Entergy beat Wall Street’s expectations Wednesday by reporting third-quarter adjusted earnings of $506 million ($2.52/share), up from $431 million ($2.35/share) a year earlier on increased rates, higher sales and lower nuclear generation costs.

Zacks Investment Research’s survey of financial analysts had projected $2.31/share.

The New Orleans-based company’s GAAP results were $365 million ($1.82/share), compared to $536 million ($2.92/share) a year ago.

Company executives said during a conference with analysts that the “strong results” led them to raise their 2019 adjusted earnings guidance’s midpoint by 5 cents and narrowed the range to $5.25 to $5.45/share.

“The fundamentals supporting our steady, predictable growth are strong and give us confidence in our financial outlooks,” CEO Leo Denault said.

Entergy Wholesale Commodities (EWC), the company’s merchant generation business, suffered a loss of $141 million during the quarter after a $105 million profit the year before. The company said revenues were down following the sale of Massachusetts’ Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to Holtec International in August and tax items recorded a year ago.

Denault said the Pilgrim sale completes an “orderly exit” from EWC’s nuclear business. The Indian Point units in New York and the Palisades plant in Michigan are scheduled to be shut down in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Entergy’s share price was trading Wednesday at $121.56 during after hours, up $2.61 from the morning’s open.

— Tom Kleckner