NextEra tops profit estimates on strong power demand, renewables growth

NextEra Energy surpassed Wall Street's?estimates of first-quarter adjusted profits?on Thursday. This was due to strong electricity demand, growth in its renewables business and the?storage division. In premarket trading, shares of the?company? rose by 1.4%. The rising demand for electricity in the United States, driven by electrification trends, population growth and data centers, industrial users and other power consumers, benefits utilities that have large?pipelines of generation and development. S&P 500 utilities has increased 7.5% during the quarter ended March 31. Florida Power & Light, NextEra’s regulated utility in Florida, posted a net income of $1.46bn during the third quarter. This was up 11.1% compared to a year ago, boosted by a?increase of customers and continuing capital investments. FPL gained nearly?100,000.00 customers in the quarter, and increased its total owned-and-operated solar capacity to over 8.5 gigawatts. NextEra Energy Resources, the company's renewables unit, has added 4 GW worth of renewable and storage projects, including 1.3 GW in battery storage, to its backlog. The total backlog of the company is now about 33 GW.

The company is also moving forward with its data center strategy. It has plans to build 9.5 GW of new?gas-fired generating capacity in Texas and Pennsylvania, to meet the large-scale demand for power.

According to data compiled by LSEG, NextEra earned $1.09 a share 'on an adjusted basis' for the third quarter. This compares with analysts' average estimates of 96c per share.

The company reiterated that it expects to grow its earnings by more than 8 percent annually through 2032. (Reporting and editing by Jonathan Ananda in Bengaluru)

(source: Reuters)