Duke Energy is Set to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

Duke Energy Corporation DUK is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2024 results on Feb. 13, 2025 before market open.Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.This utility company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 6.36% in the last reported quarter. However, it delivered an average earnings surprise of 3.03% in the trailing four quarters.Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to affect the upcoming quarterly results.Factors to Consider Ahead of DUK’s ResultsMajority of DUK’s service territories witnessed warmer-than-normal temperature pattern during the fourth quarter. This is likely to have hurt electricity demand from its customers for heating purposes this winter, thereby adversely affecting the company’s top line performance.Nevertheless, strong customer growth in Carolinas and Florida, driven by increasing residential customers and data center demand, and solid retail sales growth, backed by economic development in the states where DUK serves, are likely to have added an impetus to its revenues.Some parts of its service areas witnessed severe gusts and rainfalls, which are likely to have caused outages for some of DUK’s customers and also damaged its infrastructure. This is likely to have pushed up the company’s operating expenses in the fourth quarter for repair and restoration of its damaged infrastructure, which, in turn, is expected to have hurt its bottom-line performance to some extent.However, higher sales volume, rate increases in the electric and gas segments and lower operating and maintenance (O&M) expenses, backed by the company’s cost agility initiative, are expected to have boosted its overall quarterly earnings.Duke Energy Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Duke Energy Corporation price-eps-surprise | Duke Energy Corporation QuoteDUK’s Q4 ExpectationsThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for DUK’s fourth-quarter revenues is $7.72 billion, which indicates year-over-year growth of 7.1%.The consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.61 per share, which indicates year-over-year growth of 6.6%.What Our Model Predicts for DUKOur proven model predicts an earnings beat for Duke Energy 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 the case here as seen below.Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is +1.97%. You can uncover the best stocks before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.Other Stocks to ConsiderInvestors can consider the following players from the same industry, which also have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their quarterly results.OGE Energy OGE is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter 2024 results on Feb. 19, before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.41% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pegged at $672.5 million, which indicates a 18.7% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The consensus estimate for earnings is pinned at 48 cents per share, which indicates year-over-year growth of 100%.Dominion Energy D is slated to release its fourth-quarter results on Feb.12. It has an Earnings ESP of +4.32% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pegged at $3.51 billion. The consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at 54 cents per share, which indicates year-over-year growth of 86.2%.CenterPoint Energy CNP is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 20. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.63% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is pegged at $2.28 billion, which indicates a 4.6% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The consensus estimate for earnings is pinned at 40 cents per share, which indicates year-over-year growth of 25%.Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2025Hurry – you can still get in early on our 10 top tickers for 2025. 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