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Pinnacle West Capital to Release Q2 Earnings: What to Expect?

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Key Takeaways

  • PNW's Q2 earnings likely benefited from increased electricity demand from data centers.
  • Lower core O&M costs and higher transmission revenues may have supported PNW's performance.
  • Higher depreciation, amortization, and property taxes may have offset some of PNW's Q2 gains.

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (PNW - Free Report) is scheduled to release second-quarter 2025 results on Aug. 6, before market open. The company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 180% in the last reported quarter. 

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

Key Factors That Might Have Impacted PNW's Q2 Performance

Pinnacle West Capital’s second-quarter earnings are expected to have continued to benefit from retail customer growth and an increase in retail electricity sales. This growth is expected to have been driven by increased electricity demand from new large manufacturing facilities and several large data centers. 

The bottom line is also expected to have gained from lower core operations & maintenance expenses. 
Arizona Public Service’s (“APS”) Energy Management System is expected to have continued to provide a better foundation, thereby improving the integration of renewable and energy storage assets into APS’ generation resource portfolio. This is likely to have had a positive impact on the company’s quarterly performance. 

However, higher depreciation, amortization and property taxes must have offset some positives in the to-be-reported quarter.  

Q2 Expectations for PNW

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.58 per share, indicating a year-over-year decrease of 10.2%. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pinned at $1.27 billion, implying a year-over-year deterioration of 3%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total electric sales is pinned at 9,757.73 gigawatt-hour, down 1.7% from the year-ago quarter’s registered figure. 

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for Pinnacle West Capital this time around. 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.  
 

Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Currently, Pinnacle West Capital carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors may also consider the following players from the same industry, as these too have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this reporting cycle.

IDACORP (IDA - Free Report) is likely to come up with an earnings beat when it reports second-quarter results on July 31. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.56% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

IDA’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 8.13%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pinned at $1.76 per share, which implies a year-over-year increase of 2.9%. 

Xcel Energy (XEL - Free Report) is likely to come up with an earnings beat when it reports second-quarter results on July 31. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.53% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.

XEL’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.79%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pinned at 63 cents per share, which implies a year-over-year increase of 16.7%. 

NRG Energy (NRG - Free Report) is likely to come up with an earnings beat when it reports second-quarter results on Aug. 6. It has an Earnings ESP of +16.95% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.

NRG’s long-term earnings growth rate is 15.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pinned at $1.18 per share, which implies a year-over-year decrease of 20.3%. 
 

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