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


American Electric Power Co., Inc

.

AEP

reported first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share of $1.15, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.23 by 6.5%. However, the bottom line improved 12.7% from $1.02 per share in the year-ago quarter.

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

Total Revenues

American Electric’s first-quarter revenues of $4.3 billion exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.1 billion by 4.9%.

Moreover, the reported figure improved 16.2% from the year-ago quarter’s $3.7 billion.

Quarterly Highlights

Total expenses in the quarter were $1,910.1 million compared with $1,841.5 million a year ago.

Operating income was $804.6 million, up 5.5% from $763 million in the year-ago quarter.

Segmental Performance


Vertically Integrated Utility Operations

: Operating earnings in the quarter increased to $270.4 million from $247.2 million in the year-ago quarter.


Transmission & Distribution Utilities

: Operating earnings were $114.4 million, down from $117 million in the year-ago quarter.


AEP Transmission Holdco

: This segment generated operating earnings of $172 million, up from $140.6 million in the first quarter of 2020.


Generation and Marketing

: Operating earnings were $32.1 million, down from $34.7 million in the year-ago quarter.


Corporate & Other

: Operating losses were $18.4 million compared with operating losses of $35.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

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

Financial Update

As of Mar 31, 2021, American Electric had cash and cash equivalents of $273.2 million compared with $392.7 million as of Dec 31, 2020.

Long-term debt was $30.2 billion as of Mar 31, 2021, compared with $29 billion as of Dec 31, 2020.

Cash used in operations was $117.2 million during first-quarter 2021 compared with the cash flow of $615.7 million in first-quarter 2020.

2021 Guidance

American Electric reaffirmed 2021 operating earnings guidance in the range of $4.5-$4.75 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 earnings, pegged at $4.67 per share, lies above the midpoint of the guidance range.

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


.

A Recent Utility Release


NextEra Energy, Inc

.

NEE

reported first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of 67 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents by 11.7%.

Upcoming Releases


Xcel Energy


XEL

is scheduled to announce first-quarter 2021 results on Apr 29. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share is pegged at 61 cents.


Dominion Energy


D

is scheduled to announce first-quarter 2021 results on May 4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share is pegged at $1.08.

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