Blue Bird (BLBD) closed at $43.95 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.47% move from the prior day. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.06% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.41%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.39%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the school bus maker had gained 0.02% lagged the Auto-Tires-Trucks sector's gain of 4.03% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.88%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Blue Bird in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.9, indicating a 1.1% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $375 million, indicating a 12.49% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.74 per share and revenue of $1.42 billion, which would represent changes of +8.09% and +5.61%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Blue Bird. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Right now, Blue Bird possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Blue Bird is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.46. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.46, so one might conclude that Blue Bird is trading at no noticeable deviation comparatively.
One should further note that BLBD currently holds a PEG ratio of 0.97. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Automotive - Domestic was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.2 at yesterday's closing price.
The Automotive - Domestic industry is part of the Auto-Tires-Trucks sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 183, this industry ranks in the bottom 26% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Blue Bird Corporation (BLBD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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