Alaska Air Group (ALK) closed at $52.55 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.55% move from the prior day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.21%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.35%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.26%.
Heading into today, shares of the airline had gained 19.18% over the past month, outpacing the Transportation sector's gain of 7.34% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.89%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Alaska Air Group in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.18, signifying a 81.44% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.65 billion, up 3.19% from the year-ago period.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.2 per share and a revenue of $14.25 billion, representing changes of -54.83% and +21.4%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Alaska Air Group. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 4.57% downward. Alaska Air Group currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Digging into valuation, Alaska Air Group currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.5. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 11.86.
It is also worth noting that ALK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.1. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Transportation - Airline industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.79.
The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 149, placing it within the bottom 40% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
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Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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