CenterPoint Energy, Inc. CNPis slated to report third-quarter 2021 results on Nov 4, before the opening bell.

In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 44.00%. CenterPoint Energy has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 23.59%, on average.

Factors to Note

During the third quarter,themajority of CentrePointEnergy’sservice territories experienced warmer than normal temperature, accompanied with heavy rainfall. This is likely to have boosted demand for electricity amongthe utility’s consumers.This may have positively impacted the company’s to-be-reported quarter’s performance.

However, Hurricane Ida in August and Hurricane Nicholas in September in Louisiana may have disrupted CenterPoint’s services in the area resulting in outages for its customers.This is likely to have impacted the third-quarter performance.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter revenues is pegged at $1.60 billion, suggesting a decline of 1.3% from the year-ago quarter.

The company’s five-year strategy that prioritizes investment in regulated businessesmayhave contributed favorably tothethird-quarterperformance. Itscommitment to a 1% to 2% annual reduction in O&M (operation and maintenance cost) expenses over the five-year period may have driven the to-be-reportedquarter’s performance.

The hurricanes mentioned above might have damaged some of the utility’s infrastructure, thus pushing upits quarterly costs for restoration work. This along with an expected cost related to the recent governance changes made by the company’s board of directors may have weighed on the to-be-reported quarter’s performance.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earningsis pegged at 29 cents per share, indicating a decline of 14.7% from the prior-year reported figure.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. price-eps-surprise | CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Quote

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for CenterPoint Energy this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESPand a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.

Earnings ESP:The company’s Earnings ESP is 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: CenterPoint Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Here are three Utilities players you may want to consider, as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this season:

TransAlta CorporationTAC has an Earnings ESP of +12.50% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners BIP has an Earnings ESP of +0.57% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Edison International EIX has an Earnings ESP of +1.49% anda Zacks Rank #3.

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