Headline: "NextEra Surpasses Q3 Profit Forecasts with Renewable Energy Breakthrough"
NextEra Energy announced on Wednesday that its third-quarter profit exceeded Wall Street expectations, driven by the strong performance of its renewable energy division. As the world's largest renewable energy company, NextEra Energy benefited from rising electricity demand for AI-powered data centers as well as residential and commercial customers for heating and transportation.
The S&P utilities index, which includes NextEra Energy, recorded a significant increase of 18.4% during the quarter, outperforming the broader S&P 500 index, which rose by 5.5%. This surge reflects the promising outlook for utility companies amid rising demand for cleaner energy sources.
NextEra Energy Resources, the company's renewable energy arm, reported that its project portfolio increased to 24 gigawatts from about 22.6 gigawatts in the previous quarter. CEO John Ketchum highlighted new agreements with two Fortune-50 companies for the potential development of renewable energy and storage projects, expected to total 10.5 gigawatts by 2030.
Florida Power & Light, NextEra's regulated utilities business, also delivered strong performance, boosting its net income to $1.29 billion from $1.18 billion in the same period last year.
Despite positive earnings, NextEra's total quarterly revenue of $7.57 billion fell short of analysts' expectations of around $8.10 billion. Nonetheless, the company maintained its adjusted earnings per share forecast for 2024 and projected 2025 earnings per share to be between $3.45 and $3.70.
The company reported earnings of $1.03 per share on an adjusted basis for the quarter, surpassing the estimated $0.98.
NextEra Energy Partners, responsible for acquiring and managing contracted energy projects, announced plans to repower an additional 225 megawatts of wind facilities. This update increased its total wind repowering portfolio to approximately 1.6 gigawatts by 2026. Despite these expansions, the unit reported a $40 million loss, attributed to higher interest payments and losses in some ongoing operations, contrasting with last year's $53 million net income. Following this news, shares of NextEra Energy Partners fell 5.3% in premarket trading.