The latest trading session saw Blue Bird (BLBD) ending at $32.93, denoting a +1.73% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.38%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.03%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.87%.
Heading into today, shares of the school bus maker had lost 0.77% over the past month, outpacing the Auto-Tires-Trucks sector's loss of 9.04% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.59% in that time.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Blue Bird in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.96, indicating a 7.87% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $390 million, up 12.74% from the year-ago period.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4 per share and a revenue of $1.45 billion, representing changes of +15.61% and +7.92%, respectively, from the prior year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Blue Bird. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Blue Bird currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Looking at its valuation, Blue Bird is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 8.1. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 10.27, which means Blue Bird is trading at a discount to the group.
Also, we should mention that BLBD has a PEG ratio of 0.75. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Automotive - Domestic industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.75.
The Automotive - Domestic industry is part of the Auto-Tires-Trucks sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 185, this industry ranks in the bottom 26% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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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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