Hurricane Helene left 4.7 million people without power at its peak and more than 1.5 million people remained without power as of Tuesday. Analysts at KeyBanc see this year's active hurricane season as a potential catalyst for Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) as consumers reach for back-up and portable power generators.
The Details:
KeyBanc Capital Markets released an alert highlighting average daily power outages reached approximately 32 million in the third quarter of 2024, 82% higher than the historical average and up 154% year-over-year.
Analysts noted the quarter was "bookended" by two major hurricanes, Hurricane Beryl which made landfall on July 8 and Hurricane Helene which made landfall on Sept. 26. The firm said two outbreaks of strong storms across the Midwest and Hurricane Francine's landfall in Louisiana also contributed to the record outages during the quarter.
KeyBanc pointed to Generac as positioned to benefit from the most active quarter for power outages since 2018 as the historically active summer of power outages likely drove a renewed interest in backup power sources. Generac shares have climbed nearly 9% over the past five days following Hurricane Helene's landfall, and the stock is up more than 25% over the past six months.
Generac could see a lift in revenue driven by increased purchases likely to have been made ahead of Hurricane Helene. The company will report its third-quarter financial results at the end of October with estimated earnings of $1.94 per share, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
GNRC Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Generac shares are up 1.48% at $160.51 at the time of publication Wednesday.