Back to top

Image: Bigstock

What's in Store for Edison International (EIX) Q4 Earnings?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Edison International (EIX - Free Report) is set to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 results on Feb 27, after market closes.

In the last reported quarter, the company witnessed a negative earnings surprise of 2.61%. However, it surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate on one occasion and missed in the other three, the average positive beat being 0.09%.

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

Factors at Play

During the first half of the fourth quarter, major parts of the company’s service territories experienced above-average temperatures, significantly highlighted by warm weather conditions. In the second half of this period, above-average precipitation levels were witnessed. Such warm conditions might have spurred electricity demand by the utility’s customers in the region. This, in turn, is expected to have aided Edison International’s fourth-quarter performance.

In line with this, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its quarterly revenues of $3,064 million suggests an increase of 1.8% on a year-over-year basis.

However, during October, parts of California were hit by several large and fatal wildfires, which remained active till the beginning of November. These wildfires caused outages, which, in turn, might have pushed up Edison International’s quarterly expenses for restoring smooth electricity flow. The upcoming results are projected to duly reflect the impact of these costs.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings per share is currently pegged at $1.06, reflecting an improvement of 12.8% compared with the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Edison International 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. But this is not the case here.

Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is -2.83%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Edison International carries a Zacks Rank of 3, currently. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some players from the Utilities sector that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the to-be-reported quarter.

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PEG - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.21% and carries a Zacks Rank of 3, currently. The company will announce fourth-quarter 2019 earnings on Feb 26.

CenterPoint Energy (CNP - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +6.56% and holds a Zacks Rank #3, at present. The company will report quarterly numbers on Feb 27.

The AES Corp (AES - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +3.82% and currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. The company will release fourth-quarter 2019 results on Feb 28.

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>

Published in