PG&E Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

PG&E (NYS: PCG) reported earnings on May 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), PG&E missed estimates on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded slightly and GAAP earnings per share improved.


Gross margins expanded, operating margins dropped, net margins improved.

Revenue details
PG&E logged revenue of $3.64 billion. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $3.83 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 1.2% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.60 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.89. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.71 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.56 for Q1 were 12% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.50 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 29.4%, 230 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 13.4%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.4%, 90 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $3.91 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.86.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $15.24 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.19.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 287 members out of 304 rating the stock outperform, and 17 members rating it underperform. Among 84 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 82 give PG&E a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on PG&E is outperform, with an average price target of $43.74.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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