- Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) -4.8% pre-market after disclosing it will seek to raise cash after committing to spend as much as $3.5B to secure fuel during last week's winter freeze, according to an SEC filing after Friday's close.
- Atmos, with 3M customers in eight states but little gas production of its own, says it is "evaluating a number of financing alternatives including available cash, short-term debt, long-term debt, and equity."
- "Due to the historic nature of this winter storm, the company experienced unforeseeable and unprecedented market pricing for gas costs, most notably in our Colorado, Kansas and Texas jurisdictions, which resulted in aggregated natural gas purchases during this period of ~$2.5B-$3.5B for these jurisdictions," which will become due at the end of March.
- Atmos also reaffirms earnings guidance for FY 2021 ending in September, seeing EPS of $4.90-$5.10 vs. $5.04 analyst consensus estimate.
- ERCOT, the agency that oversees Texas' power grid, said last Friday it had returned to normal operations after 4.3M Texas homes and businesses had been without power at the height of the storm.