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CenterPoint Energy to Post Q3 Earnings: What's in Store for the Stock?

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CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP - Free Report) is slated to report third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 28 before the opening bell.

See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.

In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 9.09%. CenterPoint Energy holds a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 6.26%.  

Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to be reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.

Factors to Note Ahead of CNP’s Q3 Earnings
 

The majority of the company’s service territories experienced warmer-than-normal temperature patterns for most of the third quarter. Such a weather pattern is expected to have boosted electricity demand from CNP’s customers for cooling purposes this summer. This must have contributed to CenterPoint Energy’s third-quarter revenues.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. price-eps-surprise | CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Quote

Adverse weather patterns, including heavy rainfall, flooding and a few tornadoes, along with Hurricane Beryl, affected some parts of CNP’s service territories during the third quarter. This might have disrupted the company’s services in those areas, which is likely to have resulted in outages for its customers. CNP’s overall revenues might have been partly impacted due to these outages.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CenterPoint Energy’s third-quarter revenues is pegged at $1.93 billion, which indicates a 4% rise from the prior-year quarter’s recorded figure.

The severe weather conditions mentioned above may have damaged some of the company’s properties, increasing its quarterly restoration costs. This is likely to have hurt CNP’s third-quarter earnings. Moreover, higher interest expenses may have an adverse impact on the company’s bottom-line performance.

Nevertheless, profitable returns from its earlier investments, solid top-line expectations as well as the company’s initiatives to reduce Operations and Maintenance (O&M) costs may have boosted CenterPoint Energy’s overall earnings. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earnings is pegged at 45 cents per share, which implies a 12.5% improvement from the prior-year quarter’s level.

What the Zacks Model Unveils for CNP
 

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for CenterPoint Energy this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here, as you will see below.

CNP’s Earnings ESP: CNP has an Earnings ESP of +5.62%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

CNP’s Zacks Rank: Currently, CenterPoint Energy carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Stocks to Consider
 

Below, we have mentioned the following players from the same industry that have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in the upcoming releases.

IDACORP, Inc. (IDA - Free Report) is slated to report its third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 31 before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.57% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IDA’s third-quarter earnings stands at $2.19 per share, which implies a 5.8% increase from that reported in the prior-year quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IDACORP’s third-quarter sales is pegged at $527.9 million, which indicates a 3.3% jump from that reported in the prior-year quarter.

The Southern Company (SO - Free Report) is slated to report its third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 31 before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.95% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SO’s third-quarter earnings stands at $1.32 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter sales is pegged at $7.14 billion, which implies a 2.3% increase from that reported in the prior-year quarter.

Eversource Energy (ES - Free Report) is expected to report its third-quarter 2024 results on Nov. 5 before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +3.95% and carries a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ES’ third-quarter earnings stands at 96 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter sales is pegged at $3.01 billion, which implies a 7.8% rise from that reported in the prior-year quarter.

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