end is the current Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The company expects annual retail customer growth of 1.5-2.5% over 2020-2022 time period.

Zacks Rank

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

Other Releases

CMS Energy Corporation (CMS - Free Report) reported third-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings per share of 77 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 68 cents by 13.2%.  

Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL - Free Report) posted third-quarter 2020 operating earnings of $1.14 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.08 by 5.6%.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE - Free Report) reported third-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $2.66 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.65 by 0.4%.

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