American Electric Power Beats EPS Estimates

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
By Trey Thoelcke Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Friday morning, American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) reported that its 2012 second-quarter earnings came to $362 million, or 75 cents per share. That was up from $352 million or $0.73 per share for second quarter of 2011.

Revenue stayed flat at $3.6 billion, but that exceeded analysts’ expectations.

American Electric also said that costs for maintenance and other operations fell 11% to $756 million for the second quarter.

Results benefited from warmer-than-expected weather in many of the states served by the Columbus, Ohio-based utility, that pushed demand higher, as well as some economic recovery that boosted the customer base. But the company warned that third-quarter earnings would be lower.

“We have received an order from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio regarding capacity charges, but a decision on the Electric Security Plan, or ESP, isn’t expected until early August,” said CEO Nicholas Akins. American Electric also faces costs associated with severe storms on the East Coast in June that left millions without power and damaged infrastructure.

Because of these two things, the company declined to provide guidance for the full year.

American Electric’s profit has grown for the past four quarters. However, a drop in revenue in the first quarter ended a streak of three straight quarters of rising revenue.

The stock closed at $42.00, a multiyear high, on Thursday. But it fell about 0.5% to $41.80 just after Friday’s opening bell.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618