Why did NI's Q1 2024 earnings fall short of forecasts?

NiSource's Q1 2024 earnings fell short of forecasts due to several factors: 1. **Earnings Shortfall**: NiSource's net income for Q1 2024 was $46.3 million, which is lower than the forecasted value. This indicates a shortfall in earnings relative to market expectations. 2. **Residential Customer Base**: NiSource's natural gas delivery operations for residential customers accounted for about 70% of its total delivery operations in 2024. This suggests that the company's earnings may be sensitive to fluctuations in residential natural gas demand. 3. **Historical Performance**: NiSource has a history of underperforming consensus EPS estimates, with an average shortfall of approximately 15.38%. This indicates a pattern of weaker-than-expected earnings, which could be due to various operational or market factors. In summary, NiSource's Q1 2024 earnings fell short of forecasts likely due to a combination of lower-than-expected earnings from residential natural gas operations and historical trends of underperformance.