Yahoo Finance Itron's (ITRI) Key Client Installs 2M DI-Enabled Smart Meters
Itron ITRI recently announced that one of its key customers in the United States, Xcel Energy XEL, has reached a milestone by deploying 2 million Gen5 Riva distributed intelligence (DI)-enabled electric smart meters. The meters are a strategic part of Itron’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure and industrial IoT (IIoT) network solution.
Xcel Energy is a utility-based company that operates in two major segments — Electric and Natural Gas. It has undertaken several initiatives to produce and deliver clean energy to customers. The company has operations in eight states – Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Through its four regulated utility subsidiaries, the company generates electricity using coal, nuclear, hydro, wind and solar energy.
The deployment of Gen5 Riva fosters XEL’s vision to provide more sustainable energy to 3.7 million customers across eight states. The DI-enabled smart meters help utility companies in achieving their carbon reduction target through various practices including “streamlining field operations” and “reducing truck rolls.”
Each meter connected to the IIoT network provides visibility to the energy providers to help them manage the grid more accurately in real time. Energy providers can harness the robust capabilities of Itron’s Gen5 IIoT network coupled with DI to smoothly incorporate additional applications from Itron and partners.
Furthermore, the DI-enabled smart meters are significant for providing Xcel Energy’s customers with useful data on their electric consumption, which aids them in making informed decisions regarding energy usage. This helps them to lower their energy costs as well as help XEL to reduce its carbon footprint. The reduction in carbon footprint will help it meet its target of supplying carbon-free electricity by 2050 across the states.
In addition, the smart meters accelerate outage tracking, which enables Xcel Energy to respond quickly to customer outage notifications and resolutions.
Itron is a market leader in energy, water, smart city, IIoT and intelligent infrastructure services across the globe. It is known for developing innovative solutions, bringing communities together on energy conservation and increasing resourcefulness.
The company expects to gain from new contracts and a healthy demand environment. Itron’s gross margin in the fourth quarter was 34%, which expanded 390 basis points on a year-over-year basis. Favorable mix and operational efficiency resulted in the uptick.
The stock has gained 73.5% over the past year compared with the industry’s rise of 18.8%
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Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
Itron currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Workday Inc. WDAY, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, delivered an earnings surprise of 9.03% in the last reported quarter.
Workday is a provider of enterprise-level software solutions for financial management and human resource domains. The company’s cloud-based platform combines finance and HR in a single system that makes it easier for organizations to provide analytical insights and decision support. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
AudioCodes Ltd. AUDC currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 24.8% and delivered an earnings surprise of 20.1%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.
Headquartered in Lod, Israel, AudioCodes offers advanced communications software, products and productivity solutions for the digital workplace. It provides a broad range of innovative products, solutions and services that are used by large multi-national enterprises and leading tier-1 operators around the world.
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Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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