AES Corporation’s AES fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of 48 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 45 cents by 6.7%. Moreover, the bottom line improved 37.1% from the year-ago quarter’s 35 cents per share.Barring a one-time adjustment, the company posted GAAP earnings of 47 cents per share in the reported quarter against the GAAP loss of 12 cents in the prior-year period.Highlights of the ReleaseAES Corp. generated total revenues of $2,560 million in the fourth quarter, up 5.3% year over year. The top line, however, lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,841 million by 9.9%. The AES Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise The AES Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | The AES Corporation QuoteTotal cost of sales was $1,654 million in the fourth quarter, down 11.6% year over year. General and administrative expenses were $46 million, down 23.3% from the year-ago quarter’s figure.Interest expenses were $297 million, up 13.4% from $262 million in the year-earlier period.In 2020, the company signed PPAs worth 3-Gigawatt (GW), thus bringing the total renewable backlog to 6.9 GW.Financial ConditionAES Corp. reported cash and cash equivalents of $1,089 million as of Dec 31, 2020 compared with $1,029 million as of Dec 31, 2019.Non-recourse debt totaled $15,005 million as of Dec 31, 2020, up from $14,914 million as of Dec 31, 2019.In the fourth quarter of 2020, net cash provided by operating activities was $668 million compared with the year-ago quarter’s $691 million.Total capital expenditures during the fourth quarter amounted to $525 million, which declined from $777 million incurred in the year-ago quarter.GuidanceFor 2021, AES Corp. initiated its EPS guidance of $1.50-$1.58. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings is pegged at $1.57, which is near the upper end of the guided range.Zacks RankAES Corp. currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Other Utility ReleasesNextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of 40 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 39 cents by 2.6%.Xcel Energy Inc. XEL posted fourth-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 54 cents per share, inline with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.WEC Energy Group WEC delivered fourth-quarter 2020 earnings per share of 76 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 74 cents by 2.7%.More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 77 billion devices by 2025, creating a $1.3 trillion market.Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 4 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2022.Click here for the 4 trades >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC): Free Stock Analysis Report Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL): Free Stock Analysis Report The AES Corporation (AES): Free Stock Analysis Report NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research