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Duke Energy (DUK) to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

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Duke Energy Corporation (DUK - Free Report) is set to report first-quarter 2021 results on May 10, before the opening bell. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 0.98%.

Moreover, the bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters and missed in one, the average earnings surprise being 0.88%.

Let’s see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement.

Factors to Consider

During the first quarter, the company’s service territories experienced mixed weather patterns. While in some parts, above-average temperature was recorded accompanied by extremely dry conditions, in other parts colder-than-normal temperature along with moderate rainfall was observed. So, overall weather pattern is expected to have had a neutral impact on the utility’s quarterly top-line performance.

Duke Energy Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Duke Energy Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Duke Energy Corporation price-eps-surprise | Duke Energy Corporation Quote

 

Moreover, customer growth and infrastructure investments across its franchises are expected to have boosted revenues in the first quarter. Further, in the Carolinas, the company had earlier announced its expectation of witnessing revised rate growth in its pending rate cases in 2021. This, along with new effective rates in Indiana and Kentucky are likely to have bolstered Duke Energy’s performance in the soon-to-be-reported quarter.

The  Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter revenues is pegged at $6.21 billion, indicating 4.4% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

On the cost front, Duke Energy’s impressive cost mitigation initiatives are expected to have positively impacted its first-quarter earnings. Also, its vibrant franchise service area growth and positive returns from investments in integrity management for gas LDC business is  expected to have contributed favorably to its bottom-line performance.

However, its service region experienced a few storms that might have pushed up its operating expenses to some extent, thereby partially offsetting the aforementioned factors..

Currently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s earnings is pegged at $1.24 per share, indicating  8.8% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Earnings Whispers

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

Earnings ESP: Duke Energy has an Earnings ESP of +0.16%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Recent Utility Releases

DTE Energy Company (DTE - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2021 operating earnings per share (EPS) of $2.44, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.16 by 13%.

American Electric Power Co., Inc. (AEP - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share of $1.15, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.23 by 6.5%.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of 67 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents by 11.7%.

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