American Water Works Earnings Preview: What to Watch on Nov. 4
American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) is slated to release its third-quarter 2020 results after the market close on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Its analyst earnings call is scheduled for the following day at 9 a.m. EST.
The largest U.S. water utility's business has been quite resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the essential nature of water and wastewater services. Its regulated utility business has been slightly hurt by the crisis because of the decline in demand from commercial and industrial customers, many of which were temporarily closed during the early stages of the pandemic. However, that partial evaporation of usual demand has been partly offset by the rise in residential water use, driven largely by more people working from home.
In 2020, American Water stock has returned 27.4% through Oct. 27, making it the second-best performer among the 28 utility stocks on the S&P 500 index. Only shares of NextEra Energy, the country's largest electric utility, have performed better (though just a tad), returning 27.5% so far this year. The S&P 500 has returned 6.5% over the same period.
Source Fool.com
