American Electric (AEP) Q1 Earnings Miss, Revenues Fall Y/Y

American Electric Power Co., Inc. AEP reported first-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings per share of $1.02, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.09 by 6.4%. The bottom declined 14.3% from $1.19 in the year-ago quarter.

The company reported GAAP earnings of $1 per share compared with the year-ago quarter’s $1.16.

The year-over-year downside can be attributed to COVID-19 pandemic related expenses.

Total Revenues

American Electric’s first-quarter revenues of $3.7 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.3 billion by 14%. The reported figure declined 9.8% from the year-ago quarter’s $4.1 billion.

American Electric Power Company, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

American Electric Power Company, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

American Electric Power Company, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | American Electric Power Company, Inc. Quote

Quarterly Highlights

Total expenses in the quarter were $1,841.5 million compared with $1,844.3 million a year ago.

Operating income was $751.6 million, down 6.5% from $804.2 million in the year-ago quarter.

Segmental Performance

Vertically Integrated Utility Operations: Operating earnings in the quarter decreased to $247.2 million from $310.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Transmission & Distribution Utilities: Operating earnings were $117 million, down from $156.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

AEP Transmission Holdco: This segment generated operating earnings of $140.6 million, up from $124.2 million in the first quarter of 2019.

Generation and Marketing: Operating earnings were $34.7 million, down from $43.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Corporate & Other: Operating losses were $35.3 million compared with operating loss of $49.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Financial Update

As of Mar 31, 2020, American Electric had cash and cash equivalents of $1,554.6 million compared with $246.8 million as of Dec 31, 2019.

Long-term debt was $25.78 billion as of Mar 31, 2020, compared with $25.13 billion as of Dec 31, 2019.

Cash flow from operations was $615.7million during first-quarter 2020 compared with $808.3 million in first-quarter 2019.

2020 Guidance

American Electric reaffirmed 2020 operating earnings guidance in the range of $4.25-$4.45 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings, pegged at $4.28, lies below the mid-point of the guidance.

Zacks Rank

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

Recent Utility Releases

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. PEG reported first-quarter 2020 adjusted operating earnings of $1.03 per share, which came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

FirstEnergy Corporation FE delivered first-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 66 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 64 cents by 3.13%.

NextEra Energy NEE reported first-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $2.38 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.21 by 7.7%.

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