Agilent Technologies (A) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
Agilent Technologies (A) closed the most recent trading day at $134.77, moving +0.19% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.7% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.82%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the scientific instrument maker had lost 2.67% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 1.16% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.39% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Agilent Technologies as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be May 23, 2023. In that report, analysts expect Agilent Technologies to post earnings of $1.27 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 12.39%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.67 billion, up 3.77% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.68 per share and revenue of $7.07 billion. These totals would mark changes of +8.81% and +3.3%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Agilent Technologies should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.01% higher. Agilent Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Agilent Technologies has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.69 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 24.27.
We can also see that A currently has a PEG ratio of 1.97. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. A's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.59 as of yesterday's close.
The Electronics - Testing Equipment industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 57, which puts it in the top 23% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) : Free Stock Analysis Report
