AES Corp.'s Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Decline Y/Y

The AES Corporation’s AES first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 27 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 37 cents by 27%. The bottom line also declined 46% from 50 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

The decline in adjusted earnings was mainly due to lower realized tax attributes due to the timing of tax attribute recognition, along with decreased contributions from the Energy Infrastructure SBU.

The company generated GAAP earnings of seven cents per share compared with 60 cents in the first quarter of 2024.

The year-over-year decline was due to decreased contributions from the Energy Infrastructure SBU, lower realized tax attributes, a gain in the prior year on dilution of the company's interest in Uplight and one-time costs due to an organizational restructuring.

AES’ Total Revenues

The company’s total revenues amounted to $2.93 billion, down 5.3% year over year due to lower non-regulated revenues. The figure also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.20 billion by 8.7%.

The AES Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

The AES Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | The AES Corporation Quote

Highlights of AES’ Release

The total cost of sales in the first quarter was $2.49 billion, up 0.8% year over year.

The operating income totaled $441 million, down 28.8% from $619 million in the year-ago period.

Interest expenses amounted to $342 million, down 4.2% from $357 million in the prior-year quarter.

During the first quarter of 2025, the company signed 443 megawatts (MW) of new long-term power-purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar and energy storage. This brought AES’ total backlog to 11.7 gigawatts (GW) signed long-term PPAs, including 5.3 GW under construction.

AES’ Financial Condition

AES had cash and cash equivalents of $1.75 billion as of March 31, 2025, compared with $1.52 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Non-recourse debt totaled $21.61 billion as of the same date, up from $20.63 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The net cash flow from operating activities amounted to $545 million during the first three months of 2025 compared with $287 million in the first three months of 2024.

Total capital expenditure was $1.25 billion during the first quarter, down from $2.15 billion recorded a year ago.

AES’ 2025 Guidance

AES reaffirmed its 2025 earnings guidance.

It still expects to generate adjusted earnings in the range of $2.10-$2.26 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $2.16 per share, which lies below the midpoint of the company’s guided range.

The company reaffirmed its average annual earnings growth target to be in the band of 7-9% through 2027.

AES’ Zacks Rank

AES currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Utility Releases

NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 99 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 97 cents by 2.1%. The company reported operating revenues of $6.24 billion, which lagged the consensus estimate of $7.34 billion by 14.9%.

FirstEnergy FE reported first-quarter 2025 operating earnings of 67 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents by 11.7%. The company reported operating revenues of $3.77 billion, which surpassed the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion by 3.2%.

CMS Energy Corporation CMS reported first-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.02 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.05 by 2.9%. The company reported operating revenues of $2.45 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion by 8.9%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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