Pinnacle West Third Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Pinnacle West (NYSE:PNW) will unveil its latest earnings on Friday, November 2, 2012. Pinnacle West Capital, through its subsidiaries, provides retail and wholesale electric services.

Pinnacle West Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of $2.24 per share, no change from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $2.33. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It also has dropped from $2.28 during the last month. For the year, analysts are projecting net income of $3.43 per share, a rise of 14.7% from last year.

Past Earnings Performance: The company topped forecasts last quarter after being in line with estimates the quarter prior. In the second quarter, it reported profit of $1.12 per share versus a mean estimate of $1.05. Two quarters ago, it reported net loss of 7 cents per share.

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A Look Back: In the second quarter, profit rose 41.1% to $122.3 million ($1.11 a share) from $86.7 million (79 cents a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue rose 9.8% to $878.6 million from $799.8 million.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $1.16 billion in revenue this quarter, a rise of 3.6% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $3.36 billion for the year, a rise of 3.7% from last year’s revenue of $3.24 billion.

Stock Price Performance: Between August 31, 2012 and October 29, 2012, the stock price had risen $1.49 (2.9%), from $51.37 to $52.86. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between June 22, 2012 and July 2, 2012, when shares rose for seven straight days, increasing 3.3% (+$1.69) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between February 24, 2012 and March 6, 2012 when shares fell for eight straight days, dropping 2.4% (-$1.12) over that span.

Key Stats:

On the top line, the company is looking to build on last quarter’s revenue increase, which snapped a string of revenue drops. Revenue fell 1.3% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, 2.3% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and 5.9% in the first quarter before climbing in the second quarter.

Analyst Ratings: There are mostly holds on the stock with 11 of 12 analysts surveyed giving that rating.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 0.86 last quarter. The current ratio is an indication of a firm’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands and generally, a ratio less than one could indicate a company may have difficulty meeting current obligations.

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(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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