American Electric Power Reports Q1 Revenue Miss, Plans $27B Investment To 'Enhance Resiliency'

American Electric Power Company, Inc. AEP reported the first quarter 2024 revenue of $5 billion, missing the consensus of $5.02 billion.

Commercial load grew by 10.5% Y/Y, led by strategic economic development focus on supporting community growth.

Total energy distribution rose 5.2% Y/Y to 26,882 million KWH in the Vertically Integrated Utilities segment and 8.4% Y/Y to 21,853 million KWH in the Transmission & Distribution Utilities segment. 

Adjusted operating earnings rose to $670.4 million from $571.6 million a year ago. 

Adjusted operating earnings from Vertically Integrated Utilities increased to $300.3 million from $265.2 million the prior year, and AEP Transmission Holdco grew to $208.7 million from $181.5 million in the prior year’s quarter. 

Adjusted EPS of $1.27 beat the consensus of $1.26.

The company closed the sale of its New Mexico solar assets in February and continues to work through the final phases of the process for the AEP Energy retail and AEP OnSite Partners distributed resources businesses. This process will be completed by the second quarter earnings call this year.

FY24 Outlook: American Electric Power reiterated adjusted operating earnings per share guidance at $5.53-$5.73 vs. consensus of $5.59.

Ben Fowke, interim chief executive officer and president said, “Despite mild weather, AEP achieved solid quarterly earnings results, driven by our continued investments in a modern, reliable grid to serve our customers and communities.”

“We’re making significant progress executing our robust capital plan focused on wires and new generation resources to meet customer demand. This includes investing more than $27 billion in the transmission and distribution systems over the next five years to harden the grid and enhance resiliency.”

“We’ve also secured approval for $6.6 billion of our planned $9.4 billion investment in regulated renewables, with active RFPs for additional diverse generation resources in our operating companies,” 

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via First Trust EIP Carbon Impact ETF ECLN and Opal Dividend Income ETF DIVZ.

Also Read: Sunset On Solar Venture: PNM Resources And AEP Complete Sale Of New Mexico JV Assets

Price Action: AEP shares are up 0.95% at $87.49 at the last check Tuesday.