American Electric Power to Post Q1 Earnings: What's in Store?

American Electric Power Company, Inc. AEP is slated to release first-quarter 2025 results on May 6, before market open.

In the last reported quarter, the company’s earnings per share came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Moreover, American Electric has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 0.81%. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to be reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.

Factors to Note Ahead of AEP’s Q1 Earnings

Most of AEP’s service territories observed mixed weather patterns during the January-March 2025 quarter. While some of its territories observed a below-normal temperature pattern accompanied by moderate snowfall, above-normal temperatures prevailed in other parts. The below-normal weather pattern is likely to have boosted electricity demand from AEP’s customers for heating purposes this winter. Meanwhile, the above-average temperature pattern is likely to have hampered the same. Such mixed weather patterns are likely to have a moderate impact on AEP’s overall top line.

American Electric Power Company, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

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

Factors like favorable rate revisions, solid transmission revenues, data center demand, as well as higher normalized retail sales, aided by economic development in the states where AEP operates, must have boosted AEP’s top-line performance in the soon-to-be-reported quarter.

Adverse weather patterns, including snowstorms, heavy rainfalls, floods and several tornadoes, are likely to have caused outages for some of AEP’s customers and also damaged its infrastructure. While the outages might have hurt the company’s top line, the infrastructural damages might have pushed up AEP’s operating expenses in the first quarter for restoration. Such higher restoration costs, along with higher operating & maintenance (O&M) and depreciation expenses, might have also weighed on its first-quarter earnings.

Nevertheless, benefits from favorable investments in the prior quarters, along with strong rate base growth and solid sales growth expectations, are likely to have boosted American Electric’s overall earnings.

AEP’s Q1 Expectations

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEP’s sales is pegged at $5.34 billion, which indicates year-over-year growth of 6.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.39 per share, which suggests a year-over-year rise of 9.5%.

What the Zacks Model Unveils for AEP

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for American Electric this time. 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 you will see below.

Earnings ESP: AEP has an Earnings ESP of +0.54%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Currently, American Electric carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here, we have mentioned a few players from the same industry that also have the right combination of elements to beat earnings in the upcoming releases:

WEC Energy Group WEC is set to report first-quarter 2025 earnings on May 6, before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.11% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter sales is pegged at $2.82 billion, which indicates a 5.1% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The consensus estimate for first-quarter earnings stands at $2.19 per share, which implies year-over-year growth of 11.2%.

Evergy, Inc. EVRG is set to report its first-quarter 2025 results on May 8, before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.52% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter sales is pegged at $1.41 billion, which calls for a 6.2% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The consensus estimate for first-quarter earnings stands at 66 cents per share, which implies year-over-year growth of 22.2%.

Alliant Energy LNT is set to report first-quarter earnings on May 8, after market close. It has an Earnings ESP of +9.88% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter sales is pegged at $1.13 billion, which indicates a 9.2% improvement from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The consensus estimate for first-quarter earnings stands at 57 cents per share.

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

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