SRE -- 2Q20

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Maybe I'm too exuberant regarding SRE or maybe it's too early in the morning or maybe it's the Montana mountain air -- yes, I'm typing in bed -- and the windows are open and it's actually refreshingly cool -- but here's the SRE press reslease, 2Q20 earnings.

• non-adjusted:
• sarnings: $2.239 billion vs $354 million last year
• EPS: $7.61 vs $1.26 last year
• adjusted:
• $485 million, or $1.65 vs $309,or $1.10 million last year
• First six months:
• non-adjusted: $2.999 billion ($9.91/share) vs $795 million ($2.85) a year ago
• adjusted: $1.417 ($4.76) vs $843 million ($3.03) a year ago

From the press release:

Sempra Energy completed the sales of its South American businesses in June, marking the conclusion of its broad, two-year capital rotation plan. The company's investments are now focused on transmission and distribution energy infrastructure in the most attractive markets in North America, including California, Texas, Mexico and North America's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export market.

In total, including the sales of the company's South American businesses and its U.S. renewables businesses and non-utility natural gas storage assets, the company has generated approximately $8.3 billion in total gross proceeds from these divestitures. The recent sale of the company's Chilean businesses remains subject to post-closing adjustments. Proceeds from these transactions are being used to further bolster the company's strong liquidity position, strengthen the balance sheet, support the execution of its robust capital plan and return value to shareholders. 

As part of Sempra Energy's goal of returning additional value to shareholders, the company recently completed a $500 million share buyback program. It also received authorization from its Board of Directors to repurchase an additional $2 billion of shares at future dates. Sempra Energy's capital allocation strategy has enabled the company to return approximately $13 billion to common shareholders since 2000 through cash dividends and common share repurchases.

From Zacks yesterday, link here. 

Sempra Energy price-eps-surprise | Sempra Energy Quote

Moreover, favorable rate base outcomes in recent times might have also contributed to the company’s quarterly revenues. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues of $2.66 billion suggests a rise of 19.4% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Alongside the favorable top-line expectation, reduced operating expenses are projected to have driven the company’s bottom line. Moreover, driven by low natural gas prices amid the ongoing crisis situation, the company can be expected to witness higher earnings from Sempra LNG marketing operations. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.66 per share, implying a 50.9% improvement from the year-ago reported figure.

By the end of June 2020, Sempra Energy completed its business exit from South America, following the sale of its Chilean businesses. The completion of the Chilean transactions concluded Sempra Energy's sales of its South American businesses in both Chile and Peru, resulting in approximately $5.82 billion in combined total cash proceeds. We expect the company’s second-quarter balance sheet to duly reflect these sale proceeds.

SRE has a history of earnings surprises, according to Zacks.

Not yet trading (8:38 a.m. EDT, August 5, 2020).