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What's in Store for National Fuel Gas (NFG) in Q1 Earnings?

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National Fuel Gas Company (NFG - Free Report) is scheduled to release first-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings on Feb 7 after market close. The company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 6.02% in the last quarter.

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

Factors at Play

New rates approved in Pennsylvania became effective from Aug 1 and are likely to have a positive impact on first-quarter earnings. NFG’s first-quarter earnings are likely to have gained from improving net production, realized natural gas prices and increasing pipeline and storage revenues.

Higher expenditure on development activities and more planned capital expenditure during the first half of the year are likely to have adversely impacted earnings. The company’s first-quarter results are also likely to be affected by increasing operating and depreciation expenses.

Expectation

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NFG’s earnings is pegged at $1.32 per share, implying a year-over-year decline of 28.26%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s first-quarter sales stands at $653.87 million, suggesting a decline of 0.76% from the year-ago reported number.

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for NFG 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 not the case here, as you will see below.

National Fuel Gas Company Price and EPS Surprise

National Fuel Gas Company Price and EPS Surprise

National Fuel Gas Company price-eps-surprise | National Fuel Gas Company Quote

Earnings ESP: NFG has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Currently, NFG carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Investors can consider the following players from the same sector that have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in the upcoming releases.

IDACORP (IDA - Free Report) is likely to pull off an earnings beat when it reports fourth-quarter 2023 earnings on Feb 15 before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.52% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.

The Southern Company (SO - Free Report) is likely to pull off an earnings beat when it reports fourth-quarter 2023 earnings on Feb 15 before market open. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.95% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.

Sempra Energy (SRE - Free Report) is likely to come up with an earnings beat when it reports fourth-quarter earnings soon. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.18% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.


 

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