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Xcel Energy Third Quarter Earnings Preview
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XEL
On Thursday, October 25, 2012, Xcel Energy (NYSE:XEL) will report its third quarter earnings.
Investors should care about a company's quarterly earnings because it shows the state of the business over the past 90 days and provides guidance for the following 90 days. SEE: Earnings: Quality Means Everything
What to Expect: Xcel is expected to report 72 cents per share, up 4.3% from a year ago when the company reported earnings of 69 cents per share.
Over the past three months, this has increased from 71 cents. Analysts are expecting earnings of $1.78 per share for the fiscal year.
Revenue is expected to exceed last year's figure of $2.83 billion by 7% and come in at $3.03 billion for the quarter. Xcel is expected to report revenue of $10.69 billion for the fiscal year.
Company Performance: The last four quarters have shown average revenue decline of 1.9%. The first quarter marked the biggest decline of 8.5% from the year-earlier quarter.
The past eight quarters have represented an increase in profit for the company; for the last four, it has seen an average of 4.2% growth in profit year-over-year.
XEL has a P/E ratio of 16.1, high compared to the industry average of 13.08. This could mean that the market is expecting big things over the next few months or years. The P/E ratio has been used for ages by analysts and still remains one of the most relevant pieces of stock valuation. A high or low P/E ratio is not good or bad in and of itself, but a company trading with a high P/E ratio must continue to post strong financial performance or its stock price is likely to fall. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Earnings Ratio
The stock price has fallen 2.4% to $28.04 from $28.72 since July 24, 2012. The price of Xcel's stock recently went on a hot streak as it rose 28 cents per share between August 23, 2012 and September 12, 2012. It finished at $27.93.
The Competition: Xcel Energy is a holding company that is engaged in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity and natural gas Most analysts (10 of 16) give Xcel a hold rating. This rating hasn't changed in three months.
The company's closest competitor in the electric utilities industry is Duke Energy (DUK). Analysts are more optimistic about Xcel than about Duke Energy. Only two out of 16 analysts rate the latter a buy compared to six of 16 for the former.
Investors should care about a company's quarterly earnings because it shows the state of the business over the past 90 days and provides guidance for the following 90 days. SEE: Earnings: Quality Means Everything
What to Expect: Xcel is expected to report 72 cents per share, up 4.3% from a year ago when the company reported earnings of 69 cents per share.
Over the past three months, this has increased from 71 cents. Analysts are expecting earnings of $1.78 per share for the fiscal year.
Revenue is expected to exceed last year's figure of $2.83 billion by 7% and come in at $3.03 billion for the quarter. Xcel is expected to report revenue of $10.69 billion for the fiscal year.
Company Performance: The last four quarters have shown average revenue decline of 1.9%. The first quarter marked the biggest decline of 8.5% from the year-earlier quarter.
XEL has a P/E ratio of 16.1, high compared to the industry average of 13.08. This could mean that the market is expecting big things over the next few months or years. The P/E ratio has been used for ages by analysts and still remains one of the most relevant pieces of stock valuation. A high or low P/E ratio is not good or bad in and of itself, but a company trading with a high P/E ratio must continue to post strong financial performance or its stock price is likely to fall. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Earnings Ratio
The stock price has fallen 2.4% to $28.04 from $28.72 since July 24, 2012. The price of Xcel's stock recently went on a hot streak as it rose 28 cents per share between August 23, 2012 and September 12, 2012. It finished at $27.93.
The Competition: Xcel Energy is a holding company that is engaged in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity and natural gas Most analysts (10 of 16) give Xcel a hold rating. This rating hasn't changed in three months.
The company's closest competitor in the electric utilities industry is Duke Energy (DUK). Analysts are more optimistic about Xcel than about Duke Energy. Only two out of 16 analysts rate the latter a buy compared to six of 16 for the former.
by
Investopedia Staff
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